240brickman
Senior Cook
Hi gang! I thought I'd share this:
I'd been meaning to try ground buffalo for some time, but the only place around here that carries it is Wegman's, and they want $5 per pound for it. I don't mind paying that much (or more) for most things...but ground meat?? But at the end of last week, they'd marked-down several 1-pound packages of it to two bucks (the "sell-by" date was December 29), so I bought a couple. (FYI: I went back to Wegman's earlier today, and NONE of the marked-down packages are left)
I just dumped the ground buffalo into a mixing bowl, and added (I did measure most of this)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin (powdered, not the crushed seeds)
1/2 tsp of kosher salt (I added more salt to the surface of the burgers, just before grilling)
1 TBS minced garlic
2 TBS worcestershire
a splash of Kentucky bourbon (it's the only thing I didn't measure, but I'd say it was about 1 1/2 or 2 TBS)
I mooshed everything together, using my bare hands. This is buffalo, after all. I took special care not to work it too much; just until everything was incorporated. I divided the mix into thirds (as closely as I could without a scale), and formed 3 patties (about 1/3-pound each), which I made quite flat and wide (about 5 inches across). I've heard that buffalo is pretty lean, so it gets dried out quickly on the grill. So I stacked the patties between layers of waxed paper, wrapped them loosely in plastic wrap, and stuck them in the freezer for about an hour. I've had alot of success grilling hamburgers made this way...if the burgers are wide and flat, and hit the grill frozen (or semi-frozen), they remain juicier. They also don't seem to shrink quite as much, so they stick out over the edges of the bun. They look huge!
I sprayed my grill with non-stick stuff, and allowed it to heat up (medium-low heat). Then I threw the burgers on (by this time they were a bit stiff, but not thoroughly frozen). 4 minutes on one side, lid closed---do NOT touch the burger during this time. After 4 minutes, I gave them a flip, closed the lid, and left them for another 4 minutes.
At that point, I'd say they were somewhere between rare & medium-rare. I gave them another flip, and cooked them for another 2 minutes per side (they ended up right around medium). I served them on onion rolls.
They came out really, really good. I'm going to (as usual) tweak this recipe even more, when I find a good deal on ground buffalo!
--J
I'd been meaning to try ground buffalo for some time, but the only place around here that carries it is Wegman's, and they want $5 per pound for it. I don't mind paying that much (or more) for most things...but ground meat?? But at the end of last week, they'd marked-down several 1-pound packages of it to two bucks (the "sell-by" date was December 29), so I bought a couple. (FYI: I went back to Wegman's earlier today, and NONE of the marked-down packages are left)
I just dumped the ground buffalo into a mixing bowl, and added (I did measure most of this)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin (powdered, not the crushed seeds)
1/2 tsp of kosher salt (I added more salt to the surface of the burgers, just before grilling)
1 TBS minced garlic
2 TBS worcestershire
a splash of Kentucky bourbon (it's the only thing I didn't measure, but I'd say it was about 1 1/2 or 2 TBS)
I mooshed everything together, using my bare hands. This is buffalo, after all. I took special care not to work it too much; just until everything was incorporated. I divided the mix into thirds (as closely as I could without a scale), and formed 3 patties (about 1/3-pound each), which I made quite flat and wide (about 5 inches across). I've heard that buffalo is pretty lean, so it gets dried out quickly on the grill. So I stacked the patties between layers of waxed paper, wrapped them loosely in plastic wrap, and stuck them in the freezer for about an hour. I've had alot of success grilling hamburgers made this way...if the burgers are wide and flat, and hit the grill frozen (or semi-frozen), they remain juicier. They also don't seem to shrink quite as much, so they stick out over the edges of the bun. They look huge!
I sprayed my grill with non-stick stuff, and allowed it to heat up (medium-low heat). Then I threw the burgers on (by this time they were a bit stiff, but not thoroughly frozen). 4 minutes on one side, lid closed---do NOT touch the burger during this time. After 4 minutes, I gave them a flip, closed the lid, and left them for another 4 minutes.
At that point, I'd say they were somewhere between rare & medium-rare. I gave them another flip, and cooked them for another 2 minutes per side (they ended up right around medium). I served them on onion rolls.
They came out really, really good. I'm going to (as usual) tweak this recipe even more, when I find a good deal on ground buffalo!
--J
