Hamburgers

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Caslon

Executive Chef
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
3,284
Location
Ring of fire. So. Calif.
My home burger making experience hadn't been all the great over the years.

I'd been buying frozen patties for convenience and after trying many brands, I found they all had something in common. They all had little or no hamburger taste. And when I made my own patties out of fresh hamburger, they weren't cooked up right or fell apart or something. I wanted to make a hamburger that resembled McDonalds or the like. It didn't have to be a huge fat burger, just a simple regular burger. I came across this site and followed what he did and I have say, they tasted delicious!

The thinner burgers cook up fast and easy. Each double I fry up has a slice of cheese in the middle that melts and is set aside while I make another. Then I put them together on the buns :yum:
 
I tried a couple different brands of preformed frozen 100% all beef patties and could not find one I enjoyed. They tasted ok. It was the texture that I had an issue with, they were tough and contained bits of gristle. I'm sure they were 100% beef, not sure what parts. Now I make up a few burgers from 90% lean ground beef and freeze them. Sometimes I just shape and freeze the beef other times I make them using my standard meatloaf/meatball recipe.

I like the sound of your burger with the cheese in the middle, slathered with Comeback Sauce!

It sort of reminds me of a Jucy Lucy or a Patty Melt.

I like to add some onions that have been fried in bacon fat as one of the toppings and serve it on onion rye toast. Be sure to shape the burger to fit the toast, you can't do that with those frozen preformed patties! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
Checked the site out and looks good. I will give this one a go, thanks for the link. Does anyone here grind there own mince?
 
I have not been happy with preformed burgers. They tend to be very compressed and dense. They cook differently. I'm happy to shape my own. I buy ground beef in 6-pound packages then form them into half-pound blocks. I wrap the blocks in plastic wrap and freeze them on a half sheet tray. Then the frozen packets go into a Ziplock and the freezer.
 
The best burgers, IMO, are those made from meat that you grind yourself. I have been known to take a sirloin steak, grind it, add some ground pork fat or bacon, S&P and call it a burger. I don't eat burgers that often and when I do, they are bunless--love my burger open-faced on a grilled portebello mushroom.
 
My family despises preformed burgers. There's so little work in making a hamburger I do it myself and I'm a big fan of using easy to use products.
For a simple burger, using Costco ground beef, I pat out a patty (starting with a ball about the size of a tennis ball) that will fit the bun pressing a divot in the center. Slap it on the grill,griddle or into the pan, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic or onions granules. We like ours with no pink and usually add cheese. Add condiments to the heated bun and wrapped the burger. Burgers, like most sandwiches, like to be swaddled for a few seconds to get acquainted with the other ingredients in the sandwich. There's not much worse than a hamburger getting cold sitting in a cold bun. A plain mustard burger is tolerable if it's been swaddles for a minute or so.
 
Checked the site out and looks good. I will give this one a go, thanks for the link. Does anyone here grind there own mince?

No, but some say the best is to use ground chuck. If that's so, then what do all the supermarkets grind up when they label it hamburger??? Anyways, for hamburger I buy 80%-20% fat , tho I hear 70%-30% fat makes for a juicer more flavorful hamburger. The thing is, 70%-30% looks almost pink because of the fat content. I'll try 70%-30% next time just to see how it tastes.
 
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No, but some say the best is to use ground chuck. If that's so, then what do all the supermarkets grind up when they label it hamburger??? Anyways, for hamburger I buy 80%-20% fat , tho I hear 70%-30% fat makes for a juicer more flavorful hamburger. The thing is, 70%-30% looks almost pink because of the fat content. I'll try 70%-30% next time just to see how it tastes.

The fat content in gr. chuck is 20%. They can't label it gr. chuck unless it contains nothing but chuck. Although fat is flavor, at some point the shrinkage of the meat becomes a factor with more than 20% fat.
 
I grew up on thin, pressed hamburgers. Mom had a cute wooden hinged press that she would (have me) use. Now I use nothing but my hands to press those babies.

Our corner grocery store grinds their own in-house. We have never had a bad batch of meat from them. Besides, I know where the butcher lives... five houses up the street from us! :LOL: The store has three standing "Wacky Wednesday" deals every week. One is ground beef on sale, your choice of 80%, 85% or 90% lean. I've actually used the 90% lean since I always make a burger mix with a few breadcrumbs and an egg per pound added in. The last couple of times I bought the 85% since the label stated "Certified Angus Beef" - the others didn't.

I make the burgers up when I buy the beef, patting them together ever so gently, and then freeze them. That way when Himself puts them on the grill they set up firm on their first side and don't break up when he flips them.

The only time I use preformed burgers is in the winter. I buy turkey burgers to fry out on my CI pan or griddle. If I use my own beef burgers I seem to get the smoke detector singing. :ermm:
 
we also prefer hand made burgers to machine formed. although, it's easier to make juicy lucys with formed patties than free hand.

i also like a very lean burger. we've been eating a lot of buffalo meat lately, and i think the ground buffalo is around 90/10. i like the chewiness of leaner burgers.
 
I have tried preformed patties and always return to the old fashioned way. Shape your own.

I take a sheet of wax paper and press it between the paper. I can get it very thin this way. To keep it round, just pull the paper back and push in the sides until its uniform.
Making them this way makes them just over bun size and keeps them from turning into turtle shape. Its easy too.
 
Oooh... another burger thread. :glare:

I think there's something inherently odd about using McDonald's as a model for good burgers. I don't eat there much these days, but have always found their burgers to be tough and tasteless without all the toppings. Furthermore, if you like McDonald's, why not just eat at McDonald's? You probably aren't going to be able to beat the price by making your own McBurger at home.

Personally, I prefer my own home burger recipe. They're extremely tasty and, best of all, there's nothing complicated about them:

  1. Mix equal parts of ground chuck (80/20) and ground sirloin (85/15).
  2. Form 1/3 lb patties about 1" thick.
  3. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
  4. Grill to desired level of doneness.
 
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I'm not a fan of thin burgers, but grew up with them that way, too. I like them at least as thick as half of the bun. Hand formed, 80/20, just s & p, and grilled over hardwood charcoal. And for me, the buns need to be split open and toasted on the grill off to the side, when the burgers are almost done. It doesn't seem like a grilled burger meal to me without toasted buns. :yum: A thick slice of tomato, just a little mayo, and no catsup.

Now I want a grilled burger. :)
 
The first day I came to America, uncle of my ex, took us for "the experience of your life". Experience it was. He took us to McDonald's. If I had to pick one, the absolutely most disgusting meal in my life, including Soviet Army (and that was a horrific food experience) that McDonald's hamburger was it. I cannot even describe to you how terrible I felt. The only thing I can say, I did not eat hamburgers for at least 5 years after that. I would grill some for my wife and still would not touch it myself.
 
The first day I came to America, uncle of my ex, took us for "the experience of your life". Experience it was. He took us to McDonald's. If I had to pick one, the absolutely most disgusting meal in my life, including Soviet Army (and that was a horrific food experience) that McDonald's hamburger was it. I cannot even describe to you how terrible I felt. The only thing I can say, I did not eat hamburgers for at least 5 years after that. I would grill some for my wife and still would not touch it myself.

One unsatisfied customer out of 300 billion sold. :LOL: ...YOU FREAK!!!!
 
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I have been biting my tongue...I am really surprised by the number of folks who buy preformed burgers. Burgers are one of the easiest things to make (after grilled cheese sandwiches).
 
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