Grilling Burger - First Time ?'s

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
The time i tried to use that lump charcoal(im assuming that's what it was, it said mesquite chunks)

It was hard as **** to get it lit, and yeah it burned up, someone i was talking to said that you're supposed to mix that kind of charcoal with briquettes rather than using it alone?

any truth to that?
 
Oh i've used lump charcoal, like where it just looks like chunks of black wood?

I was more thinking normal style charcoal friend, but a better brand, better materials, infused with something better, i don't know. I mean there has to be something better than the crap i'm using.

Yep, what you described is lump. Partially burned wood.

Personally, of all the charcoal briquettes I’ve tried, you simply can’t go wrong with Kingsford briquettes. If you’ve got them, you’ll be fine. From there you can add wood chips or even foiled packs of pellets. But Kingsford briquettes won’t let you down.
 
The time i tried to use that lump charcoal(im assuming that's what it was, it said mesquite chunks)

It was hard as **** to get it lit, and yeah it burned up, someone i was talking to said that you're supposed to mix that kind of charcoal with briquettes rather than using it alone?

any truth to that?

Depends on what it was. If it was pure wood chunks, then yeah you need charcoal to help it out. But if it was lump coal burned down (black) from mesquite, then it is fine by itself. And hot! Great for steaks!

Technically, you CAN make a little bon-fire out of pure mesquite or other hardwood chunks and grill on the embers, I’ve done it, but it takes forever to burn the wood down (which is fun in its own right), and it’s rather wasteful considering the price of a bag of those chunks……which were meant for smoking.
 
They have Kingsford around here. If you say those are good enough, i'll take your word for it.

Can you reccomend something i can throw in with them to add some punch?

Also, what would you reccomend i try out for my first grilled Pork dish?

Do you ever do any pork?

Not up for smoking yet, not by a longshot. Just somethin grilled.

Cheers.
 
They have Kingsford around here. If you say those are good enough, i'll take your word for it.

Can you reccomend something i can throw in with them to add some punch?

Also, what would you reccomend i try out for my first grilled Pork dish?

Do you ever do any pork?

Not up for smoking yet, not by a longshot. Just somethin grilled.

Cheers.

For a little kick, you can throw some wood chips that have been soaked in water on the coals or use a foil pack that has smoke pellets in it. They sell these at Wal-Mart on other stores.

Further, the fat drippings from your meat vaporizes and add to the flavor.

Also, add a sauce that drips down off the meat and hits the coals….well that adds to the flavor of the smoke that is rising! I’ve even seen an “old timer’ do a weird trick, and while I’m not endorsing this, I will say that I have seen it done….and the meat DID have a little extras something to it. He would take his favorite liquor (Whiskey usually) and drizzle it over the meat so that it flowed and hit the coals. The whiskey vaporized and made smoke which hit the meat. Tasted pretty dang good.

Just remember that grilling is fast……as you saw tonight. You usually don’t have a lot of time to play with smoke flavor while grilling.

Try a half chicken that you split yourself so that all the bone is in place. Those take about 35 to 45 minutes depending on fire and grill, and on those you can play with smoke.

Otherwise, get your smoke going (wet wood or foil pack) before you add your meat to the grill, and then just grill as usual in the presence of smoke.
 
I hear you chief. I'd love to give one a try.

I already went and looked at grills today.

I found one for 100 bucks that has two racks, a chimney, and two wooden shelves.

I'ma pick it up next week.

Cheers

So the new one will be a charcoal grill too?
 
They have Kingsford around here. If you say those are good enough, i'll take your word for it.

Can you reccomend something i can throw in with them to add some punch?

Also, what would you reccomend i try out for my first grilled Pork dish?

Do you ever do any pork?

Not up for smoking yet, not by a longshot. Just somethin grilled.

Cheers.

You mentioned pork - can't beat a pork tenderloin on the grill. Use your favorite rub (I use salt,pepper, garlic) over med hot, only takes about 5 mins. on each four sides. So tender and good ! Our favorite!
 
Wow.....Barb that is what i'm gonna make for dinner tomm...i hope i can find one down here. I was thinking the same thing, but for some reason i was thinking it would take forever. I bought a really cool rub today, has some amazing ingredients in it.

Vagriller - Yes. I'm going charcoal only. If i don't want to use a charcoal fire, i will cook inside.


Tonight's Menu:

Jalapeno Sausage & Fajita tacos

Manchego stuffed jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon

All cooked on the pit.

Will post pics, of course.

Any suggestions on the stuffed jalapenos?

Cheers
 
Any suggestions on the stuffed jalapenos?

Don't know what Manchango is but... I would recommend using regular sliced bacon as opposed to the thick stuff. The thick stuff takes for ever to crisp up.

For the peppers, build the fire off to one side and put the peppers on the other. A few wood chips on the coals will be nice for flavor. Shoot for a temp fo about 300 for an hour or so.

BTW for cooking tenderloin, I can't recommend enough using a thermometer to check temp. I like to use a probe thermometer (partly because I experiment with temperature) and I pull em at around 140 to 145o.

For pork chops and steaks you can use the touch method for checking doneness but I find that loins are too thick to be able to tell what's going on in the center just by touching.
 
Last edited:
That's the thing. That is the way i know of Manchego. It was a harder cheese...I had it with champagne a few times in Houston.

But this is a different cheese...It's called Manchego, but it is a melting cheese from Mexico.

It tastes kind of like Oaxaca to me, but a little stronger.
 
Legs,

Sorry I haven't been able to check this thread as much as I would have liked to. I'm on dial-up now, and can only get online every couple days or so.

Go over to the BBQ board, and look for a post I did earlier this year, about smoking some meat. It'll have lots of big pictures, of my grill/smoker rig, as well as a good description of my smoking process.

The grill I'm using is the "Char-Griller" (NOT a Char-Broil). I got it from Lowe's. I ended up buying the Side Fire Box for smoking a couple years after I first bought the grill, although you don't need the SFB. I like my grill for several reasons. One of those is that the fire-grate is adjustable in height. From what I saw of your grill, you can't adjust the distance between the cooking surface and the fire-grate. While not necessary, it does help. You might want to look for an adjustable fire-grate on your rig.

When I grill, I use a mix of Cowboy-brand lump hardwood charcoal, and Kingsford briquettes. I don't really care for the ash and off-taste that briquette smoke gives, but, briquettes burn longer and steadier than lump hardwood does. So, I mix them, and try to get the best of both worlds.

If you want to add a little more kick, keltin was right on about the foil packet idea for generating smoke. I used to do that to smoke foods. I would buy a bag of Hickory chips (available at hardware stores, and probably Wal-Mart as well), soak the chips for 30 minutes, then wrap them up in several layers of foil. Poke a few holes in the foil, lay it on the coals, and you're ready to go. Heck, I've even seen bags of wood chips made from old barrels from Mr. Daniel's distillery (haven't used those).

When I grill bone-in chicken, or pork, I like to soak the meat in a flavored brine. This helps add moisture to the meat, as well as flavor. There are many threads about brines on this website.

And keep asking questions. That's the best way to learn.

BTW, good lookin' chicken breasts!
 
img_496328_0_72edd3da79508496ac73ed0df4c08d16.gif
 
Hey Big leg....

You bought a smoker, not a grill. If you want to use the fire box as a grill, go to Home Depot, or such, and buy yourself a grate to fit over the coals on the fire box. They even have Teflon coated grates that don't stick as much. If this has already been suggested, "oops". I didn't have time to read all. And, yes, close the top while grillin' to avoid a fire under the meat. Later.
 
Seems like you have some great advice on cooking one of my favorite foods already.

One thing I have started doing in the past years is making the patties and making them a bit thinner in the middle. When they cook and swell a little they will even out. I also love stuffing cheese in my burgers or blending the ground steak with hot peppers, cracked peper or herbs. Now I want a hamburger!
 
It does look like there are plenty of posts but couldn't help to agree with Bknox above mentioning to put an indent in the middle for a flatter pattie.

This is how I do it for a good shaped patty.

I take about a 1/2 pound of meat (size of a tennis ball) roll it into a ball and then press down whith my palms into a flatter cake.

Then throw it onto a cutting board and do it again. It doesn't have to be perfect. I make the patties about 1 inch thick and the diameter 1/2 inch wider than the buns your going to be using to account for the burger shrinkage when grilling them.


When making the patty use a spatula to pull in the sides and make it rounder. This also keeps the meat together better. Just work it to the approximate dimensions above, tighten it up on the sides, and voila the patties are ready for the grill.

And as BKnox mentions burgers usually always swell in the middle when grilled. To help ward this off put a depression in the middle top of the patty before throwing it on.

I place all the patties on a plate and stack them with wax paper between layers so they don't stick. Then it's time to take a walk to the grill!

I live in Philadelphia and the grilling burgers has slowed down because of winter. I think I'm the only one on my street that has cooked them in the last 2 weeks. Enjoy!
 
Not to bump and old post..but I make mine like this:

1/2 lb beef (I usually get the cheepest/higher % fat stuff)
Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning
Some Powdered Red Pepper Seeds

In a 2 or 3 qt bowl put the beef in, mash it down to fill in the bottom of the bowl level. Sprinkle enuff Grill Mates to evenly cover the meat, then dash in about 4 or 5 of the powdered red pepper seeds. Mix it all up & ball it up, and flatten it down till about 1/2 in bigger than the bun.

On my grill it's about 2 min on each side, flipping it 3 times (2 mins each side 2 times) and on the last flip add cheese.
 
Back
Top Bottom