Hamburger Success

[philkel]

Well I finally had success with making a burger from mince. I know this is a relatively easy process but mine have normally fallen apart in the past. I have also found them messy to make but this time I got it right (really should have taken a photo). Just mince 1 pound /500 grams, 2 eggs and a cup or 2 of flour and I made two huge burgers out of it. Should have made smaller ones though, in the future I will.
The burgers were unusual shape to fit the rolls I had. On them I put cheese, fried onion, egg, tomato ketchup, bacon, Tomato slices.
Turned out great so I am really pleased with myself for this achievement.

 

[Andy M.]

...2 eggs and a cup or two of flour????

 

[taxlady]

...2 eggs and a cup or two of flour????

I was wondering about that too.

 

[Caslon]

Smash 'em down between wax paper, they'll stick together when you go to cook them!

 

[Kayelle]

me three....

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Never heard of flour in hamburgers. Breadcrumbs. I use some most of the time, but in the ratio of no more than 1/4 cup per pound of meat - if even that much crumb.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Yet another burger thread. I'm just completely baffled why people seem to have such a difficult time with the common hamburger. It's got to be one of the easiest things there is to make.

Flour, eggs, sumac, liquid smoke, orange whatever.... these things simply do not belong in a hamburger.

Ground beef, salt, and pepper. That's all you really need.

 

[Hoot]

Well I finally had success with making a burger from mince. I know this is a relatively easy process but mine have normally fallen apart in the past. I have also found them messy to make but this time I got it right (really should have taken a photo). Just mince 1 pound /500 grams, 2 eggs and a cup or 2 of flour and I made two huge burgers out of it. Should have made smaller ones though, in the future I will.
The burgers were unusual shape to fit the rolls I had. On them I put cheese, fried onion, egg, tomato ketchup, bacon, Tomato slices.
Turned out great so I am really pleased with myself for this achievement.

Well now. Can't say I ever heard of adding flour to a burger, but if it works for you and you like it, I say Good job!

 

[Zagut]

Yet another burger thread. I'm just completely baffled why people seem to have such a difficult time with the common hamburger. It's got to be one of the easiest things there is to make.

Flour, eggs, sumac, liquid smoke, orange whatever.... these things simply do not belong in a hamburger.

Ground beef, salt, and pepper. That's all you really need.

Steve, That's my kind of burger.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I'm assuming that Phikell started with chopped, or minced beef, which probably had little fat in it, especially if minced at home. I've been known to add egg to ground beef that's too lean, both to help it hold together better, and to reduce shrinkage. The flour would also help to glue the meat together so that it would hold its shape. I've done that to. The result is more like a Salisbury steak than a true burger. If you add onion, then you have true Salisbury steak.

Bread crumbs turn it more into a meatloaf flavor and texture, which doesn't hold its shape well as a patty.

With the added flour and egg, you can play with other ingredients more without fear of the patty falling apart. You can add larger mince of onion, peppers, through whole kernal corn in if you want, and use different herbs, spices, and sauces in the mixture. It's not all about the beef flavor that way.

Now normally, I to prefer good ground beef, with sufficient fat to make it juicy, and hold together well. But there are time when I like to take minced beef and play with it. It's all good.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

My mum used to put stuff in her burgers. I tend to agree with the friend who said, "That's not a hamburger. That's a meatloaf patty."

 

[GotGarlic]

My former stepmother put Lipton's Onion Soup Mix in burgers. That made me burp onions for three days!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well I finally had success with making a burger from mince. I know this is a relatively easy process but mine have normally fallen apart in the past. I have also found them messy to make but this time I got it right (really should have taken a photo). Just mince 1 pound /500 grams, 2 eggs and a cup or 2 of flour and I made two huge burgers out of it. Should have made smaller ones though, in the future I will.
The burgers were unusual shape to fit the rolls I had. On them I put cheese, fried onion, egg, tomato ketchup, bacon, Tomato slices.
Turned out great so I am really pleased with myself for this achievement.

Philkel, what you are describing is a meat patty, but it's not a hamburger. To make the perfect hamburger, simply purchase a lb. of 70/30 ground chuck, and seperate it into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into a round ball, like a snowball. Gently start to flatten the ball between the palms of you hands by pressing, making the edge smooth with your thumb. Turn the pattiy and flatten a bit more, again making the edge smooth with your thumb. Continue this process until the patty is abut an eighth inch thick, with the center made a little thinner than the edges. As the meat cooks, it will pull toward the center, and the center will get thicker. The meat will cook evenly throughout the burger. Sallt one side and place it salt-side down over the heat source, and lightly brown it. Salt the top while it's cooking. When juices begin to form, it's time to flip it. Cook until juices run clear on top. This will give you perfect burgers every time. I cook mine with the lid on, to give the burgers a more smokey flavor and prevent flare ups. But use whatever technique you're used to using. Enjoy.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[philkel]

Just to clarify. The egg is a binding agent and the flour is actually on the outside and stops the mince sticking to surfaces. It does work quite well.

 

[Caslon]

Just to clarify. The egg is a binding agent and the flour is actually on the outside and stops the mince sticking to surfaces. It does work quite well.

The flour part reminds me of coating and cooking chunks of beef for stew.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Dusting burgers with flour is also supposed to reduce shrinkage, significant shrinkage!

I miss Seinfeld!

 

[GotGarlic]

The flour part reminds me of coating and cooking chunks of beef for stew.

In that case, the flour is on the surface to promote browning. Mixing flour into ground meat is different.

 

[Mad Cook]

Ah ha! Hamburgers are the equivalent of trifle in England. Every person has his or her own recipe and only their recipe is the genuine original one.

My paternal grandmother and one of her sisters-in-law never spoke for years after an argument about the correct way to make a trifle. (Neither, of course, was correct - MINE is the proper trifle recipe )

 

[Zagut]

Excuse me for being a bit slow MC.

Had to Google it.

Trifle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But a Trifle sure doesn't look like a burger to me.

Yes it has variations but I'd never put whipped cream on my burger.

 

[buckytom]

my mom makes something called an irish hamburger (recipe passed down from my maternal grandmother). by the definitions suggested here, it ain't no burger. it's a meat patty or mini meatloaf.

btw, you can tell my mom that. to us, it;s an irish hamburger. just like she doesn't makes crepes, rather norwegian pancakes.

the irish burger is 80/20 ground beef, sauteed diced bell peppers and onions, lawry's seasoned salt, worcestershire sauce, and stale le, er, i mean old wonder bread.

wonder bread doen't really go stale, does it?

but the irish burgers were always deliciours no matter what you call them. i don't know how she did it, but there was always a bit of bell pepper, and always a bit of bread that wasn't well mixed into each burger so it stuck out and got a little extra carmelized.

another variation from standard american burgers was that we got to put a-1 or hp steak sauce on them instead of just ketchup.