My (2) New Burger Secrets ... What Are Yours???

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In the case anyone is still reading this thread, here's a few thoughts...

a) The egg holds the meat together more efficiently

b) If you like them moister, try adding chipped ice (ie finely chipped!) and mixing with a fork, as the ice chips will vaporise and keep the burger extra moist...

c) A half cup or so (per pound) of bacon bits (the real ones, of course!) to the mix...if you think bacon strips add to the burger when layered on top, adding the component to the meat is just that much better!

d) For a different taste, add some chili powder or Tex-Mex Seasoning...

e) A few tablespoons of chopped garlic per pound of meat is always a good idea...

f) A half cup of your favourite BBQ sauce per pound can add good flavours...

g) If you are going to add cheese, try grating fresh Asiago cheese, as opposed any others?

h) I kind of like gently fried spanish onion rings on my burgers...I find it compliments the taste of good beef...

i) By good beef, I favour the argument of getting fattier meat (ie not lean ground!) , as I cook my burgers rather more slowly (usually using smoke!) and the fat renders out, leaving "voids" in the meat that make it more tender, but as others have pointed out, that much more in flavour...

j) If I had my druthers, I'd have the butcher grind me up a New York Strip, with full fat, and picking one with next to no gristle...and then adding about a quarter pound of shank or stewing beef, likewise ground up...to give it that bit of "kick"

k) Very thinly sliced sandwich dills, with the lightly fried onions, tomato and a dab of mustard...me being me, on a sourdough bun, lightly toasted...

Lifter
 
Goodweed,
Goodweed of the North said:
Man! Is my typing ever getting sloppy. I'm going to start roof-reading. Honest :?

Why do you want to go outside to read your roof? :LOL:

Our roof is pretty boring, but I have certainly enjoyed reading this entire thread.

I know many people who have visited the States, both on business and vacation & all are unanimous that Americans are hamburger kings. My Dad said he nearly fainted when he saw his hosts throwing round steak, surloin & even rump into the mincer to make burgers for lunch. Wasn't he surprised with the outcome!

These sentiments were shared by the others, but all agreed that an OZ barby is far more relaxed, you can't beat the "over the top" choices of everything thinkable at an American barby. Homemade sauces, this & that, the lot. All were EXTREMELY impressed & probably a little embarrassed.

Hospitality was also a point brought up. In Oz, when a guest arrives they are greeted & told to to grab a couple of beers from the esky, pull up a stump & relax. My friends (& parents) told me that guests at an American barby are literally waited on hand and foot. Spoilt, if you will.

Sauces, salads, mixes, the range of choices - incredible. But without a doubt the shock of seeing steaks that we would bung straight on the plate going into the mincer was well worth it simply to taste the results.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this with you all & say thanks.
 
This is a recipe from food tv. and word has been spreading at the office and ptomeetings about how great this is. go to foodtv.com and look up
Andouille Burgers with Grilled Sweet Onions and Creole Remoulade Sauce Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003

I use ground chuck, and don't mix a lot or you end up with hocky pucks!
 
I take issue with everyone who adulterates ground beef. This is bad habit perpetuated by hundreds of years of old housefraus trying to pinch pennies while rationalizing to avoid a guilty conscience.

My hamburger secret is to use pure ground beef and serve it on a toasted sesame seed bun with one slice of homegrown tomato the diameter of the bun and the thickness of the hamburger, about 5 layers of lettuce leaves, and mayonnaise or butter on the top bun slice.

As far as meat selection is concerned, I find a butcher that I can trust and have him grind it in front of me. Also, there is an excellent brand of frozen patties, Granger Black Angus Beef Patties, which cost $3/lb, but is well worth it.
 
aruzinsky said:
I take issue with everyone who adulterates ground beef. This is bad habit perpetuated by hundreds of years of old housefraus trying to pinch pennies while rationalizing to avoid a guilty conscience.

My hamburger secret is to use pure ground beef and serve it on a toasted sesame seed bun with one slice of homegrown tomato the diameter of the bun and the thickness of the hamburger, about 5 layers of lettuce leaves, and mayonnaise or butter on the top bun slice.

As far as meat selection is concerned, I find a butcher that I can trust and have him grind it in front of me. Also, there is an excellent brand of frozen patties, Granger Black Angus Beef Patties, which cost $3/lb, but is well worth it.


Ah Aruzinsky...such a purist. I don't know that adding flavor is 'adulterating', I'd call it enhancing. and I'm not an old housefraus. Thank You. And I'm not pinching pennies, certainly don't feel guilty about it when I do, check the price of andouille sausage. To each his own! James Beard put fresh grated onion and a tablespoon of heavy cream in his ground beef, didn't grill them, but fried them in butter and oil. Yet another way of doing things.
 
southerncook said:
aruzinsky said:
I take issue with everyone who adulterates ground beef. This is bad habit perpetuated by hundreds of years of old housefraus trying to pinch pennies while rationalizing to avoid a guilty conscience.

My hamburger secret is to use pure ground beef and serve it on a toasted sesame seed bun with one slice of homegrown tomato the diameter of the bun and the thickness of the hamburger, about 5 layers of lettuce leaves, and mayonnaise or butter on the top bun slice.

As far as meat selection is concerned, I find a butcher that I can trust and have him grind it in front of me. Also, there is an excellent brand of frozen patties, Granger Black Angus Beef Patties, which cost $3/lb, but is well worth it.


Ah Aruzinsky...such a purist. I don't know that adding flavor is 'adulterating', I'd call it enhancing. and I'm not an old housefraus. Thank You. And I'm not pinching pennies, certainly don't feel guilty about it when I do, check the price of andouille sausage. To each his own! James Beard put fresh grated onion and a tablespoon of heavy cream in his ground beef, didn't grill them, but fried them in butter and oil. Yet another way of doing things.

Adulteration is dilution by inferior, harmful, or less valuable ingredients. The cost per pound of pepper is greater than that of ground meat, so addition of pepper would not be adulteration. Onions, bread crumbs, eggs, and textured soybean protein are less valuable and are therefore adulterants. You do not have to be an old hausefrau to believe their mythology.

Finally, I bet that I have eaten more pounds of hamburgers in my life than any of you. I know what I am talking about. Leave the ground beef alone.
 
Wow, you have eaten more pounds of burgers than anyone else on these boards Aruzinsky. You should write a book. Adulteration is adding impurities. Bread crumbs, onions, cream are far from being impure. I think you should lay off the burgers, might be elevating your pressure.
 
aruzinsky said:
Adulteration is dilution by inferior, harmful, or less valuable ingredients. The cost per pound of pepper is greater than that of ground meat, so addition of pepper would not be adulteration. Onions, bread crumbs, eggs, and textured soybean protein are less valuable and are therefore adulterants. You do not have to be an old hausefrau to believe their mythology.

Finally, I bet that I have eaten more pounds of hamburgers in my life than any of you. I know what I am talking about. Leave the ground beef alone.

So do you not add salt to your ground beef because salt is less expensive? This logic is flawed in my opinion. To each his own. Everyones tastes are different. Like you, aruzinsky, I am a purist when it comes to burgers. I like mine with nothing (except possibly salt) then top with a tomato and maybe some lettuce, toasted bun and ketchup, but that does not mean that is the right way to do it. Someone could add a million things to their burger and for them that would be the right way. Just because you think you think you have eaten more burgers does not mean that you are right and that is that.
 
debthecook said:
Wow, you have eaten more pounds of burgers than anyone else on these boards Aruzinsky. You should write a book. Adulteration is adding impurities. Bread crumbs, onions, cream are far from being impure. I think you should lay off the burgers, might be elevating your pressure.

Lol. You must be a militant old hausfrau. Adding pure substances to ground beef causes the ground beef to become impure and that is why they are called "impurities."
 
aruzinsky said:
Lol. You must be a militant old hausfrau. Adding pure substances to ground beef causes the ground beef to become impure and that is why they are called "impurities."

So if I make chicken and add a lemon to the cavity then is the chicken impure? If I add pepper flakes to my tomato sauce is it then impure???
 
GB said:
aruzinsky said:
Adulteration is dilution by inferior, harmful, or less valuable ingredients. The cost per pound of pepper is greater than that of ground meat, so addition of pepper would not be adulteration. Onions, bread crumbs, eggs, and textured soybean protein are less valuable and are therefore adulterants. You do not have to be an old hausefrau to believe their mythology.

Finally, I bet that I have eaten more pounds of hamburgers in my life than any of you. I know what I am talking about. Leave the ground beef alone.

So do you not add salt to your ground beef because salt is less expensive? This logic is flawed in my opinion. To each his own. Everyones tastes are different. Like you, aruzinsky, I am a purist when it comes to burgers. I like mine with nothing (except possibly salt) then top with a tomato and maybe some lettuce, toasted bun and ketchup, but that does not mean that is the right way to do it. Someone could add a million things to their burger and for them that would be the right way. Just because you think you think you have eaten more burgers does not mean that you are right and that is that.

I add salt ON my hamburger, not IN my hamberger. There is no flaw in logic. Adding salt inside a hamburger is adulteration by definition. But, there are two separate issues here.

1. No adulteration
2. No impurity of any kind

I personally prefer no impurities, but, on the basis of popular tastes, I am only pushing no adulteration. Let me point out to you that is the way fast food restaurants serve their hamburgers and they are trying balance appeal to the largest number of people with low cost hamburgers. If they started adding bread crumbs and eggs, their hamburges would be less expensive to make but they would lose profit. If you remove the cost restriction, then the best way to make hamburgers that appeal to the largest audience is NOT to add less costly ingredients, but to increase the quality and cost of the ground beef.
 
GB said:
aruzinsky said:
Lol. You must be a militant old hausfrau. Adding pure substances to ground beef causes the ground beef to become impure and that is why they are called "impurities."

So if I make chicken and add a lemon to the cavity then is the chicken impure? If I add pepper flakes to my tomato sauce is it then impure???

Yes, impure chicken. No, not impure tomato sauce because tomato sauce is defined as a mixture, otherwise, it would be tomato puree.
 
Aruzinsky, Websters defines adulterate as: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element; especially : to prepare for sale by replacing more valuable with less valuable or inert ingredients.

If you are to go by this definition then adding ANYTHING other than ground meat would make it an adulterated product. I think you are really getting to wrapped up in technical definitions. There is nothing wrong with adding other flavorings to hamburgers. It does not necessarily make it an inferior product.
 

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