The Burger Thread

I recently bought a Kamado Joe grill and have tried burgers a couple of ways. I have a soapstone and some cast iron griddles to outfit the grill with. The best so far have been smashburgers on the soapstone. It is very convenient too. Grilled buns, thin slices onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and a good sauce with a mix of mayo, ketchup, and Sriracha. I have been using the VooDoo rub by Meat Church for seasoning. Very tasty, better than any burger joint around here.
Several years back I also owned a smoker grill (GrillDome) but was forced to sell it because of my move to senior housing. Every early spring when the snow melts and its short-sleeve weather, I'll bust out the Weber Propane Grill and inaugurate it for the beginning of grill season.
 
Matt, Matt, Matt. I married a vegetarian (a long time ago now) who had a problem with the reality of what meat is, but while pregnant with our 2nd child her tune changed. She said the kid wanted meat. Haha. Someone did... But hey, eat whatever you like and think is good for you! Personally I love beef, but I don't eat it anymore because I don't digest it well.

Haha! Our son was the same. Right in the womb he must have been conceived as a natural born carnivore.
I tried instilling some better planetary ethics in him, but I think it was over his head at the time. ;)

He loves veg, too. Like a lot of convos that seem to devolve into polarities, I find that it doesn't have to be this
either/or thing. Hell, try making a vegan out of a Tlingit or Inuit. :)

That being said, I did do the vegan thing for several years. Made me increasingly emaciated and weak. Iron-deficiency
anemia for a male in his late 20's to mid 30's wasn't good. It was like I was pregnant and had too many estrogens in my
blood makeup due to dietary choices. Took me a bit to figure out what it was. Now I am an healthier, more content, and
experienced omnivore. Beef is included, but more of a treat than a staple.
 
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I like a good Frisco burger! I used to be a cook at a Marie Callender's a long time ago. We would come up with some interesting stuff that wasn't on the menu, then make the Pies on the weekend!

On the go it's In & Out is about as fast food as I will get with a burger. For Restaurants it's a place called Eureka the best burgers I have ever had! At home it's Grass Fed 80-20!
 
My current favorite burger joint is Freddy's Steakburger. The name is a bit misleading, because their burgers are cooked smash-style with thin crispy edges. They also have my favorite fries (thin shoestrings) and their frozen custard is the bomb. My wife doesn't eat much meat, but she's always down for a Freddy's burger.

At home I used to cook fairly thick patties on the gas grill, but I bought a flat griddle for the grill so now I usually cook them smash-style.

But back OT, yeah, meat prices are higher just like everything else.
 
3:1 80/20 ground beef to ground pork. 1 egg per pound, fresh cracked pepper, sea salt, add Italian bread crumbs until the mix isn't "goopy"- form 1/2lb patties. 450-500F grill temp, Flip burgers every 2-3 minutes to get cross hatched grill marks. Leave after last flip until juices just start to run clear. Remove from grill, put on plate or in casserole dish, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
 
3:1 80/20 ground beef to ground pork. 1 egg per pound, fresh cracked pepper, sea salt, add Italian bread crumbs until the mix isn't "goopy"- form 1/2lb patties. 450-500F grill temp, Flip burgers every 2-3 minutes to get cross hatched grill marks. Leave after last flip until juices just start to run clear. Remove from grill, put on plate or in casserole dish, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
Thats almost EXACTLY how I do it.... except I put my patties on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about 30min before taking them out to the preheated grill. One extra step to ensure they stay together.
🤘😜
 
Smash burger style is the truth. Smash it down, get that Maillard reaction going, get those caramelized burnt edges happening. Such flavor.

I'm a barbarian, I just throw mine on a gas grill the 2 or 3 times a year that i eat burgers at home. Love the char, but always get a little too much because of flareups. I didn't believe in the smash thing until I tried it, it's really hard to argue with the goodness of Maillard... Brown is goooood.
 
Can't claim ownership of this, I stole it from somewhere, but this is how I make burger sauce and it's delicious.

Ingredients:
  • Mayo (Kewpie)
  • Ketchup or Sriracha (half as much as the mayo)
  • Mustard (⅓ as much as the ketchup)
  • Diced pickle as desired
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:
  1. Mix it all together
 
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Unless I'm making lamb burgers, in which case I make tzatziki like the following (also stolen from somewhere).

Ingredients
  • 2 cups grated cucumber (no need to peel or seed, use large holes on grater)
  • 1½ cups plain greek yoghurt
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh mint and/or dill
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or mined
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Method
  1. Strain the grated cucumber over a sink to remove excess moisture, transfer to serving bowl
  2. Add remaining ingredients, stir and let rest for 5 minutes
  3. Taste test, adding additional herbs, lemon juice or salt if necessary
  4. Serve immediately, or chill for later; keeps well chilled for up to 4 days
 
Living in Chicago provides a ridiculous variety of tasty burgers to choose from…
While I love a properly executed smashburger in a dank bar downtown … as is the insanely busy and famous Au Cheval…
auchevalchicago.com
, my fave joint is this one in Lincoln Park………with a visually sweet website to boot…was there yesterday as this thread was created………
https://butcherandtheburger.com/
 
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I’m also mostly vegetarian, but willing to eat some meat if it’s really worth eating. Hamburgers are sometimes an exception.

My favourite burger in town is halloumi burger at On the Rocks Kallio. Willing to share one with a fellow Fractalite touring in Helsinki, Finland. The bill is on me 🙂

I’ve recently grown chillies at home and made this sauce that is just bonkers. Anyone interested in a great filling for burgers and godlike sauce for simply anything, like burgers, take a good look:
 
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First would be to not freeze the meat. This drives moisture out of cells and dries out the meat faster while cooking. This is why many burger places like Five Guys tout the fact that their beef is never frozen.
Yes, fresh is best, but it's far better frozen than with preservatives. I think that Five Guys and a handful of other places just say that as part of their BS marketing...when you squish a burger that flat and cook it that much, there's no real flavor left anyway. It doesn't really matter what quality of meat they start with...it all tastes the same when you cook it like that unless it's really, really terrible.

I have some local farms I buy from, as well as more normal places. Grass fed/finished is better.

I don't actually eat burgers anymore, but that's because I don't really eat carbs and don't like any of the bread substitutes. So, normal for me is super-thick, rare reverse sear over grass-fed butter, bacon butter, or tallow, often with some combination of grated aged cheese on top and diced jalapeno mixed in, sometimes a slice of tomato. Always with quite a bit more salt than you'd expect the day before (if you give the salt time to soak in, you're salting the whole thing, not just the surface).

Seriously, it takes about 24 hours to properly prepare and cook a burger. But most of it is waiting around for the salt to soak in and getting rid of the surface moisture.
 
I’m also mostly vegetarian, but willing to eat some meat if it’s really worth eating. Hamburgers are sometimes an exception.

My favourite burger in town is halloumi burger at On the Rocks Kallio. Willing to share one with a fellow Fractalite touring in Helsinki, Finland. The bill is on me 🙂

I’ve recently grown chillies at home and made this sauce that is just bonkers. Anyone interested in a great filling for burgers and godlike sauce for simply anything, like burgers, take a good look:


So into the quick pickling and easy ferment. Thanks for sharing! I'll be making some of that. :)
 
Yes, fresh is best, but it's far better frozen than with preservatives. I think that Five Guys and a handful of other places just say that as part of their BS marketing...when you squish a burger that flat and cook it that much, there's no real flavor left anyway. It doesn't really matter what quality of meat they start with...it all tastes the same when you cook it like that unless it's really, really terrible.

I have some local farms I buy from, as well as more normal places. Grass fed/finished is better.

I don't actually eat burgers anymore, but that's because I don't really eat carbs and don't like any of the bread substitutes. So, normal for me is super-thick, rare reverse sear over grass-fed butter, bacon butter, or tallow, often with some combination of grated aged cheese on top and diced jalapeno mixed in, sometimes a slice of tomato. Always with quite a bit more salt than you'd expect the day before (if you give the salt time to soak in, you're salting the whole thing, not just the surface).

Seriously, it takes about 24 hours to properly prepare and cook a burger. But most of it is waiting around for the salt to soak in and getting rid of the surface moisture.

I have tried various methods and I am not sold on the cure and dry brining for Burgers that long.
My experience, and this is maybe reflective of me doing something wrong, is that it leaves a jerky
burger that is both too dry and tougher than I prefer. Same with steaks. Sucking all the moisture
out is not what I want in a Burger. I sometimes don't even salt the meat and salt/season the pan
instead.

Interesting to see the different methods and perspectives on what makes a great burger. As with
most things in life, there isn't a lot of consensus, it seems. :)
 
Also, am I alone in getting older and being unable to eat an entire Burger? Eating that
much in one sitting and I feel like I need a 3 hour nap afterwards.

So, I have graduated to Sliders more often than not in the past year. That's what I
ended up making last evening.
 
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