put your best burger forward!

tmdalton849

i have tried a million and one different ways to make a burger, but am never entirely satisfied.

i like to keep ingredients simple, prefer medium rare, and don't have a grill (usually use my cast iron skillet). normally use a grass fed 80/20.

help a girl out - what's your fave recipe?

tmdalton849

well, favorite method, i should say.

Twibbly

This is not a classic burger, more like a mini meatloaf, but this is what I make when I make burgers.

For a pound of ground beef, mix in about a cup of shredded cheese, seasoning (BBQ rubs are tasty), and enough egg to make it hold together. You can also add in a bit of chopped up spinach, mustard, whatever. Mix all together, shape into patties, cook in cast iron skillet until browned & getting crispy (because of the cheese) on one side, then flip & repeat. It's probably on medium high when I do it.

tmdalton849

thanks twibbly, that sounds yummy! do you have a guesstimate as to how long per side you do? do you start with the pan searing hot?

Twibbly

Probably medium high - where it'll sizzle when you put a drop of water in. I'd guess 3-4 minutes per side, but that's just a guess. Don't trust it!

Oh, and I probably put a bit of bacon grease in the pan first, just to coat the bottom.

tmdalton849

oh, and how many patties do you make per pound? and shaping tips? i think i have gotten the hang of 'dimpling' and usually make 1/4 lb. patties, but i am always open to other ideas!

Dragonwolf

I'm easy, my go-to is lettuce wrapped (iceburg is a good lettuce for this, because it's hardy), topped with cheese, mayo, bacon, and tomato.

Another good one is topping it with avocado.

In a pinch, I just top with cheese and mayo and eat it with a fork, though we did just get a shipment of bison that included pre-made patties. Those worked well with making the burger patties the "bun" and putting the "toppings" (in this case, just cheese and mayo) in between.

For the patties themselves, I'm happy with just a little Worcestershire sauce on them and cooked in whatever method is available (historically, it's usually a gas grill), though my husband recently acquired a charcoal grill and flavor chips, and the burgers made on that little beast were awesome without any doctoring.

Twibbly

4-5 per pound, the cheese & egg adds a bit of bulk to them. I just make the patties by squishing them between my hands into a burger shape. I don't bother with dimpling or anything. Drop however many will fit into the skillet, then go wash my hands.

I think last time I made 8 or 10 mini burgers.

IamUndrCnstruction

I usually just do salt and pepper. But I have mixed in cheese and diced jalapeños before too...soooo yummy! I use a hot skillet for the initial sear flipping once, then turn heat down to medium, and cover because though I like my steaks medium rare, I want my burgers cooked through.

nicsflyingcircus

I mix 80/20 beef with bacon fat (about 15g per pound) and make 3-4 patties from that much. I form the burgers into flattish patties, toss into a medium-high pre-heated pan, smash down with spatula. Salt and pepper liberally. Flip after 3 min, throw on your cheese of choice. Three more min, take pan off heat. Transfer burger to plate. Salt, mustard, eat. I don't even bother with wrappings, just eat with fork.

tmdalton849

yum! thanks!

KnitOrMiss

My favorite way to eat them nowadays is with cheese and mayo and mustard mixed together.

I found a recipe I really liked that per 1 pound of meat added 1 tsp of dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of onion powder, then cooked off in ghee/butter. (the original recipe had some kind of slaw with it, but I was trying to keep carbs super low that day as I was OUT! It was served with cheese and a sriracha mayo which with a teensy bit of sweetener - seriously like 1/20th of a packet - was heavenly.

My normal go to before was worcestershire with salt and pepper, maybe a cajun season salt, and if I was feeling crazy, liquid smoke (but I tend to react to this).

But I've really come to embrace dijon lately. Use it as a coating on some pork loin and fry in butter...crisps up nicely. Also can be used as the adhesive to hold coatings on something. Oh, and IN the burger, it acts as the agent like egg that holds it all together.

I also prefer big old burgers, so I usually make them about 1/2 pound each. I think I made 4-6 burgers out of 2-2.5 pounds... I usually cook on medium to medium high ish, until the browned section wraps up the side of the burger, flip to sear the second side, then after seared, reduce the temp to just below medium (medium is a 5 of my stove) so I use #3, and cook a bit longer to get the middle backed through...

glossbones

We buy Bubba Burgers to keep around for when a burger just sounds good. We grill them (but you could also get a skillet with grill ridges on the reverse side), trying to keep them as pink in the middle as we can. Usually my husband buries them in a bowl under condiments, but I love these burgers enough to just eat them as-is or maybe with some cheese.

Sugarbeat

I don't have a special way of preparing them but I recently had one using two large portabella mushrooms as a "bun." It was a bit hard to eat because it was really tall but otherwise tasty and filling.

DittoDan

I season my 27% fat meat with Lawry's season salt. Then I grill it on a propane gas grill called an InfraRed. (Best grill I ever had). Yea, I lose some of the fat, but when the fat drips on the hot burner the smoke from the fat makes the burger taste so good. Then I bring it in, I fry an egg (over medium) in butter or bacon drippings, slather mayo on burger, then put egg on top. Accessories may also include, pickled Jalapeño slices, caramelized onions and cheese of course!

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Michigan
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DittoDan

tmdalton849 wrote: »

i have tried a million and one different ways to make a burger, but am never entirely satisfied.

i like to keep ingredients simple, prefer medium rare, and don't have a grill (usually use my cast iron skillet). normally use a grass fed 80/20.

help a girl out - what's your fave recipe?

I have a question about the grass fed meat. I have never eaten it before. Yes, I believe its good for you. But is the taste different ~ or ~ better tasting? If I cooked two hamburgers, one grass fed and one normal, and blind folded you, could you tell me which one was grass fed?

Thank you,

Dan the Man from Michigan
Previous Discussions (lots of easy Keto recipes and other useful Keto info)
My Blog: Intermittent Water Fasting & Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites

Kitnthecat

I think grass fed beef tastes better than regular. The first time I made a burger out of the grass fed ground beef over 3 years ago, I was blown away....it tastes like steak ! I choose to eat grass fed for the health benefits alone, but was surprised by the quality and taste. Not only for the beef, but also pastured pork as well.....I'll never go back to eating conventionally raised meat again. Here's a tip from my farmers....mix ground beef and ground pork together for a tasty burger.

Lrdoflamancha

Dan.... Oh heck yes.... Grass fed is always better. And yes I can definitely tell the difference. I am fortunate to have a butcher in town that sells it.. But it is expensive.

tmdalton849

it does taste better, yes. (:

Alliwan

DittoDan wrote: »

tmdalton849 wrote: »

i have tried a million and one different ways to make a burger, but am never entirely satisfied.

i like to keep ingredients simple, prefer medium rare, and don't have a grill (usually use my cast iron skillet). normally use a grass fed 80/20.

help a girl out - what's your fave recipe?

I have a question about the grass fed meat. I have never eaten it before. Yes, I believe its good for you. But is the taste different ~ or ~ better tasting? If I cooked two hamburgers, one grass fed and one normal, and blind folded you, could you tell me which one was grass fed?

Thank you,

Dan the Man from Michigan
Previous Discussions (lots of easy Keto recipes and other useful Keto info)
My Blog: Intermittent Water Fasting & Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites

I know this is blasphemy here, but meat just isnt my thing. I eat it because its good on this WOE but it isnt normally my first go to for taste, so I am not sure I could tell you the difference in taste in grass fed vs non grass fed meat. But we eat grass fed for the health benefits for both daughter and I. Both of us have PCOS and keeping hormones and antibiotics out of our food is helpful on many levels.

Now milk and butter and cream and cream cheese...I could totally tell you the difference. I can even tell the difference between Horizon and Organic Valley (organic valley tastes better btw).