How do you make a burger

[4ever3]

Find a grocery store or a small butcher shop near by and buy some real ground beef, it is night and day. Up until about 3 years ago we blindly bought "ground chuck" from the big grocery store until I noticed the "ground chuck" was a $1.50 cheaper than the chuck roast. What? Same product (supposedly) with more labor and more packaging? So I ask the guy behind the counter why? He looks over his shoulder, then looks around (like a sniper may take him out) and says in a low voice "It's not really ground chuck, it has a large percentage of "filler" (yes, he did air quotes.)" We never bought another package from there. We bought from a small butcher shop for a while until Sprouts started opening, they grind their beef from clod in the store.

Don't misunderstand, I've got nothing against pink slime, I'll eat a TON of smoked bologna, but I don't want it in my hamburger meat.

Buy some good meat, cook it indirect to your preferred temp and serve it to the family. You won't ever buy the other "hamburger" meat again...

 

[Zippylip]

There’s no shortage of information about the potential horrors of prepackaged ground meat, good & reputable butchers aside, depending on where it’s from it can range from lower quality cuts to fecal ridden garbage. Why would you ever leave this to chance given how simple it is to grind your own, you pick the whole cut of meat (or combinations) you want & you know precisely what’s going into the grinder thus your burger. The texture will also be better because you can lightly press it into shape rather than a densely smashed together burger (pre-ground suffers this fate regardless of how high the quality of meat). I bought the kitchen aid meat grinder attachment for maybe $40 prolly 15 years ago so pre-ground meat hasn’t seen the inside of my kitchen since. By the way another vote here for chuck, always readily available and always tasty.

 

[babrisket]

So far I've done a 60/40 chuck to short rib mix and a 50/50 chuck to short rib mix and while both were really good, I didn't notice a difference in the increase in short rib. The chuck by itself is a lot better than any store bought I've had. I bought 3 choice briskets on sale for 1.88/lb this weekend and I plan on grinding up one of them, still trying to decide what/if to mix it with anything. Shopping sales is key to getting the meat cheaper than the stores prepackaged ground beef. When I see chuck on sale for under $3/pound I'll buy around 15 pounds. A vacuum sealer really comes in handy. Just grab a pack out of the freezer, throw it in the sink and it taste the same as fresh. The thing I've learned is the more fat the better. 70/30 is the minimum fat ratio. Here's a post I did where I ground some.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224384

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Great information here, thanks all!
It's been a long time since I saw brisket prices that were reasonable. Guess I'll have to look again.

 

[Pstores]

Grind up some nice lean coyote..... Cook till medium well, fry Green Peppers, onions, mushrooms, and bacon..... Add some good cheese and top it off with a good smokey BBQ sauce

 

[Springram]

Bob, your post today here inspired me to make this just for you:

Gotta have some fries:

You've received some great advice so far - the burger I made was from fresh store bought 80/20 ground chuck, but you'll be in better shape if you either grind it yourself, or hand the chuck of your choice to the butcher and have him grind it for you. And if you happen to throw in some short rib meat, all the better!

Season the burger patty generously with sea salt or Lawry's and a nice twist of fresh ground pepper before it hits the grill and you're all set.

That looks like a hamburger to me. A real one. Great job!

 

[OlyQ]

I usually grind Tri-Tip for burgers.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Briskets were $3 a pound, but the smallest was still $50.
Mom won't be too impressed with the burgers when I come home with $60 worth of meat! :laugh:
Pork butts on sale for $.99, so that's what I used witht the bottom round steak I bought.
Crap.. I hate being poor.
Of course I bought a couple extra butts for the freezer. You can't "not" when they're a dollar pound.

Pictures later...

 

[gtr]

I'll use any combo of chuck, short rib, brisket, and maybe a little pork - like rib trimmings or bacon ends (from making bacon) and grind coarse. No complaints yet.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thank you.
If I can sneak it out of the fridge, I might "happen" to drop a few slices of bacon into the grinder while I'm cranking it. :twisted:

 

[T.Mac]

Never been a fan of pre-ground. Primarily I use ground venison that's been professionally processed with beef fat added. If I run out of that I'll buy a chuck roast on sale and have the butcher grind it.

The recipe is a copy of In-N-Out Burger's Animal Style double cheeseburger. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...lmost-famous-animal-style-burgers-recipe.html

 

[gtr]

Thank you.
If I can sneak it out of the fridge, I might "happen" to drop a few slices of bacon into the grinder while I'm cranking it. :twisted:

You'll wanna freeze it a little before grinding due to the fat content. So good!

And as to the In-n-Out - had one the other night. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that!

 

[Okie Sawbones]

Chuck roasts are always on sale somewhere. I buy a 5 lb. roast, grind it using a 3/16 plate, mix in 1/2 cup of Bull Flour, add Peppered Cow rub, and freeze in 1 lb. bags. Juicy and tasty.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Freezing YES!
I've only ever ground my own once, and room temp meat was nasty and messy. It was like trying to get snot back into my nose. It's horrible.
THEN... I heard you freeze it just a bit. That's the ticket!

Thanks for the link, that's perfect!

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Chuck roasts are always on sale somewhere. I buy a 5 lb. roast, grind it using a 3/16 plate, mix in 1/2 cup of Bull Flour, add Peppered Cow rub, and freeze in 1 lb. bags. Juicy and tasty.

Please, tell me about this flour you put in.... Interesting, I've never heard of that.

 

[mikecz]

Yeah, I don't trust those "chubbs" of ground meat from anywhere. I'm not fancy, tho, either.

I simply use 80% or 81% "ground beef". Make patties about 6 ounces, handling them as littler as possible to get in shape. Salt and pepper both sides generously, dent one side with thumb. Drop them on the hot grill (usually the Weber Go-Anywhere, because it's quite a bit hotter than the big kettle). Turn at 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how thick you made them and how well done you like. Put cheese on, if you want (try a nice crumbled blue sometimes). Cook another 3 to 5 minutes. Did you toast you buns? Did you put some mayo on at least the bottom bun? Sometimes try a burger with NO CONDIMENTS at all - you'll be surprised at how good this can be!

... and everyone says my burgers are as good as, if not better than the $12-15 ones at the "nice" taverns!

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

I cut the pork and beef into strips, and put in the freezer to "crisp" them a bit after sprinkling a dash of flavor on the meat.
Only need four patties, so we'll have plenty for Mexican night!

 

[Okie Sawbones]

Please, tell me about this flour you put in.... Interesting, I've never heard of that.

Bull flour has been used by sausage makers for ages as a binder, and to maintain juiciness. It works in burgers as well. You can't buy Bull Flour anymore, but you can make your own. I buy Bob's Red Mill products -- good quality. I mix 22 oz. bags of rice flour, corn flour, rye flour, and oat flour together in a large screw lid container. Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup per 5# of meat.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Great information, thank you!

Ok....final photo. The burgers were great.
Unfortunately, my plan failed, because the wife said, "You've made burgers just as good from the 'regular' ground beef, and it didn't cost as much".
Crap... I've gotten good at making crap taste good. :sad:

Regardless, thanks to all for the help. Personally, I LOVED the burger!