Made some excellent cheeseburgers last night!

[HomerJS]

I use...

ground buffalo (5 oz hand press)
salt
pepper
white american

Different slightly gamy taste. If you cook med-rare it not dry.

 

[Howard]

I use a food saver vacuum sealer system and store patties this way in my freezer. Making them all one size helps to fit properly in the vacuum bags

The texture of the patty is degraded when subjected to vacuum.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives...er-sous-vide-without-a-sous-vide-machine.html

If this is something you can live with, then by all means.

 

[ronniedavisk2_9]

I much prefer Cheddar to American cheese when it comes to burgers.

 

[HomerJS]

I much prefer Cheddar to American cheese when it comes to burgers.

The only thing I don't like about cheddar because it doesn't melt smoothly.

I would like to try smoked cheddar one day. Just wouldn't leave it on too long.

 

[NetWareHead]

The texture of the patty is degraded when subjected to vacuum.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives...er-sous-vide-without-a-sous-vide-machine.html

If this is something you can live with, then by all means.

Excellent point and something I noticed when I began vacuum sealing patties. The Food Saver has 2 motor settings for suction: normal and gentle. The gentle setting works better at not pulling out as many juices from the patty and into the vacuum of the bag. The gentle also doesn't deform the patty as much. Its still not optimal. What I do now is after the patties are formed, I place them n the freezer for an hour or two. I then vacuum seal frozen patties. The frozen meat can withstand better the compressive forces of vacuum sealing.

 

[TwiceOver]

I thinks its better way to make patties. Cold plastic touches the meat, not your warm hands. There is less of a chance of over-handling the meat and no heat from your hands transfers to the meat/fat. Patties come out uniform in size and thickness which makes cooking them easier and more time consistent. Sometimes when the butcher has a special price on ground beef, I'll buy 5-10 pounds and make a bunch of patties. I use a food saver vacuum sealer system and store patties this way in my freezer. Making them all one size helps to fit properly in the vacuum bags

Maybe it is just me, but pre-formed patties seem so dense and just not as juicy. To each their own. I don't think I over handle my meat :awe: It's always plump and juicy :awe::awe:

 

[Howard]

Excellent point and something I noticed when I began vacuum sealing patties. The Food Saver has 2 motor settings for suction: normal and gentle. The gentle setting works better at not pulling out as many juices from the patty and into the vacuum of the bag. The gentle also doesn't deform the patty as much. Its still not optimal. What I do now is after the patties are formed, I place them n the freezer for an hour or two. I then vacuum seal frozen patties. The frozen meat can withstand better the compressive forces of vacuum sealing.

Yep, that'll do it. Good thinking.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I was going to ask this question too if anyone makes their own custom grind. I have a meat grinder, one of those hand crank ones my mother gave me. I made great burgers once using a chuck and sirloin blend. Even straight chuck is good too.

Yep, using WHOLE meats vs bunch of processed/random parts etc is the best way to start.

Forget about the taste, just knowing that you are eating actual meat vs ears/eyeballs/intestine etc is enough for me to make that effort worthy.

 

[FeuerFrei]

How do you add pepper, onion, or garlic fragments to ground meat without the cooked patty falling apart?
Puree?
Low vegetable/meat ratio?

Sounded like a good idea and all, but I abandoned the concept after failing to build a cohesive patty with integrated onion. :\

 

[Kaido]

The texture of the patty is degraded when subjected to vacuum.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives...er-sous-vide-without-a-sous-vide-machine.html

If this is something you can live with, then by all means.

What if you freeze it first overnight, then vacuum-seal it to prevent freezer burn?

 

[Kaido]

How do you add pepper, onion, or garlic fragments to ground meat without the cooked patty falling apart?
Puree?
Low vegetable/meat ratio?

Sounded like a good idea and all, but I abandoned the concept after failing to build a cohesive patty with integrated onion. :\

Add egg (makes it goopy).

 

[NetWareHead]

Maybe it is just me, but pre-formed patties seem so dense and just not as juicy. To each their own. I don't think I over handle my meat :awe: It's always plump and juicy :awe::awe:

Well with the right touch, you can shape patties properly with a mold just like with your hands. Using either, just dont compress it so you are left with a hockey puck

 

[NetWareHead]

How do you add pepper, onion, or garlic fragments to ground meat without the cooked patty falling apart?
Puree?
Low vegetable/meat ratio?

Sounded like a good idea and all, but I abandoned the concept after failing to build a cohesive patty with integrated onion. :\

powdered spices are probably the best.

 

[spidey07]

powdered spices are probably the best.

I use a hand grater for onions, get lost of yummy juice. Could probably use for peppers and garlic if wanted.

 

[angminas]

Wow, one page of this shit and I'm already sick of it. Bossy food elitists can go fuck themselves with an artisanally crafted, compassionately sourced, locally purchased spice rack.

 

[zinfamous]

Blue cheese accentuates the flavor of the beef just amazingly well. American cheese covers it up.

And holy shit, for someone who claims they're amazing at making burgers, you added KETCHUP? That's like rule #1 of a good burger, NEVER USE KETCHUP. You claim you eat it to taste the beef, but you just added the worst ingredient ever for that.

At the very least the added ingredients you hate accentuate flavor. Onions and stuff undergo the malliard reaction and increase the sensation of savoriness which makes the overall burger package taste better, and spices also complement beef well.

Hell I can even forgive mayo because the fat content doesn't cover up the flavors much, but ketchup is like taking a huge steaming poop on the burger.

:thumbsup:

also, anyone who puts ketchup on hotdogs, as well as burgers: Children, all of you. grow the eff up and learn to appreciate the actual taste of your food.

 

[dbk]

Yeah catsup sux..only time i use it is to mix it with Sriracha for some fried chicken...mmmm

 

[zinfamous]

Step 1: With an annoying sense of unfounded superiority, bitch about the vinegar in ketchup overpowering the burger flavor.

Step 2: Proceed to suggest using straight vinegar on french fries.

That sounds like the right amount of stupid I come to expect in ATOT.

wat?

It's the sugar in ketchup that destroys your palate. Not vinegar. vinegar enhances flavors, which is why it is perfect on potato. Ketchup really isn't about vinegar, it's about way too much sugar destroying the flavor of everything--it's simply how our tastebuds work.

I suppose you could make your own ketchup and meter the sugar...but why bother? Just use real tomatoes and real vinegar.

ketchup is an abomination enjoyed only by inferior humans.

 

[MongGrel]

Yeah catsup sux..only time i use it is to mix it with Sriracha for some fried chicken...mmmm

I'll have to try that, only recently started using Sriracha myself.

I was tired the other day, the wife had all ready made the burgers, ended up reheating one with a blob of Velveeta melted on it, and some A1 Bold and Spicy on it for simplicity.

🙂

About the only thing I put straight ketchup on these days are french fries, onion rings, or meatloaf.

I think the wife has even switched to BBQ sauce for meatloaf half the time.

 

[zinfamous]

I'll have to try that, only recently started using Sriracha myself.

I was tired the other day, the wife had all ready made the burgers, ended up reheating one with a blob of Velveeta melted on it, and some A1 Bold and Spicy on it for simplicity.

🙂

About the only thing I put straight ketchup on these days are french fries, onion rings, or meatloaf.

I think the wife has even switched to BBQ sauce for meatloaf half the time.

generally, "BBQ sauce" = ketchup + liquid smoke...the standard turdy brands you get in the store, anyway.

 

[futurefields]

I use 90/10 angus, pan fry with worcestershire sauce and montreal steak seasoning.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

wat?

You confused? Let me make it easy for you:

No they don't go together. Ketchup is used for bad frozen burgers because the strong vinegar taste covers up the taste of everthing.

It's the sugar in ketchup that destroys your palate. Not vinegar. vinegar enhances flavors, which is why it is perfect on potato. Ketchup really isn't about vinegar, it's about way too much sugar destroying the flavor of everything--it's simply how our tastebuds work.

I suppose you could make your own ketchup and meter the sugar...but why bother? Just use real tomatoes and real vinegar.

ketchup is an abomination enjoyed only by inferior humans.

That is such bullshit. Vinegar is by far the dominant flavor in ketchup. In fact it's the first ingredient besides actual tomatoes in most ketchup. If it's too sweet for your delicate pallet, by all means just use less of it.

Are people this fucking uppity about ketchup?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Damn no avocado??

 

[spidey07]

Damn no avocado??

While good. It can overpower the burger.

Burger. Cheese. Tomato. Onion. Mayo. Can leave out the onion.

The ripe real mater blended with the mayo is perfect. Makes it's own sauce really.

It's like a bacon and mater sammich. But better. If there even is such a thing.

 

[notposting]

OK I'm def. trying this soon- I've been playing around w/ my Anova but didn't even think about burgers. Also have wanted to try cooking right over my chimney starter. Thanks for the idea- I don't have a meat grinder but there's a couple nice butchers in the area that should have something decent.

I'm in the preorder for TWO of the new Anova's. I need to go ahead and have a Searzall ready when they get here. 😉

And a meat grinder.
And a Thermapen.

And maybe a cow grazing out back. :hmm: