Let's talk burgers! (1 Viewer)

[Thunderchild]

Lee's burgers were onionriffic, and Bud's was Bud's. I&O are super fresh. All three were/are my top takeouts.

Way back when, good go burgers could be had at Royal Castle, Frostop, and K&B uptown. ADNM

Man, I miss Bud's. At one point I lived close to one and it was a regular stop.

 

[JLaneSaints]

I can't have pink of any shade in my burger. I don't want well done, but Medium Well + 30 seconds on the grill is where it is at. I don't have a good reason for it, but the minute I see pink I flash to the future to see myself dying of Mad Cow disease. I can't shake it no matter how hard I try.


Even with steak, my logic side says medium, but my irrational side just won't let my logic side win. Except for Prime Rib. For some reason my irrational side just says "fork it, let's go".

 

[rajncajn]

Just made some burgers yesterday.

Set up the Weber Kettle grill with coals on one side for direct heat and the other half for indirect heat.

Picked up a nice chuck roast and had it ground up. In all it made 8 9oz burgers.
Placed the patties 4 at a time on the indirect side and brushed some Canola oil on the top. Added my seasoning blend and let them go for about 15 minutes. Flipped and seasoned the other side, them go for another 5 minutes. (This got the internal temp up to 140 for medium rare) Then I moved them to direct heat for a reverse sear about 1.5 minutes on each side. Repeat process for the additional patties.

Nice color on the outside and super juicy on the inside. I think I like grilling burgers again.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I threw some dry hickory chips on the fire while the patties were on the indirect side. Gave them a nice smokey flavor.

This sounds a lot like I do my burgers.

I make my patties thick, like 1-1/2" thick. I chop green onion fine and add some Weber Chicago steak seasoning (but not a lot), which is basically kosher salt, cracked black pepper, crushed red pepper flake, fennel & dried garlic. I can't give exact measurements because I do it all by eye. I mix very lightly as to not let the meat get packed & dense then form my patties lightly to where they are nearly falling apart. The less you handle the meat, the better. Then I do the thumb print method and flip the burgers thumb print down on my paper (you'll see why below). For those that don't know, having the thumbprint does a few things. One, it allows the heat to penetrate, but still gives you a great, thick burger without having to cook it longer. Two, it creates a pool while cooking for the juices to sit rather than escape off into your grill helping the burger retain more of it's juiciness and three, it helps the burger retain it's shape rather than puffing up in the middle while it cooks. So no more trying to press the patty down with your spatula because it's getting fat in the middle. This is a big no-no as it presses out the juices.

My grilling method is what's similar to yours. I have 4 fire bricks that I put in the bottom of my Weber Kettle. I line them up in kind of a striped pattern where I have coals, a line of 2 bricks, a 2" gap with coals, another line of bricks and then coals again. This gives me a semi-hot core in the middle for slower cooking, but the bricks for retaining the heat and two outside areas for quick sear. This also allows me to control where my hot spots are on the grill. For my charcoal I use a mix of Kingsford (or Stubbs if I can find it) briquettes and lump charcoal and light them in a chimney starter (NEVER use lighter fluid... EVER). This gives you the best of both worlds for flavor, ease of use and even temps. When the coals are ready I spread them across the grill filling in the gaps, but leaving the bricks uncovered then put the lid on until the temp reaches about the 350-400 range.

While the grill is heating, I oil the bottom of the burgers lightly and sprinkle a little more of the seasoning (again, not a lot), then flip the burgers thumbprint up and place them over the bricks. As soon as they're all on I oil and season the top. Put the lid on with the vent open right over the middle gap and let them go for 4 minutes then flip & cover for another 4 minutes.

If you like cheese, garlic butter or bleu cheese, stop at 3-1/2 minutes after the flip, flip the burgers again, add your topping of choice (the thumbprint works great as a pocket), tent with foil made ahead of time and put the lid back on for the remaining time.

For those that like their burger cooked a bit more, at the end of the process, put them directly over the coals on the outside, get a very quick sear and take them right off. They'll still be pretty juicy, but will get a nicer char on the outside. If you're one of those people that must have the grill marks you can do the same. Just stop at the 3-1/2 mark before the flip, sear the bottom then flip back over the bricks. Then at the 3-1/2 mark after the flip, move over the coals to sear the top.

Edit: You can do the same method without the fire bricks. You can use ceramic briquettes, foil pans or the charcoal baskets. It's also handy if you get the grate with the hinges. That way if your heat begins to go down it's easy to add coals without having to remove the grate.

 

[rajncajn]

Here's a good example of what the thumbprint burgers look like:

 

[antipop]

we went to Desi Vega's burger place in Harahan last night...i gotta say, it was a tasty burger...

probably a little on the expensive side if you are a cheapskate but it was worth it

 

[rajncajn]

we went to Desi Vega's burger place in Harahan last night...i gotta say, it was a tasty burger...

probably a little on the expensive side if you are a cheapskate but it was worth it

Did you get a tasty beverage to wash it down?

 

[tomwaits]

i never once thought of this, but it makes perfect sense
we don't really eat beef in this house, so i might have to wait some to test this out, but i def will

we do turkey burgers, and my go to is spicy brown mustard with the occasional dip into the ketchup that's on the plate for the fries

 

[antipop]

Did you get a tasty beverage to wash it down?

Barq's red cream soda...pretty sure that Jules would approve

 

[mikaloyd]

Sorry but apparently it's immoral to eat a hamburger.

I specialize in immoral though

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Look at the big brain on AP.

 

[zeetes]

i am sure it has probably been covered in this thread, but what is the opposite of a burger lover non-vegan called? do carnivores have a special name?

 

[bonnjer]

I'm heading up to Shreveport this weekend for Geek'd Con and was thinking about hitting up Grub Burger with the kids. Anybody ever been? Menu looks good.

 

[rajncajn]

i am sure it has probably been covered in this thread, but what is the opposite of a burger lover non-vegan called? do carnivores have a special name?

Normal

 

[Dago]

I like to get lean meat for my burgers.
Then I add 'fat' one of two ways....either grating frozen organic butter into the meat and mixing it up or by adding bacon fat
then I smoke the burgers with applewood and finish them over high heat to medium