Grilling burgers

[Johnpv]

If I may extend the discussion a bit... Has anyone used a burger press to form their own burgers? If so, how well does that work?

What about grinding your own beef?

I've used a burger press before, it's an OLD one was my mom's.  It works alright, but I tend to prefer to hand form them. 

I usually start with 80/20 fresh ground beef.  I then take about 3 - 4 oz of apple wood smoked bacon per lb of beef and dice it as much as I can.  I then mix them together really well but not forcefully, soft and gentle like.  Some times I add seasoning, some times not.  If I do, it'll be a mix of like Onion powder, garlic powder and a hint of ground cumin. Then I weigh out about 4 oz and gently form them with my hand.  When it comes to the grill I get as screaming hot of a grill as I can and cook them hot and fast to a nice medium.

The bacon I find really adds a lot of flavor with out overpowering everything. 


*edit*

I forgot to add that I'll usually sprinkle just a little salt and ground black pepper onto them a little bit before they go on the grill.

[jimmy_dong]

I dont have the space to grind my meat. "ba dum tiss"

Really though. I would like to but the butcher at most Tom thumbs or Randalls (same) will grind a brisket for you and divide it for free.

Sadly there are neither around me anymore.

[HankB]

What about grinding your own beef?

Childish, I know, but reading that made me laugh....  sorry to get sidetracked.

It gives me great pleasure to be able to bring joy into other's lives with so little effort on my part.

[Tim in PA]

If I may extend the discussion a bit... Has anyone used a burger press to form their own burgers? If so, how well does that work?

What about grinding your own beef?

I use a burger press exclusively now. I enjoy having a nice uniform patty, about 1/4# which is about 1/2" thick. The one I have you can adjust it to any thickness. I usually put a piece of wax/parchment paper on the press, then the burger, then I cover the top with the wax/parchment paper also. Then I can easily stack the burgers on top of each other so they can rest in the fridge for a bit to get them to firm up.

I got mine from cabelas.

[SimSportPlyr]

Johnpv, I have a silly question: the bacon that you add to the ground beef is not cooked, right?

If I may extend the discussion a bit... Has anyone used a burger press to form their own burgers? If so, how well does that work?

What about grinding your own beef?

I've used a burger press before, it's an OLD one was my mom's.  It works alright, but I tend to prefer to hand form them. 

I usually start with 80/20 fresh ground beef.  I then take about 3 - 4 oz of apple wood smoked bacon per lb of beef and dice it as much as I can.  I then mix them together really well but not forcefully, soft and gentle like.  Some times I add seasoning, some times not.  If I do, it'll be a mix of like Onion powder, garlic powder and a hint of ground cumin. Then I weigh out about 4 oz and gently form them with my hand.  When it comes to the grill I get as screaming hot of a grill as I can and cook them hot and fast to a nice medium.

The bacon I find really adds a lot of flavor with out overpowering everything. 


*edit*

I forgot to add that I'll usually sprinkle just a little salt and ground black pepper onto them a little bit before they go on the grill.

[DoppelBock]

'

[Johnpv]

Johnpv, I have a silly question: the bacon that you add to the ground beef is not cooked, right?

That is correct. 

[jay sackuvich]

So this past weekend me and a buddy were joking about the horrible brats we invented using the grinder that I had to have!  So we get the wild hair to make our own burgers Sunday! 
2 lbs top sirloin steak
1 lb bacon (the one that was on sale)
2 johnsonville chedder brats
1 of the small blocks of Colby jack cheese
A half bag of birds eye seasoning blend

Ground everything into a bowl, threw in about 2 tbs of "what's this here sauce" I can't spell Worcestershire lol! Made about 12 big patties. Indented them in the middle, and grilled four at a time on the weber gourmet cast iron crosshatch grill.  Couple mins per side, and moved to the edges for About 20 mins!  All in all my wife said we will never buy ground meat again! They were awesome!  Maybe next time less bacon, cause they were awfully wet!  The first flip, I lost a little! 


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[Tim in PA]

If I may extend the discussion a bit... Has anyone used a burger press to form their own burgers? If so, how well does that work?

What about grinding your own beef?

I use a burger press, I like it a lot. I place a square piece of wax paper down, a small hand full of burger, another wax paper square, press the lid down, good to go, works nice and fast. Best thing about it is it's size adjustibility; pick how thick you want it and go to town making burgers.
Here's the one I use, http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/adjustable-nonstick-burger-press/?pkey=e|burger%2Bpress|4|best|0|1|24||2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

That is the same one that we have. It works very well.

[Weber MD]

What about grinding your own beef?

Childish, I know, but reading that made me laugh....  sorry to get sidetracked.

Ha-ha.

[GC8]

One article I read recommended 1" thick.   Are yours thinner than that?

Ya, I keep mine thinner than that...probably about 1/4".  They don't make for a HUGE burger, but they aren't tiny either.  They work well for making a double too

I used to make burger patties the size I'd like them after cooking and obviously, that never worked.  They'd always shrink in diameter, but never in thickess.  I've sure we've all experienced a burger like this at the neighborhood cookout.  It's got an inedible char on it and takes a few bites of pure bun and toppings before you reach the meat in the middle (there's a joke in there somewhere).

Enough blabbering, I'll let the pics do the talking:

[SimSportPlyr]

GC8, yum, that looks good!

May I ask what type of seasoning you show in the photo?

[esq3585]

Try some of these bad boys http://bbqpitboys.com/burger-recipes

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[esq3585]

For quickness I'll get some Costco burgers and season them with salt/pepper and old bay seasoning, old bay tastes that good I could eat it on its own

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[esq3585]

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