HRM.... OK I'll bite.
Just stumbled onto this forum from tapatalk... Love looking at pictures of other peoples cooks for ideas/inspiration/motivation....
AND I happen to be making a burger this morning (tbh not that big a coincidence
). Soooo.... Hopefully its not bad form for me to blow this thread up with pictures? Figured this would be better then the standard into post since I just registered
I'm a fan of a fairly basic burger... I have to admit I cringe when I see 6inch thick patties with chunks of peppers hanging out. (I may not be the smartest, or most experianced cook... But what I lack I more then make up for with unsubstantiated and bias opinion:D )
I think when cooking its important to keep in mind the terroir... That is why I always cook in an alley on an old keg
Picked up the weber charcoal baskets for $7 at the begining of summer, They are a nice way to hold your coals together. Took that back one apart, and use it to brace coals against the back of the kettle during slow cooks.
Usually have leftover coal... I just pile fresh on top. Grab your blowtorch and light at both corners and in the middle.
To be honest... I am talking way too much here. The real answer to how to make a good hamburger is easy, 1 word. Bacon.
used to be a big fan of pan fried. But the truth is indirect bbq bacon is rediculous. I start the lump burning, and let it go enough to get hot and start burning off the initial fumes. I then drop it into the kettle, and cook bacon while the coal bed burns in and gets nice and even.
Why not add some hickory? I tend to just put wood above the coals... Move it to a slightly colder spot for less smoke, or directly over the coals for too much smoke.
NOW THE BURGER!
80/20 walmart beef
Not overly obsesed with buying the best beef... When I spend more I haven't noticed it being revolutionary... But not the plastic tube of ground beef... just say no to that.
I like 1/4lb for a small burger or 1/3 for normal... Not too much bigger, if you want more make a double. Never been a thick burger guy.
Salt & Pepper, light garlic and decent/med onion powder.
I find that ground beef tends to shrink in the direction of its... "strands"? for lack of a better word. I like to make sure they go in all directions so it does not football.
I also make my patties like I make a pizza. GENTLY flattening the meat in the middle out towards the outside putting a rim on it, so the middle doesn't end up thicker.
I throw the pattie on when the bacon looks to be nearing done. One thing I have found is that I like the slow cooked BBQ 1 step above pan fried with reguards to doneness. What comes off the BBQ looking WAY to done, will be like crispy pan fried. If the bacon looks like normal pan fried, it will seem on the lower side of cooked coming off the grill.
I was worried this bacon may have been too far along when I was throwing the pattie on, so I pulled it to the very far side (the one piece that is not is REAL thick).
This pattie is about ready to be flipped. I look at the coloring of the beef on the circumfrence of the pattie, at the bottom as well as the juices forming on top and pay attention to the smell coming off the grill.
Not bad... I keep the lid down the whole time, obviously it just makes for better pictures up
At this point I am running for the cheese and bun. I put the cheese on like... Half way through the second side.
Depending on the thickness of the burger, I'll pull it over for some indirect cooking to finish. Toasting the buns only takes ~30 seconds... keep em moving. Once they are OK I set them in the indirect area and let it all finish up
And thats that. Maybe coulda bumped it up over 1/3 lb by a little considering these bigger buns... but man it was good.
Sorry if too many pictures... but how can you have to much weber/food porn?