UKC

Any recipe tips would be most appreciated.

In reply to The Lemming:

Use good quality meat, If you want to add onions give them a gentle fry to soften and allow to cool before adding to the mix, plenty of salt and cracked pepper. Also the addition of chilli flakes works wonders if you like spicy stuff.

In reply to The Lemming:
An egg to help bind them and mix in a a little pork to keep them (shudder) moist.

In reply to The Lemming:

Use chuck steak and sirloin, or brisket, short rib and sirloin. You want some fat in there. Don't put pork in as you don't need it. Basically you want a fatty cut and a less fatty cut. Get it minced for you by a butcher.

In reply to The Lemming:

Lots of salt, pepper and garlic and a drizzle of oil to bind. No egg necessary. use your hads to make it into a paste. flour your hands and shape the patties.

Top tip - only mix it with one hand so you don't have two hands covered in messy meat goo.

In reply to The Lemming:

If you have fish sauce in the house, use a dash of that instead of salt and you have much (shudder) moister burgers. I occasionally blitz in a little bit of chorizo, because I'm wild like that.

In reply to The Lemming:

I normally use a good quality mince (Costco Scottish mince works well)
some course chopped onion, bread crumbs, Tabasco, Worcester sauce, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.
sometimes I put in some fresh herbs.

If I have friends around for a BBQ, I get people to make their own and add cheese.

it gets people involved and helps the party to get going

In reply to RichardP:




Heathen. there should be no need to sully a good homemade burger with crappy breadcrumbs.

In reply to The Lemming:

I once showed my daughters how to make burgers from scratch, they started crying so I said "Stop moaning, old scratch was never a very friendly cat"

In reply to The Lemming:

Lots of people offering tips to keep burgers moist, but in my view, the best way to avoid dry burgers is not to squeeze all the juice out of them whilst cooking and don't over cook.

In reply to The Lemming:

Get about 1 kg of good quality steak. Mince using a cleaver on a cutting board if you don´t have a butcher´s cutter. Do not mince using a regular meat grinder: You want small, cleanly cut chunks of meat, not mince consisting largely of meat paste.

Add any spices except the salt already at that step, I usually use pepper, rosemary leaves and chilies according to taste.

Add one egg, mix, and form about 6-8 burger patties, salt them on the outside only just before frying.

I normally use a hot pan to close the outer pores and then flip the burgers to a cooler pan, or just turn down the heat after a minute or so if cooking on gas. BBQing the burgers is of course even better. In any case, quickly fry on both sides, then only turn once more. If you don´t feel confident, use a cooking thermometer.

As for the bun, either bake your own, or get some Italian ciabatta. American style foamy buns are absolutely evil.

I also put raw onions, grilled paprika, and salad leaves on the buns, as well as a dash of good steak sauce, and some homemade chilie or Jamican jerk sauce. Even coming close to these burgers with a ketchup bottle is a capital offence!

CB

In reply to ByEek:

+1

CB

uwzcrtboweoeix

(added to provide some lower case letters, just posting "+1 CB" is illegal)

In reply to john spence:

I once showed my daughters how to make burgers from scratch, they started crying so I said "Stop moaning, old scratch was never a very friendly cat"

I had bubble and squeak for dinner. Will have to go the pet shop and get two new hamsters before the kids get home.

In reply to The Lemming:
Good burgers can be made from smart/value/cheap mince, although grinding good meat freshly does allow for burgers to be served rare.

Tip 1# Wear disposable gloves if you have them as they save work cleaning meat off hands.

Tip 2# Keep your ingredients cold as the fat and meat emulsify better (true of most 'forcemeats')

Tip 3# Make your meat into a great big sausage wrapped tightly in several layers of cling film and then cut your burgers from this with a sharp knife.

Tip 4# Form your burgers as soon as you have mixed salt in and chill for 20 minutes and they will bind without egg/flour/bread crumb. 1tsp salt per KG is about right.

Tip 5# Always make your own burgers as they are better and you can decide if they are 100% Beef/Horse/Lamb/Pork or your own special blend.

In reply to The Lemming:

This is a cracking burger from Mr Oliver.
Get good quality minced lamb, season well , shape into patty and cook on griddle. When almost cooked add a slice of blue cheese on top and cover with foil to make a little steam chamber to make it melt nicely. Grill a good quality bun layer up with a few slices of a good crisp apple, burger on top et viola.

In reply to The Lemming:

Don't be afraid to make a stuffed burger. Evelop two patties areound the stuffing of your choice.
My personal favourite is Turkey stuffed with cranberry and mozzarella, though a few weeks ago I did make a venison one stuffed with haggis that was simply heavenly.

In reply to The Lemming:

For best taste: Use fatty mince - much taste comes from the fat (cheap is better in my view). Small amount very crushed garlic, some finely chopped onion very lightly cooked and cooled (i lightly fry and finish softening with splash of water - cooking too much means they burn when fried in the burger). Well seasoned (worcester good also). Breadcrumbs purely to help keep the fat and other juices inside the burger. Forget this 'binding' stuff - shape then chill (which helps 'set' the shape). Very hot pan. Stilton goes well - melted on when you flip the burger. And dont start fiddling and moving it when its in the pan - just flip when you think its done. Once fried (rare in centre but well browned on outside), whip out, rest for a bit whilst you fry/toast one side of the bread in the frying pan.

In reply to The Lemming:

Use ricotta cheese instead of eggs to bind.

In reply to The Lemming:

Put some cheese in the centre of the pattie

In reply to The Lemming:
I'm now hungry.

Ps burgers are almost always better with a thin slice of very crispy bacon added to them

In reply to The Lemming:

To stop them breaking up when you cook them, after making them, stick them in the fridge for 30 min to bind.