no more messy wet hands for dilbert! :lol:

Burgers for the summer
 

First, nice and simple. got it from wathcing Emeril. While prepping the beef to make your burgers chop up some bacon and onions and mix it in with the raw meat. different twist on the bacon burger that i'd like to check out some time.

Shrimp Burger: I saw emeril make this on tv and it looked really good. Go to his website and print out the recipe. He also has a recipe for homemade tartar sauce to go along with it.

maybe throw some diced up cheddar cheese into the mix as well.......


Mmmmmmmm cheeese!

Plain and simple for me. I do like to chop onions and sometimes garlic in the raw meat. My mother brings me a jar of the sauce from my favorite burger joint back home, and I use that rather than ketchup or mustard.

I like toasted potato buns too.

I REALLY like the raw garlic and bacon idea (though perhaps not together).

Mal, a further med twist might be lamb burgers with cumin, oregano and parsley in pitta with a tdaziki dressing and raw onions and tomatoes. Bit like falafel perhaps... Am going through a tahina phase but couldn't think of a way to work it in with the lamb!

For a recent BBQ I used my own home grown, pickled jalapenos and some cayenne, mixed with garlic, eggs, mince beef and seasoning. Good combination of heat.

There is a restaraunt were I live called Zip's. It's been around forever, and their specialty is called the "girth burger". They split a mett up the middle and put it on top with some cheese and onion. Its damn good!!

What's a met?

sorry, it's a sausage.

They sound fantastic - I'll have to give them a try.

and you got the seal of approval from Giant Hamburger! ;)

I prefer to keep the actual patty pretty plain, some salt and a bit of pepper if I feel like it. I love garlic but don't put it on burgers. I need to have the burger patty shaped perfectly (it's easier to buy them premade from a local butcher, still about as cheap as ground beef but they don't fall apart).
I'll grill them on a propane grill once the blood pools a fair amount on the top I flip it, then to finish it I like to smack it a few times with the flipper to get a nice seal on the outside of the burger and get rid of a bit of fat that would soak the bun. Ideally I'll put the burger cheese side down on the bottom of the roll (for those of you in the New York area, JJ Cassone's sandwich rolls are my favorite, pictures on the top left here: http://www.jjcassone.com/products.html)
The toppings are some fresh coleslaw, a generous slice of a large tomato, sometimes with the seeds and wetter parts removed and eaten beforehand, a nice slice of red or vidalia onion, a thick iceberg lettuce leaf or two, a touch of deli mustard, a well seasoned pickle slice, and some Heinz ketchup (I really do like it more than other brands it seems)

alternatively, it works pretty well for a double burger to cook 2 patties on one side till the blood pools, wipe it off with a paper towel, press some blue cheese or whatever filling you like into it, then attach the 2 patties and continue to cook. I prefer only one patty as I put plenty of other things on, but I do this for others who like stuffed burgers.

The only burgers I've ever gotten sick off are those horrid Bubba Burgers. I'm convinced they are the Anti-Christ. Every single time I have one I end up miserable.

I first take the Kaisers, cut in half, scoop out most of the inside leaving about a half inch of bread lining the crusty outside (watch not to get too close in the middle of the bottom, it'll make a hole!). Let them sit out just a bit so they get nice and crusty on the outside, but with the halves together so the insides stay soft.

I use the leanest sirloin I can find (usually about 95/5). Mix in garlic powder (which I usually abhor, but it mixes well), Italian bread dipping seasoning, plenty of Sriracha sauce and one egg. Sometimes I'll add a bit of seasoned bread crumbs or stick the middle of the Kaisers in the food processor to make it stck together better.

Grill with natural wood charcoal until medium. Let rest on side of grill away from the heat to drain a bit. Move to a plate lined with four thicknesses of paper towels. Pat the patties (heh) to remove excess grease. Put the pattie in the bottom of the Kaiser roll, top with bleu cheese crumbles, some shredded lettuce and fresh cracked pepper. Or the traditional sharp-cheddar, mustard, ketchup, etc. The hollowed out top of the bun makes more room for toppings and less squishing out the sides.

I love the heat from the sriracha with the lettuce and bleu cheese the best. And Garlic Dill Munchkin pickles. Geez, now I'm starving.

What dimensions do you guys use when making the patties? I haven't found that perfect size where it's thick enough to not dry out but not so thick that it 'shinks' into an inch think hunk of meat.

when i'm making burgers... i start with a pound of meat and divide it into 4 sections.. then i make each section into a baseball... and push down on it a little (you want to have a crater in the burger that way it wont puff up)

my burgers are probably 3/4 of an inch thick..

Tecs' Jalepeno Burgers:

2 lbs ground beef
2 small jalepeno peppers (diced really small)
1/2 large white onion
2 teaspoons tiger sauce (bbq sauce for those who cant find it)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Mix it all together, make pattys to prefered size, and cook to preference

top it all with pepperjack cheese

Along with spices, I usaully chop up some fresh mushrooms and mix them in with the ground beef. They make the burgers extra juicy.

The best way I know of is to use a packet of onion soup mix(dry) and to the good quality meat and then, to taste salt, pepper, bbq sauce, worcestershire, mix throughy. Have fried bacon,grilled onions and your favorite cheese. Make paties with the bacon,onions& cheese in the middle; then grill till done. Please get the large buns & a lot of napkins!

Mediterranean Summer
 

Now that I've perfected it and submitted it to Sutter Home's build a better burger competition I can share with you guys my ultimate summer burger:

1/4 cucumber
2 oz mint leave
8 oz plain yogurt

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tsp Lawry's season salt
1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 Lbs fresh ground sirloin
8 oz sun dried tomato feta cheese

1/2 large red onion
2 Tbsp garlic infused olive oil

1/2 bottle Sutter Home White Cabernet Sauvignon
2 Tbsp clover honey

1/2 Cup garlic infused olive oil
6 fresh Kaiser rolls

Slice skin of cucumber with a fork along it's length to reduce bitterness. Dice into small cubes. Chop mint to release oils. Add to yogurt and set aside covered in the sun.

Combine Balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, season salt, and pepper in large baking dish. Work approximately 2/3rds of the liquid into the meat then work the feta cheese into the meat and make six 1/3rd lb patties. Let sit in remaining liquid for 15 minutes, then flip and let rest another 15 minutes.

Preheat grill.

Dice 1/2 large red onion coarsely. Add onion and garlic infused olive oil to ceramic lined skillet over low heat to sweat. Onions are ready when they start to become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 bottle White Cabernet Sauvignon and 2 Tbsp clover honey. Reduce until wine begins to thicken to syrupy consistency then add additional 1/4 bottle. Reduce again to syrupy consistency. Set aside covered.

Prepare grates with olive oil, grill temperature should be about 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place patties along edge of grill elements to insure direct heating. Let cook for five minutes.

While burgers cook prepare Kaiser rolls by slicing and basting with olive oil soaked pastry brush, apply until entire surface of both halves of all 6 buns are coated.

Once five minutes is up flip burgers and place buns on warming rack of grill.

After five additional minutes remove buns and burgers from grill. Apply wine reduction and yogurt sauce (in that order) to burger.

Enjoy!

call some friends - tell them to bring beer...

1-1/2 pounds ground
1 can campbell's chedder cheese soup
3 Tbsp canned green chilis drained
1/2 C dry bread crumbs
salt & pepper
6 bulkie rolls

fire it up to medium

in a bowl mix well the beef, 1/2 C cheese soup and all the rest

divide into 6 patties (6 bulkies - so 6 patties)

grill 5-6 minutes for medium / 7-8 for well

heat the rest of the soup and pour over the top of the patties

open beer

you know the rest... :thumbsup:

Bringing this one back for Memorial Day and the start of Summer 07.

I take a half-pound patty of raw ground sirloin and lay it in a platter. Salt and pepper both sides. Drench one side with worcestershire sauce. Cover that side with lemon pepper seasoning and let it sit that way. After five minutes, Flip it over on the platter and repeat the process on the other side. After five more minutes, there's a pretty good marinate of worcestershire and lemon pepper on the bottom of the platter. Keep repeating this five minute flip (without adding any new seasonings) for thirty minutes. When you finally put the burger on the grill, pour half the leftover marinate onto the burger. The first time you flip it on the grill, pour the rest.

Exactly
as little tippler said, food poisoning, if you are making a rare burger out of pre ground beef, you are asking for trouble, it has to do with surface area for bacteria to grow. IF you ground your own ala Alton Brown, you should ground then cook, the longer you let it sit (talking about pre ground now, but if you ground your own, and let it sit) the more time for bacteria to grow. So burger unless you ground and cook immediately (less than 1 hour) think medium at least. Medium no pink will always be a safer burger.

I have always been a big fan of using teriyaki sauce when making burgers.

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
dozen saltine cracker crumbs (to bind)
salt
pepper
cumin
chili powder

Mix well, adding teriyaki until beef is the desirable consistency for forming burgers. Pour a bit more teriyaki and evenly distrubute on top of each formed burger. Let sit for several hours.

Grill and enjoy! - That's it.