Help with hamburgers
 

Help! My burgers keep falling apart on the grill. I make my burgers by mixing ground beef, diced onions, sometimes mushrooms, sometimes bread for thickness and an egg to hold it together. But, the last two times they crumbled when I went to flip them. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You should use only the egg white to hold your burgers together. Other than that it's all technique. First start off by taking the burger and making a ball. Then you want to throw the ball down onto a flat surface to flatten in out. If you make a patty shape from the start it's not as strong. Because of burger shrinkage you want to make your patties 25-50% thicker than what you want to be serving. Lastly, put the patty on the BBQ/range, and leave it there. Most of the cooking is done on the first side, usually 7-10 minutes depending on the heat your are throwing. Once the underside is good and cooked it won't fall apart.

Diced onions and mushrooms give off a lot of liquid, that might be the reason for your burgers falling apart... You might try cooking the onions and 'shrooms first to get the liquid out of them...

I personally don't like bread or egg in burgers, that gives it a meatloaf texture to it that I just don't like, just the meat and maybe a shot or three of worcestishire sauce....

You want to handle the burger as little as possible, too m uch handling can toughen it...

You also want your beef to not be super lean eithh... (I usually go with the 85 percent lean to not have it dry out)

Move the burger very little when it's on the grill or in the pan.

Thank you everyone - we'll start doing that from now on.

ditto the egg whites....make sure your onions are chopped small or use dried onions, don't add mushrooms..saute them in a seperate pan, and I'd loose the bread crumbs. place your pre-formed patties between wax paper and throw them in the fridge for a while before you cook them.

like wdevauld said...don't keep flipping them...let them be

Agree.....lose some of the waterlogging ingredients.

The thing that works really well for us is a wire basket cooker. It's generally used to cook fish, which can be impossible to do directly on the grill grates. It's an open latticework of wire mesh, and has a long handle that sticks out of the grill. You open it up, put your burgers in, then put it on the grill. When it's time to flip you just turn the whole basket over. The burgers are securely held inside, and never fall apart. You can probably find one at Williams-Sonoma or other cooking store.

Great tips everybody, hopefully my next time using the grill won't be as messy. You get to those pre-made pattys that were cheap in college.

I grind my own burgers from 50% chuck and 50% sirlion. Toss it into a salad mixing bowl, add a finely chopped shallot, and a handful of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. No egg. I roll them into billiard ball sized balls, compacting them as I go. Kinda like a snowball. They go into the fridge for about an hour, hour and a half. When you are ready to go, use the palm of your hand to squish them to the desired height, and grill as you like. They haven't fallen apart yet. If you want to impress, do this before you chill the meat. Divide the billiard balls in half, squish them down to patties, and add cheese on top of one, and top with the other. Seal the edges carefully, and chill in patty form. Voila. Stuffed burgers. Just handle them carefully on a well oiled grill.

ditto all above, and nice touch Ripsaw, I am am big fan of cheese stuffed burger. I stay away from bread crumbs, and I would recommend not working your meat too much, more of a short toss from hand to hand, you do not want to pack the burger to much, but want it firm

oh never mind, I think i have 10 thumbs today

the more you work the mix the finer the ground meat becomes. Try to use slightly less lean meat if you want moistness, rather than adding wet ingredients.

I tend to use meat and seasoning only (a little smoked chilli and worcestershire sauce) and cook onions and mushrooms seperately to layer in the bun.

Also the advice about chilling the meat between making and cooking is vital.

I only use egg to hold the meat together if I'm making an elaborate stuffed burger (think blue cheese crumbles with bacon).

I've got to echo what Mal said--don't buy meat that's too lean. So many people do that and it just ruins their burgers. Buy good beef from a reputable butcher. That is the key to a good burger.

BTW....what time is dinner? I'll bring the wine and beer!

Cheese stuffed burgers? I can't believe I'm actually from Wisconsin and never heard of that before. I am both ashamed and very hungry.

I use bread crumbs, worschestershire (sp?) sauce, and franks red hot sauce. They are really good. The spiciness depends on the hot sauce, just put in a little for flavour. And just grill them to your desired taste.

Man now I want a burger :( With A1 Thick & Hearty sauce too.

Asta!!

Fat is your friend. Fatty burgers stick together.

I stick all kinds of different things in my burgers, depending on my mood: Vietnamese black bean sauce, Jerk sauce, onions, garlic, peppers, tung ot toi, egg, cheese...whatever I have on hand. They always stay together, as long as they aren't "super lean"