the most OT: bespoke burgers

[eddief]

I don't eat a lot of red meat but I do love the occasional carnivore meal. And I often enjoy a good burger even more than an expensive steak = New York or ribeye. It seemed to me the average plastic wrapped fresh burger at the store must be an unknown combo of whatever the hell is trimmed off of everything else.

Today I bought a chuck roast, trimmed it, cut it up, food processed it into burger and cued it on my gas Weber. My processed texture was not quite right but the flavor was more than a "cut" above normal burger.

Am I crazy? Do you do this? What cuts do you use and how do you grind?

[htwoopup]

Strip sirloin. BUT, that is roughly 75-80% of the weight…the other 20-25% is center cut bacon mixed in. I don’t know what grind it is…I use the KitchenAid mixer with the meat grinder attachment with the round metal die piece after the cutting blade that is the largest holes. Then the Weber charcoal grill.

[RAS72]

Make sure your fat content is about 20%.
I'd recommend turning the gas off and light some lump coal. Bring the temp up in the neighborhood of 700F and sear the piss out of it. About 3.5 minutes on each side - flipping only once. Let it rest for another 5 minutes.
Then you might have something.

Pretty much what he said ^.

[dustyrider]

I’ve spent some time in meat processing. Learning how they “make the sausage” hasn’t ever deterred me, but even the best mixes of meat for a burger has never made me think I’d choose one over a medium rare rib-eye. Each to their own though. One of the better burgers I ever had was made with a mixture of sirloin, the ratio was not shared because the chef obviously knew what he had. Since it sounds like you’re down to experiment, I say: keep trying and let us know what you find out!

[p nut]

Next, slice up some ribeye and make Philly cheesesteak. Seriously delicious.

[rnhood]

I'm very fond of a basic ground sirloin hamburger. I eat at least one per week. If I include fries, I generally only eat a few. But after a hard or long ride, I eat most all of them. They go well together.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I use brisket trimmings and chuck when I grind my own. Fat content varies slightly based on intended cooking method.

[Ralph]

I like frozen Bubba Burgers. I like how easy they are to grill while frozen. Probably don't want to know what they contain.

[Bob Ross]

4th of July 2017 -- I only know the date because I made a note of this in my iPhone, which I've saved to this day -- someone told me the secret to a great tasting homemade hamburger was to
add "the outside portion of a ribeye steak" to whatever other beef you choose to grind.

I have no idea whether it works 'cuz I still haven't tried that, seven years on. But it sure sounded like a great idea, which is why I wrote it down.

[kingpin75s]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

4th of July 2017 -- I only know the date because I made a note of this in my iPhone, which I've saved to this day -- someone told me the secret to a great tasting homemade hamburger was to add "the outside portion of a ribeye steak" to whatever other beef you choose to grind.

I have no idea whether it works 'cuz I still haven't tried that, seven years on. But it sure sounded like a great idea, which is why I wrote it down.

So, add the very best part of the most flavorful cut. Not sure I would make that sacrifice, but I understand the premise.

[Ken Robb]

when I was a kid in the late 1940s-1950s most folks chose a cut of beef and had their butcher grind it for them on the spot. We still had a hand-crank meat grinder that could be clamped to our wooden kitchen table but we weren't raising/butchering our own livestock so it was easier to have the guy selling us the meat grind and wrap it for us to take home. I remember sometimes buying 2.5 pounds of chuck steak and having 1 pound cut off and ground for burgers or "mince" and using the other 1.5 pound of chuck for pot roast or stew the next night.

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

I use brisket trimmings and chuck when I grind my own. Fat content varies slightly based on intended cooking method.

+1. Specially when I buy the prime brisket from Costco. The trimming makes nice ground beef.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by htwoopup

Strip sirloin. BUT, that is roughly 75-80% of the weight…the other 20-25% is center cut bacon mixed in. I don’t know what grind it is…I use the KitchenAid mixer with the meat grinder attachment with the round metal die piece after the cutting blade that is the largest holes. Then the Weber charcoal grill.

Honest question. Do you eat raw bacon in the middle of your burger or cook your burger until the bacon is cooked and the beef is medium-well? Or is a smash-burger situation and it's all a crunchy/burny thing anyway?

[efuentes]

I´ll usually use chuck (the top fatty part), ground it with a little pancetta for flavor and use high heat for a nice crust, melt the cheese apart and pour it on, a brioche bun and the all important meat to bread proportions (a little more meat than an in/out burger) to make a perfect one!!!

[DeBike]

A bit different, and very tasty: Lean ground turkey mixed with pork sausage of your choice, 75 percent turkey with 25 percent sausage. Usually do them on a charcoal grill, but at times use the Ninja or pan sear them.