Homemade Burgers falling apart..

Beetlebum

Hi Guys,

last night I attempted to make homemade burgers after getting soem lovely recipes from here but tehy fell apart in the pan and we ended up eating them shoving them into the bun in pieces and eating them with forks..very disappointing..

What I did was I fried up garlic & onion and set it aside to cool.

In a bowl I mixed mince meat, some breadcrumbe, cumin, salt, black pepper & worchester sause. I then poured a cracked egg on top and mixed it all together so it was sticky. I made burger patties and fried on a medium heat but tehy fell apart all over the place.

Tbh I made the burgers pretty big cause I was hungry and I'm greedy:pac:

Any ideas on what I did wrong? having friends over tomorrow and want to make nice burgers not the mess I made last night.

Also any tips on home made wedges (spicey)?

Thanks!

the beer revolu

What you did sounds fine.

Try forming them very firmly and leaving them in the fridge to chill and firm up for an hour or so.

Miaireland

I was told before to make the burgers and then put them in the fridge for 30 mins before cooking. Then take them out of the Fridge and cook straight away.

Kintarō Hattori

It's possible that they might have been too wet and sticky.

dudara

I'd do pretty much the same as you, except I don't bother with breadcrumbs (gluten issue). Sometimes I don't bother with an egg either if I think things are already moist enough. Some pointers I'd have are:

1. Mix very well. When I mix the ingredients, I do it quite firmly with my hands, literally squeezing the mixture through my fingers. I then form the patties, but not with any great amount of shaping or force. They go straight into the pan from the bowl.

2. Don't cook at a high heat at the start If the pan is too hot, the burgers will stick and tear themselves. You can turn up the heat later once the outside is sealed.

Planet X

When they're on the pan, LEAVE THEM for a few minutes and let them seal / brown. Don't keep turning them over or they will break up.

bonkey

Planet X wrote: »

When they're on the pan, LEAVE THEM for a few minutes and let them seal / brown. Don't keep turning them over or they will break up.

Indeed. You should ideally only need to turn them once.

The one thing I've noticed is that you need to make sure that you don't see "cracks" when you form the burger. If you can see it when its raw, it will break on this line when cooked.

Beetlebum

Planet X wrote: »

When they're on the pan, LEAVE THEM for a few minutes and let them seal / brown. Don't keep turning them over or they will break up.

A-ha! Thank you for your replies. This was my mistake. I put them in the pan and turned them after about 2 minutes. I continued turning them quite frequently and they were a mess.

Rematch tomorrow night..can't wait to get it right, here's hoping!
Thanks

Squall

I usually put a bit of ketchup and mustard in with mine.

The ketchup helps them bind... and the mustard cause its just nice

Bigger burgers can come apart a bit easier.... try about 3/4 of a handful of the mixture per buger. They stay together a bit easier when cooked (you can always do this and have two in a bun )

fintonie

it is possible they were to wet but there is something you can do,

while your forming the burger do it on a surface dusted with flour this will help to bind the mixture together, as the burger cooks the flour will hold it together.

olaola

You gotta use breadcrumbs. And the mixture needs to be wet enough. Not wet enough to stick to your hands, but enough to hold the shape. Lash in some beaten egg if it's looking too dry. I always use breadcrumbs, so it never really happens to me tbh. And don't poke at them too much when they're on the grill - they only need to be turned once or twice.

rubadub

I would only ever add dry spices to just meat, no egg or breadcrumb. The other thing to do is not be messing with them in the pan, this especially goes for BBQs, they should really only be flipped once on a BBQ if possible, keeps the fat in, but also allows it to cook and "set" so when flipped it is a solid burger.

Another trick I have is to pat the mince out on tinfoil really thing for a BBQ, it is so thin it cooks through and shrinks up on the tinfoil, so you get juicy burgers, you can also take the tinfoil off and let it cool a bit, cool enough to handle and carefully place down by hand again. For a frying pan I use nonstick "magic sheets", you can squish out a burger really thin and place the sheet directly on a frying pan, then you can pick up the corners of the sheet to remove it off the pan to gently flip it over.

Medievalist

Grated cheese tastes good, melts, and binds stuff together with it's gooey yummy stickiness....hmm...

Frogy

Its also a good idea to use mince with some fat in it. I always used the mince from the "healthy range" but it has less fat and always fell apart on the bbq. Good old mammy told me to get mince with more fat in it.

cantgetright

Beetlebum wrote: »

A-ha! Thank you for your replies. This was my mistake. I put them in the pan and turned them after about 2 minutes. I continued turning them quite frequently and they were a mess.

Rematch tomorrow night..can't wait to get it right, here's hoping!
Thanks

Only use the egg white and let set in fridge for hour and cook very slow.
you be sorted

Cleansheets

I find if I'm lazy and don't chop the onions finely enough they cause the burgers (or meat balls for that matter) to break up.

olaola

Cleansheets wrote: »

I find if I'm lazy and don't chop the onions finely enough they cause the burgers (or meat balls for that matter) to break up.

OH! Forgot to mention, blitz the onions in a food processor/hand blender. Makes the WORLD of difference.

Cleansheets

Better again!

partyguinness

Christ I am starving for a burger now...:)

lucylu

if you finely grate a small potato into the mix, this will also help.
The it will help to bind the burger together and will also help hold in the juices.

no scope

add a bit of flour i do this and they never fall apart


i also make them a few day before and put a coating of oil on them nd they never stick and fall apart

Sleipnir

Just get one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390048634519&ih=026&category=20649&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1

olaola

Blitz onion & garlic in processor, add to mince
Blitz parsely, add to mince
Make breadcrumbs in processor, add to mince.

Season, mix, shape and cook. There's no messin, and they never fall apart.

Do the blitzing in that order & the breadcrumbs kinda clean up the processor so it's easier to clean.

Jawgap

Egg and breadcrumbs only work as a binding agent up to certain size.

Try grating some hard cheese (parmesan) into your burger mix - not so much you can taste it - I find that works really well to bind bigger burger together.

Gruyere is not bad either and gives a nice flavour.

Beetlebum

Jawgap wrote: »

Egg and breadcrumbs only work as a binding agent up to certain size.

Try grating some hard cheese (parmesan) into your burger mix - not so much you can taste it - I find that works really well to bind bigger burger together.

Gruyere is not bad either and gives a nice flavour.

Mmmm...cheese insids the burger..interesting...

I would consider myself to be a fairly good cook and my friends are expecting something great. I kinda wish I hadn't told them I was making burgers cause it's something I've never tried before (aside from my mess the other night).
Should have kept my mouth shut and not keep telling people I'm a great cook when I can't even get a burger right! Heh...ah well, I'm sure it'll be delicious washed down with some beer:)

Cleansheets

Anthony Worral Thompson does an inverted cheese burger with mozarella and parmesan inside, I have tried it but they definitely need to be refrigerated for a while so that they stay together as the potential mess is even bigger! I have lamb mince at home in freezer and I had plans for it - all this talk mean it will diverted to burgers post haste when I get home.

Jawgap

Beetlebum wrote: »

Mmmm...cheese insids the burger..interesting...

I would consider myself to be a fairly good cook and my friends are expecting something great. I kinda wish I hadn't told them I was making burgers cause it's something I've never tried before (aside from my mess the other night).
Should have kept my mouth shut and not keep telling people I'm a great cook when I can't even get a burger right! Heh...ah well, I'm sure it'll be delicious washed down with some beer:)

Somebody mentioned cumin earlier - I'd suggest lamb burgers with cumin (or ground coriander). I do them for the kids (and myself) with a minty yoghurty dressing in a crusty bread bap and they're gorgeous with beer!!!

.......and now I know what I'll be doing for dinner tomorrow:)

baldbear

I use weetabix( 1 or 1 1/2 whichever feels better) instead of breadcrumbs and put the burglers in the fridge for about half an hour. Seems to stick together lovely and tastes great

rubadub

baldbear wrote: »

the burglers in the fridge for about half an hour. Seems to stick together lovely and tastes great

I eat my burglers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. :pac:

iMax

Get a burger press off ebay, got one in the US recently & they're fantastic, they squeeze a lot of excess liquid out, then chill & cook.

Try replacing the egg with a spoonfull of crunchy peanut butter for a taste sensation

essdee

On a related note...can anyone suggest where in Dublin I can get the wax discs for making burgers with a burger press? I want to make a good few burgers and store them in the freezer for easy access. Thanks.