Basic burgers

AstonMartin

when i get mince from the butchers i mould it into quarter pounders and fry it at gas mark 4 and they always come out without any moisture and generally poor tasting. I dont know how im going so wrong with something so basic. I generally make very sure my food is very well cooked as i gave myself food poisoning a few times so i might just to cooking for too long at a low temperature. Any advice?

hollee

I usually fry a chopped onion in a little olive oil and add a beaten egg to the raw mince then divide it into the burgers, it freezes well and adds moisture and flavour to the burger which I dry fry when I cook it.

The Hill Billy

Here are a couple of threads that you may find of use...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73521200

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73193096

The Forum Search function is your friend.

tHB

Little A

Personally I would never bake a burger - throw it on the grill, BBQ or frying pan. Good & hot to seal the juices in, don't ever squeeze it down as all the juice runs out.

I would also add in some "stuff", onion, garlic, pepper, chilli, mixed herbs etc (depends on my mood & whats in the press). I also use a "burger press" as it makes them all uniform & flat (you can get them in Home Store & more for about €2/3).

Yummy.....would love a burger now

Guill

I alway chop my omion finely and fry until golden before i add it to the mince.

AstonMartin

I will head to the butchers later and give this another go.

i will mix raw onions and mixed herbs into the mince before frying and top off with a tomato and lettuce and a bit of ketchup.

the plan is to cook at a higher temp so hopefully i can do better.

shinikins

Cook them on a high heat until they are sealed on the outside then lower the heat to cook them thoroughly.

I add a little semolina to the mix, it swells a little during cooking and soaks up some of the juices keeping it nice and moist. Breadcrumbs will do the same, but be careful not to add too much of either or it will just end up doughy. I also throw in whatever spice takes my fancy, mustard powder or wholegrain and a raw egg to bind. Don't make them too thin either, or they will be very dry.

namurt

I usually add some mixed herbs and sometimes a dash of worcestershire sauce.
In terms of cooking I find the best thing is to fry them for a minute or two on each side on a high heat and then reduce the heat and cover the frying pan. I find this keeps them moist because I like mine really well done so they take a while to cook through.

Darkginger

You can't 'fry' a burger at Gas Mk 4 What you need is a decent thick bottomed frying pan or one of those ridged griddle pans. Put them on at full heat whilst you mix 1lb beef mince with a finely chopped onion, salt and pepper. Form into patties (4, probably), then throw them on to the searingly hot pan - they should sizzle on contact. Cook one side until it's deep brown (this is where the flavour comes from), then flip and do the other side until it looks the same. Turn the heat down, and cook until the juices run clear and not red when you poke the burger with something sharp.

Use a fish slice/spatula/whatever to take the burgers out of the pan, and let them rest a little whilst you adorn warm burger buns with lettuce, tomato and raw onion. Eat, be happy.

kylith

Here's my recipe. It has the cheese already built in. I usually use it to make meatballs, but it also makes great burgers. It hasn't failed me yet.

1lb mince
0.5 cup breadcrumbs
1tsp mixed italian herbs
0.25 cup grated parmesan
0.5 cup milk
Salt & pepper

Mix everything together, shape into patties for burgers or meatballs and fry.

If you're not used to the cup measurement 1 cup = 8fl. oz. volume.

If you make them into meatballs you can freeze them (in a single layer at first so they don't all stick together). I like to put them in a tomato pasta bake.

nicol

You should tell your butcher that you're planning to make burgers with the mince; he can probably fix you up with some mince that has more fat through it than 'regular' mince, which I find is a bit too lean for burgers. Then add the following to the mince; fried (cooled) onion, salt, pepper, worcester sauce, ketchup all add great flavour to a burger.

Yum, burgers......

rubadub

Make them really thin so you can cook faster. I spread them out on tinfoil and stick it on the pan/BBQ/grill, meatside up. When it cooks it shrinks, you can pick it up by the tinfoil and flip it over, then peel the tinfoil off.

Do not touch it again, best to only turn burgers once if you can, otherwise the fat keeps falling out.

the beer revolu

rubadub wrote: »

Make them really thin so you can cook faster. I spread them out on tinfoil and stick it on the pan/BBQ/grill, meatside up. When it cooks it shrinks, you can pick it up by the tinfoil and flip it over, then peel the tinfoil off.

Do not touch it again, best to only turn burgers once if you can, otherwise the fat keeps falling out.

So are you actually cooking it on the foil?

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

So are you actually cooking it on the foil?

Yeah, at the start & just the 1 side, no need to oil it if theres enough fat in the mince. When it is cooked enough it binds itself together, even if really thin. I really hate getting "meatball bugers" in a bun, I like burger meat sticking out the sides. I really hate when people get those huge superbundy rolls with thick shrunken burgers somewhere in the middle.

If you are quick enough, and they are not too wide you can flip it meatside down in the pan from the start (doesn't work well on a BBQ where I first did the tinfoil trick). This also allows it to steam the meat a bit, so cooks faster and doesn't dry, then peel off and flip it. I fry lots of stuff in a saucepan, you can put the lid on to it half steams half fries.

It is also handy for BBQs since you can layer them up and keep them in the fridge stacked up, and they are very easy to handle onto the BBQ without getting dirty hands. You can just pinch one corner of the tinfoil and work a spatula under it and stick it on the BBQ.

rgiller

Great Jamie Oliver burger recipe here. I've made these many times and they are delicious. Very easy to make

LimeFruitGum

I'd mix in a bit of tomato puree into the mince mix for flavour. Or maybe you could put in a little cube of cheese in the middle, would work well with the onion.