Hamburgers for the grill

What do you use when you grill hamburgers? frozen, fresh ground and flatten out by hand, or something else

this is one of the simplest things to cook and I can't get it right.

I mix diced onions bbq sauce and a1 with the meat in a bowl. Mix well. Put back in the Fri for about 4 hours the straight on the grill. Don't mash or squish. Cook to desire temp. EAT

If you want quick and easy, the precooked Angus burgers at Costco are hard to beat for taste. just heat and eat.
I prefer fresh when not in a hurry. Hamburger, a little Worcestershire, an egg (or two) to hold it all together, salt & pepper to taste. Yum yum!

I prefer 73% hamburger,, harder to cook but taste a 1000 times better. We always patty out our own,, onion power and a little A1 or Worcestershire sauce mixed in and there gtg

Grass fed beef with a little worchestershire and garlic pepper 5 minutes per side on a 500 degree Weber Genesis.

SPST said:

Grass fed beef with a little worchestershire and garlic pepper 5 minutes per side on a 500 degree Weber Genesis.

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SPST...........I'm convinced that you're a man who has truly identified the difference in beef..........and GOOD beef.

80/20 ground chuck patty your own. nothing but salt and pepper throw it on the bubba keg good to go

In addition to seasoning, I often times add some finely chopped mushrooms. When you make the patties form them slightly thinner in the middle because they poof when you cook them.

OP...Why can't you get it right.....what's not working for you?

Also, what's your grill set up?

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DC Bigdaddy;59539 said:

this is one of the simplest things to cook and I can't get it right.

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Walk us through how you are cooking and what you are cooking on...

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I have never been a frequent burger cook or a good burger cook. Mostly due to trying to eat somewhat healthy. But I have been working on my burger skills lately. Whether the grill, or my new favorite, cast iron I have improved trying a few new things. The inspiration for my burger cooks was the barbecue book and ideas in it by Meathead Goldberg. He is t guy on the Amazing Ribs site.

Very hot surface. Sear those burgers. If your grill cannot get to six hundred degrees or so use cast iron on the stove.

I gave up trying to time it perfectly on each side and only flipping once. I flip them every minute or two. It helps get a nice crust without charring for me.

Use meat with enough fat content. It is hard to make a good burger with all the super lean beef stores are offering now. 80/20 works well for me. Orher like 85/15. Somewhere in that range is workable.

I use charcoal and I like to pat my own burgers out myself. I prefer lean ground chuck but I'll buy the 70/30 if it's on sale. With the 70/30 you get a lot of grease drippings and when they fall on the coals you get a lot of smoke. If I'm using the chuck, I just salt and pepper the burgers. If I'm using other burger, I'll sometimes add stuff to the burgers. One of the favorites around here is to add a little chunky salsa to the burger and mix it up good before you pat them out. Don't add too much or the burgers won't hold together. I usually sear both sides of the burger and move them to indirect heat to cook to our desired doneness, about Medium. Just keep trying and you'll get it.

rodney1968;n59906 said:

80/20 ground chuck patty your own. nothing but salt and pepper throw it on the bubba keg good to go

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80/20 ground here too. I usually get 1 lb of ground chuck to make 4 burgers...... about 1 teaspoon of WishIcouldSayItSauce per patty. I used 1 tablespoon per patty of A1 for years, but A1 changed a couple of years ago. Salt n Peppa works good too. I have a specialty blend of seasoning I will occasionally use too. Temp on the grill should be 350-400, closer to 350 if possible. Flatten out your patties quite a bit because... as they cook they will shrink up in diameter, but get taller. They should take 7-15 minutes, just depends on temperature, thickness and desired cook. I usually flip the burgers about 4 times while cooking.I have a gas grill, and I will cut the gas off and place a slice of cheese on the patties, shut the lid and let it melt for a minute or so. More fat in the meat can make more flame and usually shrink up more than leaner meat. Too lean (More than 85% lean IMO) and the burgers are more difficult to cook..... they will be done on the outside and red in the middle..... Plus they don't taste as good. You can cook lean burgers slower to get them done, but it isn't worth the trouble.
Frozen burgers just don't taste the same.

I'm with NCMedic, walk us through your process and tell us what you don't like about your current results...... and man this thread is making me hungry. Burgers Tuesday Night!

I've done a couple versions of the burgers BurnedOutGeek posted above that turned out really good. Basically flatten out a nice patty and turn up the edges into a small meat bowl and fill with desired topping. Tried pimento cheese and a homemade pimento cheese with jalapeños. Pretty easy to cook.

Normal burgers are 80/20 ground chuck. Started adding soy sauce this summer rather than the traditional worscheshire sauce and really like it. Add salt and pepper and occasionally a little garlic powder.

Gas Weber or Gas Kenmore grill. I've tried ground chuck and flattened them out, and I've bought pre-cut.
We've tried mixing in ranch dressing/dip mix. I can't get them done without burning the outside which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't like pink hamburger.

If you are burning the outside and the middle is too pink, you have the grill too hot. Back down the temp and increase cooking time.

DC Bigdaddy;n60686 said:

Gas Weber or Gas Kenmore grill. I've tried ground chuck and flattened them out, and I've bought pre-cut.
We've tried mixing in ranch dressing/dip mix. I can't get them done without burning the outside which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't like pink hamburger.

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if you don't like them pink one thing I do with burgers sometimes is to slow cook/smoke them with indirect heat. On a gas grill turn off one side of the grill and put the other side on low as it will go. If you can keep the temperature in there around 180-220 you can cook them for about an hour while basting them with some kind of neutral baste to keep them moist. I use cider vinegar, a basic barbecue rub, worchester sause and beer. Depending on your set up cook them about an hour. Baste about every 15-20 mins. You could even add a water pan to keep the moisture up inside the grill. Then either slap them on a hot skillet for a minute on each side or take them off and crank up the other side of the grill. Give them a little sear and they should be good to go. It is kind of a reverse sear method. Works well on burgers because it allows you to cook them to well done without sucking the life out of them and making them too dry.

Or if you want them done quicker turn down the heat, or flip them more often. Or a combination of the two.

Learned a trick a few years ago. When you are taking the burgers off the grill, sprinkle a little but of au jus soup mix on em. It dissolves in just a couple seconds and really kicks up the taste.

If you like the pre-made patties I highly recommend the ones from The Fresh Market. https://www.thefreshmarket.com

Our favorite is the Gouda, Portobello Mushroom burger. It's made with ground sirloin beef too! [IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v167\/Sandman_NC\/eat.gif"}[/IMG2]

rodney1968;n59906 said:

80/20 ground chuck patty your own. nothing but salt and pepper throw it on the bubba keg good to go

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This is how I do it. Make the center of the patty a little thinner than the outside. Also, I always throw a few oak twigs on the charcoal (we have several oak trees in the back yard) for a little smoke flavor.

Grass fed venison slow cooked to perfection.

Add to it whatever your heart desires but nothing is required, the sign of good meat.

I hand patty mine. If you put a indention in the middle it'll stop them from blowing up like a balloon. I season them the same way I do my steaks, Salt and absurd amount of pepper and garlic powder. I only flip once.I usually get them closer to Med/med well but if you want the insides more done just put the top on your grill and turn it into something closer to an oven. I did turkey burgers last night and they have to be done completely so I cooked them in my drum since it doesn't get as hot as my Weber Kettle.

DCGallim;n60841 said:

I hand patty mine. If you put a indention in the middle it'll stop them from blowing up like a balloon. I season them the same way I do my steaks, Salt and absurd amount of pepper and garlic powder. I only flip once.I usually get them closer to Med/med well but if you want the insides more done just put the top on your grill and turn it into something closer to an oven. I did turkey burgers last night and they have to be done completely so I cooked them in my drum since it doesn't get as hot as my Weber Kettle.

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The indention in the middle to thin it out will really help getting the center cooked easier.

Past that if its burnt on the outside and raw on the inside then the heat is too high, and like said above turn it down and move them off the direct heat and cook longer over indirect after you get the char you want to have.

My minion calls them marker burgers. Make your grill marks on the high heat, then move to the low indirect side and let them finish off. Also don't forget to let them rest a bit when you're done, and whatever you do don't smash them or press them while on the grill.

I do 1/3rd lb patties of 80/20 hand pattied with a light dusting of my go to seasoning I keep blended up(kosher salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion powder, red pepper). Thin the patty lightly in the middle so it cooks flat.

After the meat is formed and seasoned, I layer them in wax paper and refrigerate them, but make sure you pull them and let them come close to room temp on the counter before they go to the grill. You should do this with most any meat you're grilling. I scrub the grill surface and grease it before I fire it up, let it get hot for a good sear, then back off the heat so you don't turn the burgers into briquettes before they are cooked in the middle. Monitor the grill....

thanks for all the comments, maybe next time I can get them right

I tend to use the ground and charred remains of problem employees.

Errant_Venture;n62280 said:

I tend to use the ground and charred remains of problem employees.

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I'd be really short staffed.

Tailhunter;n60838 said:

Grass fed venison slow cooked to perfection.

Add to it whatever your heart desires but nothing is required, the sign of good meat.

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I prefer acorn and corn fed.

FatboyFlash;n62447 said:

I prefer acorn and corn fed.

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Actually .... soybean and corn.

Acorns add a bitterness to the meat.

Tailhunter;n62459 said:

Actually .... soybean and corn.

Acorns add a bitterness to the meat.

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I like that flavor sometimes. Most of the deer I eat comes from Halifax county Va and I'm sure there are a lot of soybeans. The ones I eat off my own property are mostly acorns in November.

I mix some bacon grease in mine and add whatever season I am inspired to at the time.

Back on topic though, it depends on what I'm in the mood for as far as hamburgers go. I like mine medium rare with a little char. I pat my own and thinner in the middle. Cook at about 550 about 2 minutes per side. I usually do a little goya with the red cap but sometimes I'll add jalapenos and onions and let that cook with it or sometimes a little habenero sauce. It just really depends. At least 80/20 or higher fat. Beef is so easy to over cook.

dcgallim;n62372 said:

i'd be really short staffed.

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lol