Simple but tasty burger recipe required

[welsh wizard]

Hi All

I wonder if you could help me please?

I have to make 500 burgers for a cider festival coming up and I would like to use a simple but tasty recipe.

I have tried just a plain meat with the addition of S&P and mixed herbs but they lack something.

The meat I will be using is 100% Long Horn rare breed cattle (strap line: The more you eat the rarer they get) which does not carry a huge amount of fat.

Any help would be much appreciated.

GOd I wiah this site had a spelink checker!

Cheers WW

[hoggie]

hi WW, i have been useing this recipe for years. 1 kilo minced beef,13 g onion granules, 10 g salt, 2g pepper. try it, very simple, but does work. cheers. john.

[saucisson]

I like a splash of Worcestershire sauce. I also like a squirt of sun dried tomato paste as an alternative. And for poor quality mince I have been known to crumble in an Oxo cube.

These are imperial measurements, I'm not sure how to convert splash and squirt to metric



Dave

[welsh wizard]

Thanks I will try them both

Cheers WW

[Zulululu]

Hi,
I like a burger with some course texture but they fall appart if you just use course ground beef , so I like to use a fine ground pork mixed with course ground beef . !/3 pork to 2/3 beef salt ,pepper and corriander . I also add posphate to the beef, mix like you would with sausage meat while the meat is cold and your hands ache.

[welsh wizard]

Interestingly enough I have looked on an American site and they say to nead the mix gently so as not to compact the burger? I thought that was the whole point...........

Anyway I have now settled on a recipe and have gone to see my local micro brewery ( www.theludlowbrewingcompany ) and I am about to embark on making a Ludlow Gold Beer Burger for a local 3 day festival.

Thanks for all your help.

Cheers WW

[vinner]

We make our burger about 1/3 of a pound, and do form them tighty, but don't overmix the meat, which makes it tough. We add salt, fresh black pepper and a bit of granulted garlic, and cook over wood that has been cooked down well (mmmm mesquite, pecan or hickory).

[welsh wizard]

Hi Hoggie

I have tried your recipe along with 5% rusk and the same amount of beer and I must say it is the dogs dangly bits - well done and thank you.

Cheers WW

[Zulululu]

hi,
Sorry read my post did not mean mix till it can bounce off the wall . I like a loose texture ,what I meant to mix when the meat is cold to stop smearing and stop when your spice is evenly blended . Will give the beer one a try as well that way you can eat it and drink it ! How about posting some pics. of your festival?

[welsh wizard]

Hi Vinner and Zulu and thanks.

Ref pic's yep I will give it a go but I will have to ask my son how to post them. Im OK with a knife but not good on this thing..........

I have just tried the Beer Burger and you have as much chance of tasting the beer as snow falling in the tropics, but I can call it a beer burger which is what counts....hic! Or what about the belly distending burger........

Cheers WW

[Nafe]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm beer....
Mmmmmmmmmmmm burger.....
Mmmmmmmmmmmm Belly Distention.....

Me like sound of them much!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[welsh wizard]

Just a bit of a follow up to those kind enough to reply to my original post ref the burgers.

Went in the end with Hoggies recipe becasue in the main it was simple and I must say all who tried it like it, so I will be repeating this at the next festival which for me (a lot rained off here) is the Ludlow Food Festival. Any one coming over for a day or two let me know and I will do you a burger at discount!!

Cheers WW

[Nafe]

Just thought id pop my head in and say that me, the wife and my 4 year old loved this burger recipie! Both with the beer and without!


Ta


Nafe

[markhensby]

Hi All, I run a dedicated burger kitchen (presently with 25 different recepies) in a bar in Waterloo Merseyside so I hope the following helps.

I have found that adding to Beef, Pork or Lamb about 10% dry weight pinhead rusk to which is added the same weight of milk, makes the burgers easier to form. With beef if it is too lean the burgers become too dense so an option is to add a small amount of beef suet (Atora) does the trick. Also adding either mustard powder, or better a big dollop of whole grain mustard, and coarse ground pepper is good, and as another contributor states Worcester Sauce is good. Breadcrumbs are said to be better than Rusk, but I cant easily obtain them, however if can make them yourself in a food processor and then dry them in a slow over.

I use lean Chuck Tender for a basic burger, then whole minced Sirloin with alll sinue removed, and fillet steak tails, YES I SAID FILLET STEAK. Always remove sinue, and connective tissue and any big lumps of fat, mince twice but COARSE. I use a commercial burger press, but Kitchen craft make a cheap plastic once. I found hand forming too inconsistent. I have also found that freezaing and cooking from frozem burgers taste better and cook on a contact grill (Breville make the best cheapest one - avoid George Foreman, lid hinge no good))

In all cases I add VERY finely diced ONION, 10%, which gives a nice texture - did I say VERY FINELY, this is an art but worth acquiring. Don't grate or use a food processor: Top and tailthe onion, then cross cut it from top to about 80% of it's height, then cut the onion in half top to tail, then very finely slice, if still too coarse use a heb cutter, you want the pieces no more than the size of small red lentils.

I also make a Gressingham Duck Burger with hoisin Sauce and a Redwine and mushroom burger (Rusk absorbes the wine), and many others: soon Goat, Apricot, Date and Fig.

I also make a range of really interesting vegie burgers: 9 Bean and Thai Basil, 9 Bean Coriander, Lentil Red Onion and Sundried Tomato:

I hope this helps, Mark

[jenny_haddow]

Welcome to the forum Mark, and thank you for such an informative and useful contribution. I look forward to putting your advice to good used.

Jen