Calling all chefs!

[Somebodyelse]

Buy leaner ground beef.

Basically just this !

[Wildtree]

Basically just this !

Okay I am not so sure now who it was... I can limit it down to three people..
Either Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsey or Robert Irvine. Either one of them said, you do not want lean beef meat for burgers because that's what causes the problem with getting a dry burger. You want a moist burger. You can mix it up tho, different meat types blend together....

Here's a simple burger recipe from Flay. Takes about 10 mins to make.... Call it a basic burger:

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80 percent lean) or ground turkey (90 percent lean)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
4 slices cheese (optional)
4 hamburger buns, split; toasted, if desired

Directions

Toasted Burger Buns

Divide the meat into 4 equal portions (about 6 ounces each). Form each portion loosely into a 3/4-inch-thick burger and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb. Season both sides of each burger with salt and pepper.

IF USING A GRILL: Heat a gas grill to high or heat coals in a charcoal grill until they glow bright orange and ash over. Brush the burgers with the oil. Grill the burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the first side, about 3 minutes for beef and 5 minutes for turkey. Flip over the burgers. Cook beef burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the second side, 4 minutes for medium rare (3 minutes if topping with cheese; see step 3) or until cooked to desired degree of doneness. Cook turkey burgers until cooked throughout, about 5 minutes on the second side.

IF USING A GRILL PAN: Heat a grill pan over high heat on top of the stove. Cook the burgers as for a grill, above.

IF USING A SAUTE PAN OR GRIDDLE (PREFERABLY CAST IRON): Heat the oil in the pan or griddle over high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Cook the burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the first side, about 3 minutes for beef and 5 minutes for turkey. Flip over the burgers. Cook beef burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the second side, 4 minutes for medium rare (3 minutes if topping with cheese) or until cooked to desired degree of doneness. Cook turkey burgers until cooked throughout, about 5 minutes on the second side.

Add the cheese, if using, to the tops of the burgers during the last minute of cooking and top with a basting cover, close the grill cover, or tent the burgers with aluminum foil to melt the cheese.

Sandwich the hot burgers between the buns and serve immediately.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/b...ipe/index.html

[looorg]

I see this has turned into a matter of taste; Do you want your burger greasy, juicy or dry. I personally want mine dry. The moisture or juiciness comes from what you put ontop of the burgers and between the buns such as various sauces (chili, garlic, ketchup, whatever you desire); the cheese; the onions etc. It's the combination of that that in my mind makes it great and tasty.

[Deleted]

Fatty meats are great for burgers, it holds together the meat so it doesn't crumble apart on the pan and adds a ton of flavor to the meat, just don't add grease before you start cooking. If you only have a normal pan, just soak up the fat or drip it off the pan as it melts from the actual meat, you keep the flavor and have a moist burger (moist is not fatty)

Just remember that you need to get rid of the fat before it build up to much on the pan or you are boiling the meat and not grilling it.

[Goatfish]

Except it is. Quality beef usually has less fat in it whereas the cheap meat is riddled with it.

Talking about beef in general this is a flat out lie. Talking about ground beef, it's opinionated at best. Leaner burger is more expensive because it takes more work to trim off the fat to the content you desire. That's it. That's the big secret. It isn't any higher quality or anything, it just takes more work to process. I personally prefer 80% lean ground beef because the fat gives it a richer and better flavor. When you get up to 90% and 95% lean the meat ends up dry and tasteless, you might as well go for a tofu burger.

(at least medium for ground beef, you can get away with cooking rarer if you grind your own meat.)

I would disagree with cooking a burger any more rare than medium ever, if nothing else it should be cooked medium-well or well done for safety-sake unless you use a meat thermometer readily. Especially if you grind the meat yourself. I realize meat today is far safer than it was even 10 years ago, but it only takes 1 random case of E. Coli to make you regret that bloody burger for years and years. If anything the meat bought from butchers and stores is generally thoroughly investigated before sold for consumption.

I am a butcher and a chef; AMA.

[Gothicshark]

First, Buy your ingredients.

The perfect burger always starts at 90/10, any leaner it drys out too much any fatter they get too greasy.
Also and this is important, Salt and Pepper in the meat only if it is cheap 90/10 good quality meat does not need extra spices.

Bacon, there is one kind of grease that can in fact make the meat taste better, bacon.
Bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon,... 10*10⁵⁰⁰ bacon.

Now we have mentioned my secret ingredient, fresh sharp cheddar cheese. once the meat is nearly done place the cheese on the patty, let it melt until one drop falls on the grill. remove and serve.

---------- Post added 2013-01-01 at 06:09 PM ----------

Weird. This place is making a killing doing just that (and their burgers are amazing).

the difference being that is a quality restaurant that has professional chefs versus a guy who doesn't even buy his own meat won't have the skill to do it properly.

---------- Post added 2013-01-01 at 06:19 PM ----------

where did you get that idea from? aslong as it just cow it's fine. Hell therte are dishes that uses completly raw ground beef. If it has pig in it like a 50/50 blend then yea ofcourse since pig and bird is something you have to make sure is cooked.

In California the law requires medium. The reason being that the greater the surface area the greater the risk of contamination. Ground Beef is nothing but surface area.

[Dazu]

Leaner and quality can be different, rump for example has little fat but is far less quality than say scotch or eye fillets which are generally a marbled meat.

I personally find draining the pan just as im finished cooking and quickly searing again to work well to reduce the amount of grease that ends up on the burger. Other things include cooking other things (except bacon) in the pan before/during the patties if possible to help soak up and disperse the fats (onions or eggs for example).
And lastly, wheatbiscuits crushed up and mixed in can work well, provided you make sure you dont use too much.

[Tribunal]

Try a bison mix. Most people I know mix it with venison since they're both a bit game-y (the venison more so) but I have seen some mix it with beef. That's probably a bit more hit or miss though, depends on personal taste.

Or just a buffalo burger, but you want to have a good source. May be hard depending on where you live.

*That isn't to say there aren't ways to make a beef burger non-greasy, just that if you prefer a less greasy burger you might like buffalo, it's very lean.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

where did you get that idea from? aslong as it just cow it's fine. Hell therte are dishes that uses completly raw ground beef. If it has pig in it like a 50/50 blend then yea ofcourse since pig and bird is something you have to make sure is cooked.

Steak and ground beef are different. Harmful bacteria are usually on the outside of the meat, as that's where it is easiest for them to grow. When you grind such meat up, you effectively break the barrier between the outside and the inside and contaminate all the meat equally.

[Deadvolcanoes]

So I love to cook hamburgers and try to invent new flavors. There is one thing that I can't seem to figure out though. No matter what I do, there is just way too much grease and it ruins the burger because it's way too greasy. What are your tips to cooking hamburgers on the stove top so they're not a greasy mess?

A lot of people are telling you to buy leaner beef, and they are correct that it will create less grease. However, it will also create less flavor.

You need to change your cooking methods. Cooking hamburgers on a stove top isn't really ideal. For an optimal hamburger, cook the hamburger on a grill, preferably charcoal. The fat will drop off the burger, onto the charcoal, and create a wonderful smokey flavor.

You could also cook the burgers in your oven. Place them directly on your top oven rack, put a pan or tinfoil on the lower level rack to catch the fat drippings. Set the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 Celsius), and cook for about 15 minutes or until its done.

[Tribunal]

I would disagree with cooking a burger any more rare than medium ever, if nothing else it should be cooked medium-well or well done for safety-sake unless you use a meat thermometer readily. Especially if you grind the meat yourself. I realize meat today is far safer than it was even 10 years ago, but it only takes 1 random case of E. Coli to make you regret that bloody burger for years and years. If anything the meat bought from butchers and stores is generally thoroughly investigated before sold for consumption.

I am a butcher and a chef; AMA.

Home-ground isn't much different than factory or store-ground at best, and it can be much much better at worse. Not sure why you'd make it out to be more contaminated every time.

As long as you're not a total idiot who can follow basic good meat handling and knows how to clean your grinder, you're about the same as ground from the store, although what you get can be fresher and has more customization options.

However, if you want to take it a step further, you can absolutely make your ground at home safer, by either freezing or searing the individual cuts first. These are actually the recommended methods for those feeding raw diets to pets that are worried about contamination in their ground. Yes it's more work and may affect the texture of your burger (especially grinding from frozen) but it is safer, since you're not forcing surface contamination into the ground.

Also, with store (or even factory) ground, you're at the mercy of that store. Yes, a lot of people do perfectly good jobs and follow basic health and safety regulations, but not all do, and in many cases you may not know it depending on how their department/shop is set up.

Even if you hold the USDA testing up as the holy grail (I wouldn't, not in that absolute a sense), in-store ground is made from the same primals/trimmings that have already been shipped to and kept in the store that you would be using, and you have more control over how they're stored and handled before they go into the grinder at home. They've still been at the store (and that part you can't control) but it's a little bit more safety if you use the opportunity to it's fullest. Again: most of the time, it's all going to come out about the same if you know what you're doing and use proper cooking temps... but to imply that home ground is always more dangerous is silly and sounds like something your store/shop has sold you on, tbph.

Edit: Also like to say it's perfectly possible to have a safe medium, even with ground. It's all about temperature over doneness. It can be harder to do, but saying it's absolutely not achievable isn't true.


EDIT 2: Just to clarify, the searing method is for grinding-on-demand (just what you will use right then and there). The grind shouldn't be stored that way.

[PizzaSHARK]

where did you get that idea from? aslong as it just cow it's fine. Hell therte are dishes that uses completly raw ground beef. If it has pig in it like a 50/50 blend then yea ofcourse since pig and bird is something you have to make sure is cooked.

Tartare uses steak, not ground beef. It's a single piece of meat, and it's the kind of quality and cut you'd only get from a good butcher shop, not something you can pick up from the supermarket.