Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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Throughout the lock downs I spent much of my time trying to perfect my home fried burgers. I never really liked the cost attached to visiting the chain stores, on top of the very questionable hygiene practices of those in charge of "cooking" the food. The thing that really did it for me was the push for $15 dollars an hour (now the push for $25 dollars an hour in some locations),given most of said staff at any number of locations lacked much in the way of hustle to take the order let alone get it bagged up with any degree of accuracy. So instead of complaining to the manager that allowed the staff to carry on in such a way (I have voiced complaints before,with little to no changes made). I decided that instead of being a "Male Karen" that I would rather spend my time,energy,and money frying up burgers at home.

To be honest it's been nice cooking more at home and not having to put up with the expected bs.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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On to the meat of the thread...
I've been a fan of 80/20 chuck for burgers, I'd been forming the patties using a patty former but have moved on to the smash method. I don't put pepper on the burgers while they're cooking. I don't like the flavor of burnt pepper. I try to stick to at least a 3 or 4 ounce meatball placed into a hot pan and pressed down as thin as I can get it. I'll add salt to the uncooked raw side of the burger and after flipping I'll hit the crusty side of it with more salt (just a small pinch on each side). When the patties are ready to take out I'll set them on a clean plate, then add a dash of pepper and cover it with some aluminum foil to let them rest and take on the flavor of the pepper. I'll then cut as many pieces of wax/parchment paper to wrap the burgers with after they've been constructed. The buns are softened from the residual heat and it reduces the amount of clean up. Plus it's just a reminder that you don't have to pay some mass marketing clown for a simple meal.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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I support better wage, a living wage. That said, I don’t think a burger is worth the prices asked. The inexpensive burger are trash and I can make just as good a burger as the $7-$8 range gourmet type burgers. I’ve recently started using the broil function more on our oven. I’ve used it a variety foods and it works great. The outside gets the texture and slight char on the edges and the inside remains moist. I might try it on my burgers next. I prefer the lean 93 hamburger meats. I’ll post back with the results when I get around to trying it.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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I made some broiled chicken breasts with skins and bone. Coat with cooking grade olive oil, salt and black pepper. Start with broil 10 minutes bone side up. Turn broil 10-12 minutes skin side up. Let sit 5-10 minutes and it’s delicious!

I used to buy the broiled chicken from stores, not anymore! LoL.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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I also like the 93% lean/7% fat ground beef on the rare occasion I buy it. Since I don't eat a lot hamburgers, it's usually cheaper for me to go out, there are two local burger joints that are good. I don't go to the chains. Burger places out here use a sauce usually a variation of Thousand Island Dressing on their burgers, I always tell them to hold the sauce.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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Yes. A burger thread. My favorite is my wife's venison burgers on a brioche bun with sweet potato fries on the side. We just put a little Nature's seasoning on each side before frying. Local meat locker put a little too much fat into the ground venison last year, so it's probably 85/15. Ground venison is very lean--great to cook with (spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc.) but not so good for burgers. Something a little leaner like 93/7 is about right.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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sikacz wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:01 am I support better wage, a living wage. That said, I don’t think a burger is worth the prices asked. The inexpensive burger are trash and I can make just as good a burger as the $7-$8 range gourmet type burgers. I’ve recently started using the broil function more on our oven. I’ve used it a variety foods and it works great. The outside gets the texture and slight char on the edges and the inside remains moist. I might try it on my burgers next. I prefer the lean 93 hamburger meats. I’ll post back with the results when I get around to trying it.


I hadn't thought about about putting them under the broiler,might try that before long.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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cooper wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:32 am Yes. A burger thread. My favorite is my wife's venison burgers on a brioche bun with sweet potato fries on the side. We just put a little Nature's seasoning on each side before frying. Local meat locker put a little too much fat into the ground venison last year, so it's probably 85/15. Ground venison is very lean--great to cook with (spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc.) but not so good for burgers. Something a little leaner like 93/7 is about right.
Venison also makes a fine hotdog chili.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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Ridge83 wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 8:20 am
Wino wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 7:56 am Prime beef makes better chili than venison and about 10-20x cheaper per pound. LOL
Not if you harvest it yourself or are donated some of the meat from family members.
A friend gave me some venison sausages. He regularly hunts. They were delicious!
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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cooper wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:24 am
tonguengroover wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:56 am Buffalo burgers I like. Also Llama burgers are tasty too. Venison is ok.

Spicy moose sausage for breakfast is amazing.
Wait, llama burgers? We have 2 llamas. For me that would be like eating the dog. No judgement, though, I've had camel burgers, and they're great. Llamas are just South American camels.
Hehe, yeah that was when I was in Peru. Kinda wild down there.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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It's been a long time since I gave any thought about how we make burgers.
You have to start with good stuff. We have two separate sources for locally raised, grass fed, professionally butchered beef.
Cheese is usually Tillamook cheddar.
Pepper is fresh ground.
Walla Walla sweet onions are my favorites for burgers.
A cast iron skillet puts a nice crust on it. The gas grill outside works fine, too.

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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I cooked burgers on the grill a couple nites ago.

You might try my trick doing so;

I slice rings of Habanero peppers, and top each patty with one ring whilst cooking.

When time comes to flip, sacrifice the old ring to the fire gods and use another ring on the remaining side.

The smoky flavor permeates the meat without the heat.

Most of the time, a pepper to two at the store will be free, as it seldom hits the scale with enough weight to trigger it.

SR
"Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way around the floor."

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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SubRosa wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 3:44 pm I cooked burgers on the grill a couple nites ago.

You might try my trick doing so;

I slice rings of Habanero peppers, and top each patty with one ring whilst cooking.

When time comes to flip, sacrifice the old ring to the fire gods and use another ring on the remaining side.

The smoky flavor permeates the meat without the heat.

Most of the time, a pepper to two at the store will be free, as it seldom hits the scale with enough weight to trigger it.


SR
Ha!
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Burgers... and other food items that are best made at home.

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Rust wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:57 pm It's been a long time since I gave any thought about how we make burgers.
You have to start with good stuff. We have two separate sources for locally raised, grass fed, professionally butchered beef.
Cheese is usually Tillamook cheddar.
Pepper is fresh ground.
Walla Walla sweet onions are my favorites for burgers.
A cast iron skillet puts a nice crust on it. The gas grill outside works fine, too.
Walla Walla onions are great, I haven't seen locally but I've eaten them when I was in Oregon. Flavorful onions, perfect on hamburgers. And Tillamook is quality cheese, I even toured their creamery in Tillamook and watched them make it.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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