wilburpan Posted November 10, 2014 Report Share Posted November 10, 2014 Last night I cooked something less complicated than a duck (which I don’t think is really that complicated): bacon cheeseburgers and portobello mushrooms. First, I cooked two strips of bacon. I did this by direct grilling, at about 250º. No pictures of this step, unfortunately. I took them off after about 20 minutes. The portobellos went next. I coated them on both sides with olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper. I bumped Smaug up to about 400ºF, and grilled these direct over about 20 minutes. The burgers I seasoned with my go-to spice mix for direct grilling: equal parts kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and cayenne. The burgers were made with chuck that I ground fresh at home, and were about 1/3 lb. each. I sprinkled a liberal amount of this spice mix on the burgers (as John would say), opened the vents, and got to 600ºF within 5 minutes. The efficiency of the KK grills continues to amaze me. I cooked the burgers about 4 minutes on each side. This was the result, with cheese and bacon. And with all the toppings. Some burger purists may balk, but I like toppings (mayo, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, pickles, raw onions, and relish). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 10, 2014 Report Share Posted November 10, 2014 Geez, WIlbur! That looks like some kinda great burger! Kudos to you. Grinding you won burger from chuck ... you continue to amaze. I always have my butcher grind for me ... I guess I'm too lazy or too cheap to buy the grinder attachment! tasty looking burger you've got there! CONGRATS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted November 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2014 I used an attachment that goes on our KitchenAid mixer. If you have a KitchenAid mixer, and I bet you do, the meat grinder attachment is only $30 at Amazon. I don’t have the sausage stuffing attachments. It works great, and it really doesn’t take much time. Cut up the meat into 1†chunks, and feed it through. It was 5 minutes altogether, including clean up. Plus, there’s something strangely satisfying about reducing a solid chunk of beef into ground meat burger material. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 We use our food processor.. Cut your meat into 1"-1.5" cubes and then pulse the processor until you get the size you want. Works great.. The texture is sooo much better than store bought/ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 We use our food processor.. Cut your meat into 1"-1.5" cubes and then pulse the processor until you get the size you want. Works great.. The texture is sooo much better than store bought/ground. Ahhhh haaa! Food processor! This I can do .... Now why didn't I think of that? Dennis, as always, I learn something every time we touch base in any way! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I use the kitchenAid grinder as well. The newer version is much better than the older one. The newer version has a little rubber ring next to the area which attaches to the motor and prevents any meat from going back there. In the past, the meat would go there and would get a nasty grease stain from the motor oil. New one much better. If you are ever in the mood to really "make a meal" out of burgers, you gotta try the heston blumenthal way: He goes to all kinds of lengths to get the right mixture of meat and grind and to orient the fibers along the lines in which one bites into the burger. He also talks about the size, condiments, etc. Worth a watch. Of course, he didn't use a KK to grill his burgers so he's missing out on the "icing on the cake". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normstar Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Nice work Wilbur! One thing you didn't mention, what grate did you grill on? As for fresh ground meat, you guys are right. I was at a meat dinner recently and several chefs were talking about how they get fresh soft packed (machine made but soft packed like hand made) burgers delivered about every other day. They said that even vacuum sealing the burgers compresses them to a noticeable extent, so they get them just boxed up with wax paper or something. I'm gonna have to try grinding my own. For just $30 why the heck not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted December 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I used the main grate for everything: the bacon, the portobellos, and the burgers. I just changed the temperatures for each item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
