Burger Flavoring

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WizCodifa

WizCodifa

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I'm curious on what you guys would suggest for flavoring. What are some techniques and spices you guys use, to a make your burgers mouth watering?


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WizCodifa said:
I'm curious on what you guys would suggest for flavoring. What are some techniques and spices you guys use, to a make your burgers mouth watering?


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Click to expand...


Salt, pepper and Worcester. That's it. Assuming you're starting with good hamburger those three to taste are all that's needed.


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I've mixed various things into burger meat, the lipton dry onion soup mix was good, I've also used soy sauce, sage, cooked & crumbled bacon, minced garlic & oinion, I've even added maple sausage at about 1/4 of the meat mix.
Regards, GF.
 
basic burgers, like geoffrey said; salt and pepper + (optional) worcester

the BigHair has a recipe for stuffed burgers that adds jalapeños, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and cream cheese to make Jalapeño Popper Burgers

I like my burgers well-done, but I think the trick is to not overcook them and dry them out.
 
90/10 burger or better. I always put some finely chopped raw onion in it, pepper, salt and, my secret ingredient, a good pinch of allspice. Sometimes some chopped cilantro too. If I want "Indian" style, the spice drawer gets opened up, full throttle.

I like mine very rare, my wife prefers medium rare to medium done, and pretty much everyone else we know well done. Those are the trickiest as they tend to become hockey pucks. An 80/20 maybe better for them.
 
lol, 60/40 ground primerib cap. it needs very little other than s&p and some dry mustard powder. maybe a little shot of whatsthishere. make 'em big though, cuz they're gonna shrink a lot!! the juiciest burger ever made.
 
I like salt,pepper & onion powder. Then pop'em in the pit with some wood on top of the coals. Just a strip of light pink through the middle.
 
Really great minced meat from the butcher gets nothing more than salt and pepper. Store bought and run of the mill meat gets a rub of choice. Dinosaur BBQ rub is a fav as is Stubbs.
 
A good amount of salt and pepper, and a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Key is to not overwork the meat-- I simply ball it as gingerly as I can, then place it between two quarter-sheet pans lined with waxed paper and press to the desired thickness.
 
I usually go for an 80/20 or 73/27 depending on what's available, but I don't like the 90/10 stuff.

I mix in garlic powder, onion powder, a little chile powder, and some good smoked paprika. sometimes add chives as well
 
If you have a burger 4 times a year, salt and pepper is all you need.

If you do them often, and need something different......


Greek:
oregano
thyme
basil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
pinch of nutmeg

Cajun:
salt
pepper
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
cayenne
thyme

JUICY AS HELL
Add a cup of real bread crumbs and a cup or so of milk and 1 egg to 2 lbs of meat. Mix well.

Season as desired.
 
When I make sliders I give the meat a good couple of shakes of adobo (goya brand) before mixing it up.
 
This is Ramseys, simple but tasty ! Best burger ever..........

Gordon Ramsay’s ground beef burger recipe
To get the best taste out of these hamburgers, prepare them on a grill.


Ingredients
1LB-1.25LBs Ground Beef
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard.
Worcestershire Sauce (several splashes)
2 Egg Yolks
3 Tablespoons Ketchup
Enough Red Onion to equally distribute in the ground beef.

Preparations
Medium heat works best for cooking hamburgers as it allows for nice grill marks and color, but provides enough time to cook the inside without drying it out. Prepare your grill (or your pan) by allowing it to reach medium heat. Place your hamburger patties on the grill (or in the pan) and resist the urge to press them with a spatula or move them around too much; either of these practices will dry out the burgers and can also cause Lela’s Famous Hamburgers to crumble.

Flip your patties after 3 minutes of steady cooking and allow them to cook for 3 more minutes. You may need to flip once or twice more depending on the heat of your grill (or stove). Some of you might like your hamburgers medium, or medium rare.
 
I like my burgers with good meat 80:20 and a little S&P maybe ... if they are grilled then S&P go on after so the pepper doesn't get scrorched. I eat burgers at least once a week - if I want a different taste I'll have a different meal. All that mixing just makes a tough burger. Some of these are starting to sound like meatloaf patties.

Just MHO of course.
 
LBussy said:
I like my burgers with good meat 80:20 and a little S&P maybe ... if they are grilled then S&P go on after so the pepper doesn't get scrorched. I eat burgers at least once a week - if I want a different taste I'll have a different meal. All that mixing just makes a tough burger. Some of these are starting to sound like meatloaf patties.

Just MHO of course.
Click to expand...

And you are entitled to it. Since I wasn the ONLY one venturing very far from s&p, i assume you mean me.

I mentioned a few that have been crowd pleasers. Not interested? COOL. Just thought that if the OP wanted to hear S&P only, there wouldn't be a thread.

Cheers!

My all time winner, is the above cajun burger, smoked gouda cheese, 1/2 an avacado, a slice of tomato, and mayo lightly coating each bun.

Wait! are those things allowed on burgers??????

I need to go to some sort of burger confession and repent my use of seasonings.
 
jpc said:
Key is to not overwork the meat
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gonna have to whole hardheartedly disagree with you there. you need to mix the meat enough that the fat emulsifies and the softened fat can coat the grains of meat. the better coated the lean meat fibers, the juicer your burger will be. if the lean meat isn't coated with the fat, the fat will just melt and run out of the burger as you cook it.
 
cheezydemon3 said:
I mentioned a few that have been crowd pleasers. Not interested? COOL. Just thought that if the OP wanted to hear S&P only, there wouldn't be a thread..
Click to expand...
You know how it is on the Internet ... I'm just another ******* with an opinion. :)

I think sometimes people overthink the easy things. A person needs to make a good burger first then worry about what if anything they add. I'm always reminded of that Eddie Murphy skit where he as a little kid wanted McDonalds ... "dere's no eygggg in Mac Donads ... !"

GrogNerd said:
I had to laugh

because, mentally, I'm still a twelve-year-old
Click to expand...
We all are, had I not been typing that in the airport I woulda laughed too.

SmokeyMcBong said:
gonna have to whole hardheartedly disagree with you there. you need to mix the meat enough that the fat emulsifies and the softened fat can coat the grains of meat. the better coated the lean meat fibers, the juicer your burger will be. if the lean meat isn't coated with the fat, the fat will just melt and run out of the burger as you cook it.
Click to expand...
Never had an issue getting a juicy burger, or meatballs, or meatloaf ... or anything made with ground beef. I have however ended up with hockey pucks from over-working my meat (phrasing especially for GrogNerd). I suppose hundreds of thousands of chefs, millions of Italian mothers and all those culinary schools can be wrong but it seems unlikely.

Not trying to be a ****** either and I'm not afraid of an experiment so I'll try to remember that next time and see what I come up with. I justr gotta think there's enough mixing and emulsification of the fat that goes on in the grinder or the mincing to cover it.

Speaking of which ... a minced meat burger is pretty damned good if you have not tried it. Get a nice marbled cut that you like and go at it with a knife. You will be amazed.
 
LBussy said:
You know how it is on the Internet ... I'm just another ******* with an opinion. :)

I think sometimes people overthink the easy things. A person needs to make a good burger first then worry about what if anything they add. I'm always reminded of that Eddie Murphy skit where he as a little kid wanted McDonalds ... "dere's no eygggg in Mac Donads ... !"


We all are, had I not been typing that in the airport I woulda laughed too.


Never had an issue getting a juicy burger, or meatballs, or meatloaf ... or anything made with ground beef. I have however ended up with hockey pucks from over-working my meat (phrasing especially for GrogNerd). I suppose hundreds of thousands of chefs, millions of Italian mothers and all those culinary schools can be wrong but it seems unlikely.

Not trying to be a ****** either and I'm not afraid of an experiment so I'll try to remember that next time and see what I come up with. I justr gotta think there's enough mixing and emulsification of the fat that goes on in the grinder or the mincing to cover it.

Speaking of which ... a minced meat burger is pretty damned good if you have not tried it. Get a nice marbled cut that you like and go at it with a knife. You will be amazed.
Click to expand...

Lol, :mug:

I don't generally mix the meat much, (just enough to get the CRAZY amount of seasoning mixed in ;))

For meatballs, I have been converted to the breadcrumbs, milk and egg quasi-meat philosophy.

For burgers, only once in a Loooooooong while.

For meatballs, the meat is so much more tender and juicy, and I can eat more of them.

2 or 3 full on MEAT balls, and I am stuffed.
 
LBussy said:
Never had an issue getting a juicy burger, or meatballs, or meatloaf ... or anything made with ground beef. I have however ended up with hockey pucks from over-working my meat (phrasing especially for GrogNerd). I suppose hundreds of thousands of chefs, millions of Italian mothers and all those culinary schools can be wrong ....
Click to expand...

I am a chef and have been to cooking school, all be it a long time ago and I assure you what I said is right. Your hockey pucks came from overworking meat that didn't have enough fat in it to coat the lean meat fibers. So what you did was tangle and twine up the lean meat fibers in your hockey puck. When enough fat is present you seperate each fibre of lean muscle from each other fiber with a layer of fat. I like 60/40 best and if at all possible use the caps off of prime rib for the most flavour.
 
SmokeyMcBong said:
I am a chef and have been to cooking school, all be it a long time ago and I assure you what I said is right. Your hockey pucks came from overworking meat that didn't have enough fat in it to coat the lean meat fibers. So what you did was tangle and twine up the lean meat fibers in your hockey puck. When enough fat is present you seperate each fibre of lean muscle from each other fiber with a layer of fat. I like 60/40 best and if at all possible use the caps off of prime rib for the most flavour.
Click to expand...
Everyone here is a brewer too, some have had formal training, and few people agree how to make beer. That's been a few thousand years since it was invented. Louis Lassen first made a hamburger about 1900 or so, so I guess we'll get this figured out in the next couple millennia.

Never used lean meat that I knew about, although I am beholden to the local butcher. I do have a good butcher however, so I can ask for him to grind a little more fat in there - I'll ask about the prime cap.

I will say however that my wife makes the best hamburgers ever, hands down, a credit to the cow and grill gods. She uses the minimum working necessary to get the patty formed, and I've never not needed a couple napkins. I simply can't imagine a juicier burger.

Re: meatballs and cheezy's comments; I'm a wop and we make them with bread, milk and eggs. The bread (stale, leftover Italian bread is perfect) soaks up the milk before it's mixed in and that plus eggs are mixed in just enough. Nirvana.
 
I never add anything TO the meat before forming it. We do generally make stuffed burger though - 1 pound of 80/20 or higher fat (we grind the meat too, usually chuck), form into 4 thinnish patties, put the stuffing goodness on two of the patties and keep it away from the edges, top with the other two; pinch the edges real good, reshape into thick burgers, spray the top with olive oil, then season - KOTC likes garlic salt, I prefer Cavender's Greek seasoning.

Typical stuffings are bacon bits and cheese (feta or brie or whatever), Ortega chiles, sliced green onions, minced jalapenos, sky's the limit.

I make my burger thicker than KOTC's because he likes his more well-done than I do, so that way, both are done at the same time - 6 minutes per side.

Lately we've been adding about 4 oz. of (wet) spent grains to the meat though, which makes a really nice moist burger - it holds onto the fat better. Good way to use spent grains too!
 
LBussy said:
Everyone here is a brewer too, some have had formal training, and few people agree how to make beer. That's been a few thousand years since it was invented. Louis Lassen first made a hamburger about 1900 or so, so I guess we'll get this figured out in the next couple millennia.

Never used lean meat that I knew about, although I am beholden to the local butcher. I do have a good butcher however, so I can ask for him to grind a little more fat in there - I'll ask about the prime cap.


I will say however that my wife makes the best hamburgers ever, hands down, a credit to the cow and grill gods. She uses the minimum working necessary to get the patty formed, and I've never not needed a couple napkins. I simply can't imagine a juicier burger..
Click to expand...

Somehow, through a hole in the time/space continuum, you are BOTH RIGHT...

;)



LBussy said:
Re: meatballs and cheezy's comments; I'm a wop and we make them with bread, milk and eggs. The bread (stale, leftover Italian bread is perfect) soaks up the milk before it's mixed in and that plus eggs are mixed in just enough. Nirvana.
Click to expand...

Indeed!

I do mine with oregano, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

As you said....NIRVANNA....
 
As said before Salt, Pepper, Lea & Perrins, and I sometimes add a bit of oatmeal, to absorb some of the juice/flavor
 
Airplanedoc said:
As said before Salt, Pepper, Lea & Perrins, and I sometimes add a bit of oatmeal, to absorb some of the juice/flavor
Click to expand...

Remember when taco bell had the contraversy that there was NON-MEAT in their MEAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Lol, turned out that there was oatmeal in the meat.

Oatmeal that tastes awesome?


THANKS!!!!!;)
 
I like to trim the fat off my rib-eye steaks, and pop them in a bag into the freezer, when I've accumulated enough, I will grind them into burger meat, and will occasionally add some powdered celery seed, which ironically has a sort of beefy flavor. Not much, but a little seems to intensify the flavor. Then, I form patties. I don't like them too thick, but not too thin either. Maybe 4-5 oz patties seems perfect. I cook them on the grill using a griddle of cast iron that I get rocket hot. Season with some salt before hitting the griddle and flip them ONCE after a nice char has formed on the first side down. To me, this is the key - cooking on the flat surface of the griddle to get the entire surface seared and crusty slightly. I also like to lay down some real mayo mixed with fine ground black pepper on the bottom bun to capture the grease when I remove from the grill. Pepper on the burger before cooking can burn I think. I like the fresh taste of pepper in every bite. Sometimes if I don't have enough steak trimmings, I'll buy some beef short ribs and beef chuck and grind them up and make burger patties from that. Sometimes I'll let the patties soak up some smoke love on the the MAK while the griddle is preheating, then sear them off. Sometimes I sprinkle with some smoked sea salt instead. I've also tried a few commercial seasoning mixes: Penzey's spices- English prime rib rub, Chicago steak seasoning both work well. I've also used BPS double secret steak rub. Mostly I just go with salt and add pepper on the bun.

Agree that too much lean meat makes for a poor burger. The over handling issue I think is a common thought, but I can't think of any scientific reason it would matter.

TD


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SmokeyMcBong said:
gonna have to whole hardheartedly disagree with you there. you need to mix the meat enough that the fat emulsifies and the softened fat can coat the grains of meat. the better coated the lean meat fibers, the juicer your burger will be. if the lean meat isn't coated with the fat, the fat will just melt and run out of the burger as you cook it.
Click to expand...

I don't understand how man-handling the meat will result in emulsified fat. It goes against anything and everything I've ever heard on the subject...
 
It might melt some of the fat, but I agree, that's different than emulsify. If you REALLY work it, you probably won't get a true emulsion. Example of emulsified meat is bologna or hot dogs.




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TrickyDick said:
It might melt some of the fat, but I agree, that's different than emulsify. If you REALLY work it, you probably won't get a true emulsion. Example of emulsified meat is bologna or hot dogs.




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yum... emulsified meat

full disclosure: I just had a 7-11 spicy bite chili dog

and, re: my last post here, I am a hypocrite
 
small chain of restaurants around here called Tippy's Tacos. they've got 6 of them, and 2 (maybe 3) of them have had cars drive thru the front door.

I was trying to google it, find a news site reference and first 100 hits were stories of cars crashing into Taco Bell

so, apparently, that's a thing
 
Made sirloin burgers on the grill just this evening. Old Bay, chopped garlic, red pepper, and onion powder mixed with the burger. They were topped with chopped jalapeños and extra sharp cheddar about two minutes after flipping. Served topped with sliced avocados, pickles, salsa, and honey mustard. Rave reviews from the family.
 
just gonna chime in with my 2 cents with out reading the entire post. all ya really need is Salt and pepper...and the salt goes on, not in the burger. salting your meat drys it out a bit. and always use kosher. some worcestershire stuff is ok as well. on the over working the meat, its not that its emulsifying it, its just working the proteins to much, which will result in a less tender burger. when i salt my burgers, i salt just before i put on the grill on the side being grilled. then right before i flip, i salt the non salted side.
 
I'm a bit of a burger nut. If I've got good beef all I put is salt and pepper. Doesn't need anything else. If I don't have as nice of a batch of beer of if I'm feeling inventive is when I'll add more.

off the top of my head some added stuff to burgers. salt and black pepper in all so I wont mention them

Bacon grease - great for adding some fat to lean cuts and some smokey flavor
worcester and liquid smoke - a classic but use a very subtle hand
Basil, Oregano, and garlic - made a really good italian burger basically a meatball that was grilled.
Old Bay, love throwing it in when I'm semi adventurous
Cayenne - good bite.

And I'm forgetting more. Aside from a seasoning accomplishing something specific (blackening spice, buffalo seasoning) I usually save my creativity for toppings. Some that I've made through the years.

Chipotle Aioli
Chipotle ketchup
garlic aioli
whiskey BBQ sauce
horseradish mustard (my lone success making a mustard)

And not to mention the endless selection of cheese.

My favorite burger though when I want something classic, get a super hot skillet. salt before putting on throw on for a few minutes per side to get a perfect mid rare maybe a little bloody rare. Toast up a bun with some butter, ideally a nice soft white bun. While the burgers are cooking on the second and basically just before finishing throw 2 slices of american cheese on them, dmoe it add a little water to make some steam. Garnish it with Ketchup and either mayo or mustard, add some plain jane potato chips and you have an all american wonder.
 

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