Hamburger patties: 100%beef vs. ?% beef + ?%...what?

[Michelly]

I wonder if any CH out there makes a hamburger patty that is NOT 100% beef, and what is their magic formula?

[CDouglas]

If you like lamb - lamb burgers are tremendous. Mix in some oregano and crumbled feta and grill over charcoal as you would beef. Serve like a normal burger but top it with some homemade tzatziki. Rivals a beef burger any day.

[Karl S]

Well, the problem is turning a burger into meatloaf or meatballs, which are rather different. Burgers are supposed to have a loose texture, not be bound, but also not be very seasoned inside.

I'd consider mixing bison with beef, but that's about as far as I'd go.

[GutGrease]

I would say that the problem is strictly defining a hamburger as not being bound or not being seasoned inside. What you consider a hamburger and what tastes good to others can be vastly different.

[Michelly]

IMHO, what makes the diff between a burger patty and meatballs/loaf is the bread/cracker crumbs and egg and/or milk that holds it all together.

I've seen people using beef and lamb and/or pork combos...haven't tried it, but if I do, I'll report back on the findings.

Thanks to all!

[blackpippi]

My sister used to make burgers with potato chips and Secret H mixed in. Dont know why.
Also, was it called Secret H, the Thousand Island dressing rebranded as burger sauce?

[Tom34]

"Mixing in potato chips" ......That's interesting. Next time I grind I may segregate a LB and add in a hand full of chips before the second grind.

[GraydonCarter]

Using soft white bread crumbs mixed with milk helps the hamburger stay tender. It works well if you have people who like their burger well-done. But in my opinion, it translates into a kind of meatballish mouth feel.

[DuffyH]

Tried that with a friend who only eats burned hockey pucks. The texture didn't bother her, but she claimed it wasn't well done, despite not a trace of pink.

But then, we can't convince her that moist chicken is safe to eat, either. At restaurants, when she orders meat, we suggest they burn it, just to avoid having it sent back. ;)

[alkapal]

when i was growing up, my married sister did that hamburger meat plus white bread and a little milk. it did keep the burgers moist (and probably helped "extend" them for her family). grilled over real wood, they sure tasted good to me.

[GraydonCarter]

A panade of bread and milk infuses the meat with moisture but doesn't get in the way of the beefy flavor.

[limoen]

I always add grated onions to the meat. And salt and pepper. So even without the onions it would not be 100% beef. I also add an egg to bind, though not breadcrumbs.

I've seen recipes for beef and chorizo burgers. I've only personally made pork and chorizo burgers though.

[hannaone]

There is a Korean dish called Tteokgalbi that is a mix of beef and pork rib meat, sometimes chicken also. The meat is either minced or ground and formed into rectangular patties.

[ipsedixit]

I'm a big proponent of the 100% beef burger (equal parts chuck, sirloin, and trimmed oxtail).

But if I were to ever add non-beef on those blue moon days, it's been just bits of lamb and pork shank, or some chorizo.

[juliejulez]

When I grind my own, I do like 3lbs of chuck to 1lb of bacon. It turns out very well without being too greasy at all. Not sure if bacon is considered another meat, but to me it is :)

[LP808]

Hmmm. You may have converted me. Never would have thought of adding bacon to the grind. Always just grilled it and threw it on top.

[juliejulez]

Try it, it's great! It's not overly bacony either... it just adds an extra "oomph", and you don't need to add much in the way of seasonings to the patties, in my opinion. You could still add more bacon on top too :)

[WiscoKid]

Do you grind leaner when you know you are going to be adding the bacon JJ?

[juliejulez]

Well, I just cut up the chuck roasts into strips and grind them, so I'm not sure what you mean by "grind leaner". I don't add any extra fat because the bacon has plenty of it.

[WiscoKid]

I mean do you use a leaner blend than you would if you were just making ground beef, but you answered my question anyhow=)

[juliejulez]

Oh, well I've never made just ground beef :) I just got the grinder over the summer and so far I've just been working on grinding meat for burgers. For just regular ground beef (like to use for tacos or something like that) I'd probably stick to just doing the chuck by itself though.

[Tom34]

I am not an expert by any means but usually chuck is about 80/20. I would think adding 25% bacon would increase the fat % considerably. Having said that, my taste buds would find such a burger divine :)

[alkapal]

you get my vote!

[blackpippi]

I tried bacon and was surprisingly underwhelmed. However, I just cooked and crumbled some up and mixed it in. Maybe I needed to add a lot more? (And are you saying the bacon is raw when you start? Wouldn't it be undercooked if you cooked a hamburger to, say, medium rare?)
On another note, I do grate cheese and mix that in, and that's a revelation. No more gloppy grease on top and it keeps everything moist and I can use sharp cheddar which I don't think would work directly on top.

[DuffyH]

I've put little cubes of cheese in meatloaf and loved it. I can totally see that in a burger. Brilliant!

[blackpippi]

Well, actually, I feel like what you are doing is slightly different. With cubes of cheese I would imagine it's a distinct thing, unlike the grated cheese where the meat and cheese are one.
I mention this because friends told me that for their burgers they cook up Italian sausage and put that in the center so it's like a little "surprise".
Likewise, with my bacon, it was more like the cubes, already cooked and noticeably apart from the meat. Whereas if its ground up, the meat and bacon are one.
Just a thought.

[juliejulez]

It is raw, but it's ground up so small that undercooking is not an issue. You can't even tell it's there when looking at the patty before it's cooked. It's definitely a different taste than if you just cut up cooked bacon and mixed it in. The bacon fat and flavor sort of permeates the whole patty, but without being like "Wow this tastes like bacon".

A restaurant in the town I used to live in in CA (and I'm sure they do this in many places all over), had a burger that was 50% bacon grind, and 50% beef grind.

[LP808]

Sorry, I'm no help. I never tried it since in my head I would think it would taste like a meatball. I'm a single meat kind of girl for my burgers.

[DuffyH]

+1 (waving hand madly)

[WiscoKid]

I think a great burger is more about the grind than what you may mix with the beef. Too lean, dry burger. Too fatty, greasy burger. IMO 70ish is good

[LP808]

+1. I personally wouldn't dare use anything leaner than 80/20 or else you get hockey pucks instead of juicy goodness.