It’s all in the quality of the meat and the cooking. I’ve made and had some excellent bison burgers.
Turkey can be good too, so long as you’re not expecting beef.
I made some phenomenal turkey burgers a few weeks ago: Seasoned with some random collection of herbs and spices from my cabinet, seared so it had a nice crust, + cheddar cheese and kale (baked until it was shatteringly crisp), all on a kaiser roll.
Yummmmmm. Toothsome, juicy, meaty, complex.
I’d take either of those over a run-of-the-mill hamburger any day.
Beef must be extremely fresh, with a high proportion of fat. Handle gently, and make sure to use lots of ground pepper.
I can’t decide between a standard burger and a patty melt.
Standard: cheese is mandatory. Cheddar, provolone or muenster. On one side a light smear of mayo, shredded lettuce, and good dill slices. Opposite side has a light smear of mustard, sliced tomato (well peppered and salted) and thinly sliced raw onion. Ciabatta roll that has most of the guts scooped out, lightly toasted.
Patty melt: beef and cheese the same. Grill sliced onions quickly so there’s a bit of browning/char and some underdone areas as well. Best to use rye bread, but sourdough or a good french will do. Light smear of brown or dijon mustard on one side. That’s it.
Lamb burgers are actually quite fantastic. You can prepare them just as a regular hamburger, technique-wise, serve them on the rare side, if you wish, and get a really juicy burger. I like to put more Mediterranean or Middle Eastern type condiments on my lamb burgers (a yogurt, garlic, mint, tahini, and lemon juice sauce, for instance.) Or something Balkan, like ajvar (a spread of roasted red peppers, eggplants, and garlic) with raw onion.
Turkey, though…I’ve yet to have a turkey burger I’ve really enjoyed.
I can’t tell you how to make a turkey burger that you will enjoy, or where to get one, or even if one exists that you will enjoy. But I can tell you about a turkey burger here and there that I have enjoyed :p.
The lamb-burger sounds fantastic. I share your sensibilities w/r/t condiments for such.
I should make this a challenge for myself, to see if I could make a turkey burger I could enjoy. Looks to me like a skinless turkey thigh is about 6-10% fat. Maybe if I could make up the extra 10% with beef fat or something, I’ll make something I like. But, then again, that seems to defeat the point of a turkey burger.
Lamb mixed with ground beef at about 3:1 beef/lamb is excellent and is how I make my meatloaf. The addition of middle-eastern spices makes it a real treat.
Angus burgers (so-called) have become synonymous with “good” because of the heavy advertising by Burger King and others. Frozen burgers of any kind are off my list for several reasons: they’re generally tasteless, they’re compressed by machine so the finished product is dense and dry, they’re probably from Con-Agra, and the likelihood of contamination is high. Anyplace that advertises “1/3 lb Angus Burgers!!!” is a place you should avoid.
ah, see, I never hamstrung myself by thinking of turkey as a health alternative to something else. I like the taste of turkey! I’d say go ahead and try it with added beef fat, bacon grease, or whatever. Hell, why not try to render some turkey schmaltz?
(FTR, I didn’t adulterate the turkey in my burgers, but I can’t say what the percentage on them was. It might have been less lean than normal, accounting for some of my success)
I fully agree… and it makes me sad. My Grandpa had a farm in Iowa and they raised Black Angus cattle. The real deal… all black, not just 51% or greater. Some of the best beef I’ve ever had in my life.
I could easily render some turkey schmaltz, but I think the fat needs to be a little more solid than schmaltz or lard. I could be wrong, but all the recipes I’ve seen for sausage and burgers contain ground pork or beef fat, not rendered lard or tallow. But, who knows, maybe it’d work. Or maybe I could try grinding the skins. I dunno.
I’ll have to ask the next time I buy some ground turkey, what their secret is. It is a turkey farm store. If you want ground turkey, they grind it to order. If you want it seasoned, they do that as well. I frequently buy the seasoned ground turkey, take it home and throw it on the grill. Never a bad burger.
And if you want to roast a bird, they will slaughter one for you. The most delicious roast turkey ever!
Inspired by both this thread and another earlier one where people raved about the “smashed burger” technique I decided to try it. It made a good burger… damn good at that. Nice and crispy on the edges and moist and juicy on the inside.
But, having a free day and really wanting to compare, I went out and bought a couple of pounds of freshly ground chuck, bakery buns, cheese and decided to have a burger day.
For lunch I made a “smashed” burger. Again, a darn good burger. About 6 hours later I lit the charchol with a little hickory added and made my normal medium thick burger patties. Same meat, same buns, same cheese, same condiments. I have to say that the grilled version won the battle easily.
For ease and convenience (especially in bad weather) the “smashed” burger will be my method of choice, but if I have the time and want the best I’ll stick to the grill.
I’ve really been craving FatBurger’s Double KingBurger with bacon, egg and onion. Heck, I don’t even need the eggs or onions. Just all that meat and cheese.
I have talked about this for a long time, but someday I want to get FatBurger’s double Kingburger with every add on available. A full pound of meat, double cheese, bacon, chili, and an egg. With grilled onion, mustard, lettuce and pickles. It will probably kill you, but it would be a good way to go.
Holy crap I just checked, you can get a Tripple Kingburger now. That’s just sick. No one needs 24oz of hamburger with three slices of cheese. Of course add four pieces of bacon, chili, and an egg and you probably have a competition foodstuff.
I’ve had the double once (meat, cheese and onions). You can definitely feel it in your stomach. I’m not sure if I’d ever be able to finish the triple if it had egg chili or veggies on it.
My son’s fiance claims to have invented this non-hamburger hamburger. She bakes muffins with sesame seeds on top and a pan of fairly thin (1/2"?) brownies. When cool, she cuts off the caps. She then uses a biscuit cutter to cut the brownies. Place one brownie on the muffin stump and use red and yellow icings for condiments. Place second brownie and repeat. Top with muffin cap. Cute idea.
My five year-old had a great idea which we successfully implemented.
“Daddy, I would like cheese on my hamburger…” Eyes open wide “… And can I have some pepperoni on it too? Pleeeeeaaassse?”
It was damned tasty, a cheeseburger with pepperoni (I cooked the pepperoni so it would be crunchy). Definitely not the HeartSmart™ choice, but damned good.
I told her that if she continued to come up with food ideas like that, she’s going to make some man really happy in her future.
Delicious. I’ve had several commercial versions of a Pizza Burger, and they were all very tasty. I’ve made them at home using marinara, pepperoni and a little moz. Best if you shake some red pepper flakes on it as well.
