Homeground Bacon & Beef Burger - Part 1

In-N-Out? Nah. Super Duper? Another Nah. Pearl's? Not even close. Gott's? Sorry. No. None of them can hold a candle against this home-ground burger meat blend of lean London Broil, beef chuck steak and uncured, applewood-smoked bacon in either texture and flavor. So, if you're a Hamburger aficionado like me, well...in moderation that is..., then this blog entry is right up your alley.

You see, burgers are a delicate thing. Everybody can make a burger with store-bought ground beef low in quality but only few get them right even with that kind of meat. So why making a home-ground burger when it's very convenient to pick up a tray of already ground stuff?

First off, you have total control of what goes into your blend of meats. The quality of the meat, the fat content, the type of beef and the level of its grind - coarse, semi fine or fine. Pat LaFrieda, the burger guru from the East Coast, who puts together some of the best burger meat blends, uses a combination of chuck, brisket, and short-rib from American Black Angus Beef in his original Burger blend. For most home uses that blend might be counterproductive because it's expensive and when it comes to buying a whole brisket, too much of the meaty goodness. It works, though, if you have larger parties and BBQs. 

I also picked the brain of my buddy Dave, who's a trained butcher and highly knowledgeable in all meat-related subjects. So, the next best thing - besides LaFrieda's awesome blend -  for economic home use is the combo I chose, made of 40 % London Broil, 40% of beef chuck steak and 20% uncured but smoked bacon. The result is a flavorful and juicy burger. 

Now let's get to it...

We'll need:

16oz London Broil
16oz Beef chuck steak 
about 3.5oz of smoked Bacon

and, of course, a meat grinder, meat grinder attachment for your stand mixer or food processor.

Trim off the excessive fat from the bacon while still leaving some of it on, then cut up both meats into strips, then into 1-2-inch large cubes. Place everything into a bowl or food container, give it a quick mix with your hands, cover and place in the freezer for about 45 minutes. 

Now why the freezer? It helps the grinding process by keeping it chilled and prevents the fat inside the meat from sticking to everything, including the parts of your grinder, meat attachment or food processor. I also encourage you to keep your meat grinder (the feed shaft, the grinding blades, the plate), the mixer attachment or blades of the food processor well chilled. So, all in all, the meat goes into the freezer together with whatever device you plan to use. 

On to the grinding part...

First off, I suggest you use some sort of rubber gloves because you don't want to contaminate the meat and freshly ground burger blend. It also keeps your hands clean from fat residue or meat liquids.

Make sure that everything's assembled and work quickly. You don't want the grinder or meat to spend too much time at room temperature so have everything ready to go. I always opt for the coarse grind plate of my meat grinder but you can change that up or even grind the meat twice if a finer grind is desired. That's entirely up to you and I encourage you to experiment and that also goes for different meat blends such as Sirloin, Brisket and Oxtail, for example - one of my personal favorites besides the one I'm using in this entry. If you can't find oxtail, short ribs will work also albeit being a tad lower in fat content.

Place a chilled bowl under your grinder and happily grind away while making sure that there's a steady feed of meat going into the grinder. Afterwards give the blend a quick run-through with your hands (don't overwork the meat!) to combine the meats evenly. At this point do not season the meat. It'll draw out too much moisture and that is something we really don't want because we're looking for a juicy burger.

Cover the bowl and place it on the bottom of your fridge, where it is the coldest, until it's time to shape the patties.

The shaping...

Well, there's no real science to it but the way I do it is fairly quick and easy. All you need is a sheet or two of wax paper and a sturdy cutting board. However, for best and consistent results I urge you to weigh out the meat beforehand. If I am making a let's say single patty cheeseburger I shoot for a patty weight between 6-8oz. If a double burger is wanted I go for a patty between 3-4oz. In the pic above I chose the middle and went for two 3.5oz patties. The Quarter coin illustrates the approximate size of the patties before they're flattened out. 

So weigh the meat, shape into balls and then gently, but firm, press down on them with the heel of your hand. Once they reached the desired thickness, cub the patty and just push a little inward on the rim to get an even shape. That's it. 

Now wrap them up in the wax paper and place in the fridge again to chill them a little before cooking. Unlike cooking a steak, which you want at room temperature, we want the beef patties well chilled because they won't fall apart and stay juicier. 

The final step...

Since I don't think you just happen to have a professional griddle laying around your place somewhere utilize a high-quality pan such as cast-iron, stainless steel or a carbon blue steel crepe pan. Pour in a tablespoon of a cooking oil with a high smoke point such as Corn oil, Safflower oil or even Extra Light Olive oil. Heat it to the point of smoking while seasoning the patties with a liberal amount of sea salt and ground black pepper.

Place them seasoned side down into the pan and sear untouched for about a minute to 90 seconds (depending of the patty's thickness) before flipping them over. Now season the seared side. Look for a nicely caramelized crust like the one above. Now it's a good time to add the cheese if desired. Once the burger is done, take the patties out and let rest for a couple of minutes while you get the toasted bun ready.

The finished burger should look something like this:

In my next posting "Homeground Bacon & Beef Burger - Part 2" I'll show you a great quick and easy recipe for the ultimate homemade Burger buns.

Until then...keep the burgers flippin'!