Meathead sings the praises of dry brining steaks, pork, chicken, etc. before grilling. But none of his recipes for hamburgers, either the fat steakhouse burger or the skinny diner-style burger, call for dry brining the patties before cooking. Anyone know why?
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you can salt and then just mix it up and it's incorporated. it doesn't really need to be absorbed since it's all loose anyway and if you mix it in it's already deep in the burger.
steaks and roasts have to sit with salt for a while because it takes so long to penetrate.-
You don't want to mix it in because it will make it very dense like a bad meatball, I think Dr. Blonder covered it in the science of salt or some where.
See link at post #5Last edited by Powersmoke_80; July 27, 2016, 08:10 PM. -
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Everything I've read and experienced is that adding salt to the meat mixture or dry brining early results in a tougher burger because the salt denatures the proteins. The better way to go is to make your patty then salt just the outside just before cooking. Reverse sear, obviously.Comment
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Howdy,
While I'm not entirely certain what this means, this is what his recipe says about why one doesn't add salt to burgers ahead of time:
"Mix the black pepper, onion, and garlic powder in a small bowl. No salt yet. It can compress the meat and we want it loose to hold the juices. Spread the meat out on a plate and sprinkle the spices onto the meat distributing it evenly."Comment
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DeusDingo I was the same way. I mixed salt and seasoning right in with the meat. Sometimes even egg and breadcrumbs. *everyone gasps *hangs head in shame Then I saw the light and stared making burgers with nothing but beef and salt mixed in. They were beefy and juicy and delicious. Life was good for a while and then I saw that article and then some others that suggested I was doing it wrong again. I made the simple change and now my burgers are soft and delicate and the most juicy interior I've ever had.
I know you're no noob, but give it a shot. You may not know what you're missing.
I've also discovered sous vide for my burgers but that a story for another day.Comment
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After making the patties I season them with a little salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and throw them back in the fridge for the 20-30 minutes it takes to clean the grill, light the charcoal and let the grill warm up. Haven't noticed any issues.Comment
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I ususally salt my burgers ahead of time and mix it all together with the spices and sometimes they are a little tough. I just thought it was the quality of the meat that I was getting but maybe it is just the salt that I was mixing up with the meat. I will try just the spices next time to find out if that is it.Comment
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I think the issue is mixing salt IN the meat ahead of time, not simply dry brining as in surface treatment. I dry brine burgers w/o consequence.Comment
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It would be easy to test this. Just season one burger each way and judge for yourself. I just sprinkle some Montreal steak Seasoning on the patties and place them in the fridge for an hour or two. I put them on the grill straight from the fridge.Comment
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Hmmm. Might explain why my last batch of burgers were noticeably tougher than usual. I added salt to the mix, made the patties and then froze them in batches. Learned the salt-in-the-mix idea from Cook's Illustrated. I usually trust them.Comment
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Didn't you ask this in the comments on the free site AND on FB or Twitter? I discuss the issue here http://amazingribs.com/recipes/hambu...amburgers.htmlComment
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