So, what is your July 4th Menu Looking Like?

[jfmorris]

I'll close this out by saying that the best burger I had on the 4th was one of my leftover smash burgers from the 3rd, microwaved just long enough to melt a slice of cheese, about 9pm that night.

We spent the day over at my sister in laws house, and had fun playing games and such. And I took a churn of ice cream packed in a cooler of beer, so that worked too. But I just mostly expected burned up super extra well done burgers (dry). What I got over there was very unexpected. First, I walk in to two brother in laws using a meat thermometer (digital) to check the temp and pulling patties off the Weber Spirit grill at 165. So that was good. But these were some of the THICKEST fattest patties I've ever seen. At least 1.5 inches if I had to guess.

Of course, I just HAD to ask about the burgers as we were walking back in, so my brother in law asks my wife's sister "hey - what did you put in these burgers". He was just cooking what he was given.... The answer was... Worcestershire sauce, EGG, onion powder, and some other number of things. I stopped listening, as she was describing MEAT LOAF.

And sure enough, what we all bit into, and politely tried to eat, was an almost flavorless meatloaf sandwich, well done through and through. I manned my way through about 3/4 of a burger, and could eat no more, and politely left to get more chips in the kitchen, and tried to give the rest to the dog. The DOG did not want it, and turned up her nose!

I noticed around 6pm there was a wave of folks going back to grab a hot dog out of the fridge, but I never heard anyone mention getting another burger... I got more ice cream and held out until I could go home and get a decent burger... AS did my wife. The first thing she mentioned on the way home was how the burgers at lunch tasted like unseasoned meatloaf, and not a grilled burger at all. I've taught her well!

I owe my sister in law and her husband a steak dinner for helping me tremendously with some yard work this past month, and spreading 3 truckloads of mulch around my yard. But I gotta figure out how to sneak a "here's how you make a burger on your Weber gas grill" lesson in there too... with the first lesson being not to mix a bunch of crap into the meat, and just season it at the grill with salt and pepper, or even steak seasoning. And don't make it 2 inches thick...

[jfmorris]

dpearce I see where you are going. Show up at their house and cook the burgers on their grill?

I'll be honest, I would have PREFERRED a charred/burned thin well done burgers to the 1.5 inch thick slice of saltless meatloaf that what I got tasted like. Or even the thin premade frozen patties my mother in law used to buy and cook for her cookouts. At least those would have tasted like burgers. This was more like it was baked in the oven, without seasoning. It did have some grill marks though!

[dpearce]

jfmorris The "thick burger" craze, to me is overdone. Fun for awhile, but they can be tricky to make taste good. I prefer smash style burgers lately. If I'm going to make anything thick like that with ground beef, it's going to be BBQ Smoked Meatloaf. But maybe if they really like your version, they'll be asking for the recipe and trying them out themselves! My in-laws don't really take any cooking or recipe advice from me, but they have no problem eating my cooking.

[jfmorris]

dpearce EXACTLY. I think I just enjoy smash burgers because the crust is what makes them flavorful. If you want a thicker burger, stack two on your bun.

That said, I did make some great "steakhouse style" burgers on the kamado recently, but they were at most .5 to .75 inches thick. Not insane like these patties. I think that is what I need to showcase to my brother in law, so that he knows what he can do on his grill.