Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The better burger arrived today!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The better burger arrived today!

    I have been struggling all summer to consistently get a juicy well done burger. Others here are able to do it but I wasn't able to come up with a repeatable approach. Gawd, the hot tub sure solves that problem. I had some 70/30 burger in the freezer and it came out dripping at 155. Did some straight chuck just now at 145 with a sear (no ice bath) and they were juicy with a touch of pink the way I like them.

    I cooked some to 160 in the hot tub for my wife and just put grillgrate marks on it and she really liked them. She doesn't need juices.

    So I have landed on two different burgers, a well done and a juicy option. The sous vide makes this easy enough to do so that I am happy with the approach.

    I have a bunch of options:

    1) Cook as many as I need to 160 for 40 min. Then turn the tub down to 145 and add as many of the juicy ones I need for 40 min while leaving the 160 degree ones in the pot as well. Gives me at least an hour of leeway if meal time shifts around a bit. Hard to plan for how many want juicy vs well done. Need lead time for the cook.

    2) Cook them all to 145. Give how ever many juicy ones I want a cold bath and put them in the fridge. Finish the well done ones and they go straight to the grill. Light grill marks on well done ones. Solid sear on the 145's to re-therm them. I imagine option 2 would give me a juicier burger. My question here is how long would I need to cook them once the water was at 165 given they were already at 145.

    3) Cook all to 145. Put a nice sear on the juicy ones. Burn the crap out of the well done ones on the grill since those folks don't really care.

    I'm leaning toward option 3.

    Feedback?

    P.S. - I would really like to thank Meathead the moderators and others who have helped me this summer. I started in May with a new gasser. I have learned how to do smoked brisket, great ribs, pulled pork, alabama chicken, and now, a good burger. This is an amazing place




    #2
    You're rolling now!!! Congrats!

    Comment


      #3
      Congrats on a juicy burger. I don't think you can call it a great burger if you don't have to wash your hands when it's gone.

      Comment


        #4
        Great post! I just ordered the Anova (with no small nudge from Mudkat) and I'm really looking forward to the sous vide experience

        Comment


        • Thunder77
          Thunder77 commented
          Editing a comment
          Sous Vide is an excellent complement to grilling and BBQ!

        #5
        Congrats! I can't wait to hear your review of stuffed burgers with it. Go simple at first - diced jalapeños, onions, garlic powder (I was advised here not to use fresh garlic in SV) and some cheese. You will love it.

        Comment


        • Hugh
          Hugh commented
          Editing a comment
          I'm interested in your comment about garlic. My 2nd favorite burger is a garlic burger. I was going to throw a couple of blanched/diced garlic cloves in my next batch. Do you remember what the problem was?

          Thanks

        • tbob4
          tbob4 commented
          Editing a comment
          Hugh - Page 1 of this thread: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-eye?pp=262300 . 5th down Potkettleblack 's comments.

        #6
        Burgers have become one of the more complex cooks I do these days because of sous-vide.

        I've found the real power of sous-vide with burgers is that I can cook the patties to medium rare (131ºF in my case) and then sear, which leads to super juicy and soft burgers, plus they're mostly pink but also totally safe because they spend sufficient time at or above 131ºF.

        I go through the following process:
        1. Sous-vide the patties to 131ºF for an hour or two.
        2. Chill in the fridge while still in the bags. (This is usually done a day or three before the actual cook.)
        3. Reheat to desired temp (usually back up to 131ºF) in a smoker. This is the easiest step to stagger if you have guests who insist on cooking to higher temps.
        4. Sear on either a cast iron pan, griddle, or grill. (Whatever is convenient, step 3 provides plenty of smokiness, I even get small smoke rings on mine.)
        Sous-vide straight to a grill works pretty well too (your option 3) especially if you're using a gas grill. I have found I really, really like the flavor that reheating in the smoker gives though. My smoker is just a Weber with an SNS, so I just put the sear on right there.

        Comment


          #7
          I would use your option 3, I know you're kidding about burning them up, just get them to 160-165 and the "well doners" will be happy.

          Comment


            #8
            Hugh I am so happy to hear this! Whoohoo! Where else can you find the array of talented people other than the pit? Looks like 145° nailed it! YES!

            I would suggest cooking all at 145° then pulling yours and cooking up to the 160's for the rest. Don't backtrack. Complete one thing/task and mo onto the next.

            Nice work Brother!

            Comment


              #9
              Congratulations! Glad you've got what you were looking for.

              Comment


                #10
                For those who sous vide burgers: are you vacuum sealing, or just using ziplock bags? How well do the burgers keep their shape?

                Comment


                  #11
                  Thunder77 I'm just using ziplock bags. The shape is a good question. I have to do more experimenting to say for certain, but here are my thoughts.

                  First - how I form them. I'm hand forming them, creating a ball and then gently hand pressing between two pieces of wax paper. You get a tapered edged this way, not the traditional looking patty. Others have said here that you get a juicier burger by not over working the patties and keeping things loose. Then I use the displacement method in the ziplock bag. I don't find they get squished or flattened in the process.

                  They come out looking appealing enough but I would say they look kind of 'smoothed' over, they aren't all rough and jagged like a straight grilled burger. I say 'kind of smoothed out' because they are far from being perfectly smooth (hence my searing challenge). I am happy with the presentation and wouldn't be concerned serving them to my guests.

                  Hope that helps

                  Comment


                    #12
                    Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_0519.JPG Views:	1 Size:	1.76 MB ID:	368892
                    Thunder77 - I vacuum seal and to solve the shape issue, this is what I use. They are the same diameter and height as my burger stuffer. I stopped using the stuffer after reading here that the ingredients could go bad. Viola, SV came along and solved that problem. These are just a bit flimsier than I will get when they finally lose their shape. If you like smaller burgers, an egg ring works, as well.

                    Comment


                    • EdF
                      EdF commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Are those "English Muffin" rounds?

                    • tbob4
                      tbob4 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      EdF - Essentially. They have lots of different names. Dough cutter or dough round are others names for the same item.

                    #13
                    MCS...you obviously need another Anova so you can do both at the same time start to finish...

                    Comment


                    • Hugh
                      Hugh commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Gawd....why didn't I think of that!

                  Announcement

                  Collapse
                  No announcement yet.
                  Working...
                  X
                  false
                  0
                  Guest
                  Guest
                  500
                  ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
                  false
                  false
                  {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
                  Yes
                  ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
                  /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here