Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hamburger

How do you shape the perfect hamburger patty?

deezil — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:30:19 -0800

Grilling MeFites: How do you shape the perfect hamburger patty? My first few attempts at hamburger patty construction have been much less than optimal, and I'm trying to figure out how best to shape the patties so they aren't lumpy and oddly sized. It's part aesthetics and part "let's make sure this cooks thoroughly". Looking for ideas on how best to make my patties so that they are fairly uniform.

In case it matters: Using around a 70/30 beef mix, blending in some spices and shredded cheese with the meat.

Do you have any personal recipe recommendations for hamburger?

ArgentCorvid — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:20:53 -0800

Can you help me come up with a recipe plan to use up this glut of hamburger that I have? I went deer hunting this year, and had good luck. This is great and all, but now I have ~30 lbs of ground venison (in addition to the steaks/roasts).

I'm looking for personal, specific recipe ideas/recommendations that you have featuring ground beef/venison so I can use all this up throughout the year. I will undoubtedly be making some into good-old-fashioned burgers and chili, but I would like some ideas to break it up a little.

Yes, there are plenty of recipes on the web, but this is MetaFilter after all.

The meat is vacuum packed and stored in a deep freeze, so safe storage through the year isn't much of a concern. Also, we mixed in a small amount of pork with some of it, so that it wouldn't be TOO lean.

The Perfect Meatloaf

RavinDave — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:33:51 -0800

Fill in the blank: "The secret of great meatloaf is ___________." I have a reason for asking. The general recipe for everyday, mundane, every-gramma-made-it, I-know-a-great-truckstop, Norman Rockwell Americana meatloaf is pretty straightforward. Yeah, we all have our little tweaks and variations -- but the basic recipe seems rather simple.

But I ALWAYS mess it up. Generally, what comes out of the oven is more suited to build housing. Am I using too many eggs? Not enough? Too much kneading? Too many crumbs? More veggies? Maybe a lower grade hamburger? Maybe a higher grade? Add glaze from start? Wait 'til it's almost done? How do I know when it's done?

I have all the ingredients assembled and I plan to start cooking tomorrow morning. Any last minute advice would be muchly appreciated.

Points for tradition. I'm sure Habanero Loaf with Banana glaze is wonderful -- but that's not what I'm after.

Adding powders to liquid when cooking

Roger Dodger — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:01:19 -0800

Everytime I make Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, the powder clumps up when I add it to the liquid. How do I stop it from doing this? No food snobs please. Sometimes you just need some comfort food.

How can I spice up a boring cheeseburger?

hodyoaten — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:53:13 -0800

Boring old homemade cheeseburgers for dinner. No lettuce and tomato. How can I spice this up? We never seem to have lettuce and fresh tomatoes in the house. I want to get out of the usual pickle & mustard funk. But we have a metric asston of spices, canned items, and baking ingredients (to include canned tomatoes).

Are there any great ingredients that would spice things up nicely? Are there any highly-regarded fast-food or restaurant burgers which aren't dependent on the lettuce & tomato? I've got some diced peppers and diced onions in the freezer, so those are game. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Hamburger + Wok = Inevitable Smoke?

ztdavis — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:29:58 -0800

Have fun and hilarity at my expense! So I tried to pan fry a hamburger in a wok and my apartment is now full of smoke... I don't know much about cooking, especially in a wok.

Here's what happened:

1. I bought pre-shaped hamburgers at Sam's Club, I assumed they were pre-cooked because I was in a rush.

2. I get home and open the box and they are not pre-cooked. I think "whatever, they'll just take longer".

3. Heat up wok.

4. Put in wok.

5. Make sure battery isn't in smoke detector, because dear lord is there a ton of smoke.

At how many and which points did I go wrong? What should I have done differently? Should I have pan cooked it in a pan, perhaps? Should I have put oil in the bottom of the wok first (I didn't want an oily burger, so I didn't).

It does taste good, for the record; I'm eating it right now.

Please feel free to laugh at my expense, I have a self-deprecating sense of humor anyway.

Patty-maker

RavinDave — Sat, 25 Sep 2004 01:26:56 -0800

Looking for a small appliance they used to sell on TV to make hamburger patties. It was simply a clear plastic tube with circular dividers. Drop in meat, divider, meat, divider, meat, diver, meat, etc. -- then smush it into even patties. Can't Google, cuz I don't know what the hell it was called.