contest Who made the Best Burger(s) of THP 2017?

[Hybrid Mode 01]

Was anything but dry. Smoked doesn't equate dry. Especially when cheese stuffed.

 
 
     Yup. For me, pink in a burger is a means to an end - not necessarily a sign of success. If you can manage to cook a juicy patty, color is not so important. A lack of pink in a burger or steak is always an initial turn-off to me, but I can get past that if the flavor and juice are done right. 
     I trust that you did it right. Hard. Twice. 
   
 
     Again.

 

[Greenguru]

Speaking of races, and legendary commentators ...
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuFZE8lxZ5g

Lol imtellingmymom

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[calchilihead]

I had to go with Guat's entry.  Juicy lucys are one of the best inventions known to man.  The meat looked a little dense (as someone who grinds my own beef regularly), but when making a burger like a juicy lucy the patty is the full on point.  Also he used a very high fat content beef which keeps the juicyness even when cooked through.  The bacon weave was off the hook, with the Jals and the pepper in the cheese.  I had to think "Which burger here would I just eat pretty much every week?"  And it was GIP.s
 
D3 was an ultra close second.  Man you guys are killin me with these entries  The fried portabella mushroom was a great touch.  Also the thing that almost got my vote was the smoked burger version.  So much misinformation on smoked burgers being dry.  That is ultra false.  Using high fat content fresh ground negates the problem when cooking through and through.  
 
As I said the cons from Gips:  A bit to dense.  Cons from D3. way to crumbly for my liking on the non smoked one.  Cons from Grants:  it looks amazing but has way to much foofiness going on for me.  And the grind seemed a bit too coarse so the burger was super crumbly.  
 
For me taking short rib, some triTip, chuck roast AND adding fat trimmings that I save, and grinding together bacon in it, gets a fat content of around 70-74% which is perfect for smoked burgers.  Also so the burger stays together  I grind twice, once at coarse grind, and once at medium grind.  I always shape the patties and handle as little as possible.  You need that second grind to get the binders in the meat to work. You smoke them for 20-30min @ 300degrees, they come out cooked through and still explode with juices when you bite in.
 
If you have a cast iron grate you can set your smoker at 250, take a blow torch to one section of cast iron and sear the bejesus out of the pattys to lock in some moisture, then move them to the cool smoke side.
Anyways.  Great work at all, I would not hesitate to put your meat fully in my mouth and swallow your juices.

 

[calchilihead]

P.s.  Sorry for anyone who got non beef.  Thats just blasphemy and you should feel bad :p

 

[The Hot Pepper]

spoken like a true foodie hope u enter soon (if u did sorry i missed)
 
thanks for taking the time to evaluate and vote

 

[grantmichaels]

Cons from Grants:  it looks amazing but has way to much foofiness going on for me.  And the grind seemed a bit too coarse so the burger was super crumbly.  

 
I'll happily accept the compliment.

 

 

[Bicycle808]

This wasn't easy at all... a lot of good entries, for sure, and i'd have been glad to vote for any of'm.
 
What it came down to, for me, was if I was sitting down with a beer in hand, and i had to order one of these right now, which would it be?  And, once i reframed it that way, instead of trying to see which entry had the most "curb appeal" based on ingredients listed and kitchen kung fu techniques involved, it all became clear.
 
I'd order both of G.I.P's burgers, no question.
 
So, that's how i voted, but i still am incredibly impressed with everyone's recipes and maneuvers here.

 

[calchilihead]

Ya it should be mandatory to flash freeze these and mail samples to everyone.

 

[calchilihead]

spoken like a true foodie hope u enter soon (if u did sorry i missed)
 
thanks for taking the time to evaluate and vote

 
I would have entered this one, but was in the middle of a move to a new house.  So all my smokers/cooking/grinding gear was packed  Next one though, now that I have way more space (and garden space) I am in.

 

[Student of Spice]

 
i can't hipster ... there's no plus-size skinny jeans and i don't rock the blue ribbon ...
 

 
Any pants you can't button are skinny jeans...

 

[Booma]

Just because a silly Aussie smokes some burgers doesn't make smoked burgers a good thing.
 
Just sayin'
 

 
should of sous vide everything, would of been heaps better.....

 

[grantmichaels]

The flavor of meat cooked sous vide is the best flavor representation of the meat in all most every case of beef that I can think of.
 

 

[Guatemalan Insanity Pepper]

 
should of sous vide everything, would of been heaps better.....

LMAO     
 
 
 
 
 

 

[BigB]

 
should of sous vide everything, would of been heaps better.....

 
booma, please don't ever buy a sous vide. your bbq cooking is too top notch to even contemplate about using one.
 
with that being said, i agree with GM 100% that sous vide brings out the best in beef. PLUS, i can pasteurize the nastiness out of that nasty store ground beef if i ever wanted to use it then sear it off in some bentons bacon at. (i have them grind fresh short rib for me, so that's never an issue). 

 

[grantmichaels]

 
booma, please don't ever buy a sous vide. your bbq cooking is too top notch to even contemplate about using one.
 
with that being said, i agree with GM 100% that sous vide brings out the best in beef. PLUS, i can pasteurize the nastiness out of that nasty store ground beef if i ever wanted to use it then sear it off in some bentons bacon at. (i have them grind fresh short rib for me, so that's never an issue). 

He bought his Sansaire before you bought yours ... guess who ...

 

[BigB]

He bought his Sansaire before you bought yours ... guess who ...

 
you should get your own referral code. however i bought the anova

 

[grantmichaels]

In other news, The Bum has already conceded SV for steak ...
 
The anti-SV crowd is about as sensible as the anti-vaxx crowd ...
 
Enjoy the plight!
 

 

[grantmichaels]

 
you should get your own referral code. however i bought the anova

 
May have been bierz ... hard to remember as there are a lot of people between all of the social places at this point ...
 
Everywhere else they're just thankful, without the BS ...
 

 

 

 

[Booma]

 
booma, please don't ever buy a sous vide. your bbq cooking is too top notch to even contemplate about using one.
 
with that being said, i agree with GM 100% that sous vide brings out the best in beef. PLUS, i can pasteurize the nastiness out of that nasty store ground beef if i ever wanted to use it then sear it off in some bentons bacon at. (i have them grind fresh short rib for me, so that's never an issue). 

 
i have got one, and use it now and then, but will not use it for burgers, barbecue, etc. the odd steak and eggs, maybe some seafood, but thats all, i do love the taste etc, but to me, more of a novelty.
 
Been working on other methods for the even cooks and cant get past the real fire

 

[grantmichaels]

Don't you also do fire sprinklers, though? ...
 
#Pyro