The Burger thread

[Jeff-Groves]

Well. My old stove had voice control yes.
Hey! Nancy! Cook me a Burger!


It didn't work so well most of the time.

[Skybird]

P-p-pe-perfeccct! Exactly what I was waiting for! Instant buy!

https://www.amazon.de/Melissa-162500...s%2C69&sr=8-10





I did not know these.

[ET2SN]

BOO!

What you NEED is one of these:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Navaris-F...s%2C233&sr=8-7



I'm convinced that cast iron cookware was invented by a bachelor. You can clean it, but cleaning really defeats the purpose. Just wipe the crud out of it.

BTW, my burgers for my weekly "Friday sliders" start out with preformed patties I get at the local grocery. Bigger than 1/4 pound patties, they are closer to 1/3 of a pound of non-lean ground beef.


All I add is a slight dusting of Goya Sazon (Con Azafran / safron) to enhance the flavor and some generic "trail dust" (either hickory or mesquite) to add a more unique flavor. Then into the (covered) preheated pan for 20 minutes of frying goodness.

Rolls- Your call, I prefer something fresh but generic.

Then, topped with ground pepper, "white cheese" (my goal was to revisit Navy Sliders so you don't want to get too fancy, but you can also cheat with a slice of Provolone or Swiss), dill pickles or picked hot peppers, and some mustard and ketchup.

Boom. That's it and its really all you need but an artery clogging portion of fries might come in handy.

[Skybird]

Yes, I like cast iron too, and I have three such items, a Wok and two pans, one of them being almost exactly like what you posted, just a Swedish brand. But frying patties, or steaks, in them, turns into a mess, the oil is everyhwere on the oven plates, the wall, the table, steam carries some smear onto all surfaces too, you can use a metal mesh as a lid, but still many oil drops go through, you can use a solid lid, then you catch water with it, and when you need to stir and lift the lid, you make a mess again. when you fry not steaks but micned meat, you add a grade in svewrity of the mess, since then there is even more fat involved. I like minced beef, but I do it very rarely only.

I have become lazy, and these days I want my cooking to be fast, simple and evading any follow-on cleaning orgies. I have a few cooking items only - but those I have I frequently use indeed, both tools and smaller machines. Not one kitchen machine that I do not frequently use. I have no room to store needless kitchen items. I have a contatc grill, but it is open at thge sides, so you still have oily steam escaping and ruining all surfaces in the kitchen, thats why I have sorted it out. I use the top surface grill in my microwave, especially for fish. That works good (only the grilling heat spiral , no microwaves of course).



I love "Bouletten" with mustard (big meatballs made of minced beef with a little bread and onions and nutmeg and salt and pepper in them), but I never do them, its so messy to fry them. This toy, if it works, could be the answer I was looking for.

"Trail dust" is kind of a liquid smoke clone? Oh wait, now that I have typed this in and add this edit, it could also be a dry rub... I discovered liquid dust just recently, and I instantly learned to dose it EXTREMELY carefully :LOL: But lamb steaks marinaded in a very little bit of oil with a homeopathic dose of liquid smoke, and then plenty of magic dust, was a new and great discovery for me. I did not know these dry rubs. This one I extremely like, I already tried two others, but I prefer this "magic dust" type most. In Germany they sell bottles with this and that "original American BBC" sauce, and they all have plenty of this liquid smoke arome in them, and it tastes very artificial and lousy, I assume a hand-made sauce of that kind necessarily always is better than an industrial copy of it. Usually I keep these kind of things simple. Mostly it just tastes better that way.

I kill for pickles made with red paprika in vinegar and water, nothign else. Some childhood thing. I often was allwoed tol order "Ziegunersteak" when we were in holdiays when I was a boy, and that is just a steak with a spread of this kind of Paporika. I just love the taste of it, almost as good as simpe ordinary mustard (which I can also kill by the glasses in one rush). No special exotic mustard, but just a very classic, ordinary German one we have over here. Sometimes "simple" is just "better".

[ET2SN]

That's why you need to cover the pan.
I was looking at the pan I posted again, and 30cm might be a tad extreme.

My two pans are 20 cm and 28 cm dia. and never leave the top of the stove.
Look around for cheap pots and pans with glass covers and "repurpose" the glass for your cast iron pans. They don't have to fit exactly, they can be slightly small- at least slightly larger than the bottom of your cast iron. Just make sure its tempered glass. You don't want the covers to explode when they get hot.

I'm 3/4ths Slovak. I know my paprika.

"Trail dust" is a generic US term. Its powdered seasoning. Liquids are too impractical for frying duty.

[Skybird]

Of course you try to cover the pan. But if it is a solid lid, then you collect plenty of water in it that makes the mess I described, and if you cover with a metal mesh only, the steam can escape, but oil still spills through.

And depending on the frying fat used, the msell stays around. I use either coconbut oilö (for more vegetarian things) or butter ghee. And that oen hangs in the bair nuhtiol, next day, no matter open windows or not. But Wiener Schnitzel with Coconut oil is - well, it just does not match. The coconut arome is nto there when the stuff is hot, but it lacks the wanted taste of butter. And that lack you taste by its absence! Sometimes you cannot work around it.

Its not as if I cook since just yesterday. I'm 54 and always was single! Actually there are a couple of dishes that I can cook extremely well. But I cannot improvise, and have no "base knowledge" like a cook would have. I have a repertoire. Within this repertoire I can do very well. Outside it I am lost.

Paprika is beside tomatoes the most used vegetable in my kitchen. In general I am no great vegetable lover. I eat it more because I know I should, not because I like it so much. For most vegetables I at best do not care. Some, and not just a few, I really hate. Only a very few I really like. Healthwise I am wondeirng since two years whetehr the role of vegetables isnt maybe a bit overestimated and more propagated due to ideological reaosns. But okay, maybe its just me. There are populatiosn that eat no vegetables and were extrneely healthy, and there were other populations who almost exclsuziovely ate just vegetables and frutis and also were healthy. And most of the stduies in ecothrophology are only correlation studies and observation studies. Means: you cannot really base any conclusions relating causal links on them if they are like this.

[ET2SN]

Oh, if you really like pickles, ask Neal about Pickled Okra.


Its a Texas Thing and it is INCREADABLY good, especially when its made with with very strong vinegar.

I like the hot variety and I'll add a couple more shakes of crushed red pepper when I open a new jar, then let it mellow out in the 'fridge for a week.

[Skybird]

I know pickled okra, too, there is a famous reigon near Berlin where they make a famous sort of thenm, Spreewald Gurken. They are more sour and sweet, not hot, however.



Very idyllic place btw, a paradise lost, or better: forgotten. Venice in a forest, no roads, only channels. Tolkien would have liked it. Four minutes overview,










but there are longer and better films available at youtube, just search for "Spreewald".:

[ET2SN]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Its not as if I cook since just yesterday.

He he he. I grew up in my parent's restaurant. I learned how to cook by the time I was 9.

With cast iron, yeah there's the smell. But, its the smell of SUCCESS.

What I do is use the glass cover when I fry stuff. As soon as its done and the good stuff is on the plate, I pour water in the pan while its cooling. At most, I'll clean the pan with a wet scrubber sponge while the pan is still a little warm then dry it out with a towel. That cuts down a LOT of the smell and the glass covers help keep the kitchen clean.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

P-p-pe-perfeccct! Exactly what I was waiting for! Instant buy!

https://www.amazon.de/Melissa-162500...s%2C69&sr=8-10





I did not know these.

I have one of those-Used it about 2-3 times. Now it's put away-Reason all the job getting it clean from all the greasy thing after you have fried two burger.

Markus

[ET2SN]

BTW, semi related for this thread.
My local grocery just started carrying these:

https://www.litehousefoods.com/produ...ly-fresh-herbs

I tried their freeze dried red onions and became an instant fan.
Fantastic in canned soups, fantastic in every thing besides breakfast cereals and cake frosting. Well, you get the idea.

Their regular cooking herbs (leaf type) are good, nothing to get excited about but they have a fairly fresh taste and come in a large jar.

I have the freeze dried Jalapenos sitting on my shelf, not sure what I'll use them for but I should have a better idea by Spring.

[d@rk51d3]

Burger needs egg, beetroot and pineapple.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I have one of those-Used it about 2-3 times. Now it's put away-Reason all the job getting it clean from all the greasy thing after you have fried two burger.

Markus

I would do it like with the grill plates from my contact grill (which now is my store-away): rinse very hot water and use a grill plate brush for teflon (stiff silicon briffle), then a papertowel. Pretty much like I would do with cast iron, just that there I would not use as hot water but medium-warm, and only if reallythere is a need. Maybe it must not be clinically sterile...?! It gets desinfected with the next use anyway.

Originally Posted by ET2SN

BTW, semi related for this thread.
My local grocery just started carrying these:

https://www.litehousefoods.com/produ...ly-fresh-herbs

I tried their freeze dried red onions and became an instant fan.
Fantastic in canned soups, fantastic in every thing besides breakfast cereals and cake frosting. Well, you get the idea.

Their regular cooking herbs (leaf type) are good, nothing to get excited about but they have a fairly fresh taste and come in a large jar.

I have the freeze dried Jalapenos sitting on my shelf, not sure what I'll use them for but I should have a better idea by Spring.

I share your enthusiasm for these shock-frosted freeze dried herbs, I use a German brand of these, and I absolutely prefer them to the oridnary dried herbals. These: https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...&postcount=190

I also prefer often frozen vegetable, if the dish I plan does not depend on full vegetables, but is of the kind you use a Wok for: small cut pieces and slices. Its healthier than fruits/veggies from the supermarket shelves (much less time to oxidize and thus higher vitamine content) , and is comfortable to handle, plus you always have some in the fridge. On some occasions however I get out and buy "fresh" veggies, and some veggies do not work too well if frozen anyway, they lose their structure. With some thats an issue, with others not. Berries is a total no-go to freeze. After thwaing you get them back as half-digested marshmallows.

Originally Posted by d@rk51d3

Burger needs egg, beetroot and pineapple.

I've booked your name, better you never meet me at night alone in the dark!

This is my preferred and thus only burger dressing, which I also use as a very much liked option on fried Salmon (no joke, it works wonderful). Its a Danish brand and recipe, but the company was founded by Germans who migrated to Denmark, I seem to recall.

Not to be mistaken with their "Hamburger Sauce", the bottles and labels look almost the same. The Burger Dressing has a mild ornage colour like Cocktail Sauce, the Hamburger Sauce is white. Its not bad, but imo not as good.

Beside Heinz Ketchup Standard and Curry, its the only ready-to-eat sauce from bottles that I use. Other sauces I use, I do myself. But this one I cannot copy. Its what I associate with the taste of the typical - and classical - burger sauce.


Edit. Oh wait, not true. I use more ready sauces, these:




The Heinz Sweet Chili (the sweet version, not the hot) is perfect for fried chicken pieces. The Spicey Burger Sauce is for multiple opportunities - ironically except Burgers (my taste, I know), but works good on roasted meats, it has a mild to medium hotness. The first (Chili) I use often, the latter has dropped off my radar a bit now.


The big advantage of the Heinz Sweet Chili is that it lacks the often present taste of artifical sweeteners that many other sauces of this type (Asian sweets-chilli, sometimes with a taste of sourness, and always this typical red) have.

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by ET2SN

He he he. I grew up in my parent's restaurant. I learned how to cook by the time I was 9.

With cast iron, yeah there's the smell. But, its the smell of SUCCESS.

What I do is use the glass cover when I fry stuff. As soon as its done and the good stuff is on the plate, I pour water in the pan while its cooling. At most, I'll clean the pan with a wet scrubber sponge while the pan is still a little warm then dry it out with a towel. That cuts down a LOT of the smell and the glass covers help keep the kitchen clean.

We have pans that are coated with Teflon. My lady showed me after cooking in them, put Dawn dish washing liquid ( or something comparable ) in the pan with water and put it on the stove top burners and turn the heat / flames on. Everything comes right off. This method prevents damaging the coating during cleaning if using an aggressive medium. I also use Dawn in the garage as a cheap, inexpensive de-greaser for cars and motorcycles.

When making burgers, I cut up onions and mix it right in. Vidalia sweet onions from Georgia are a favorite. I have also seasoned our burgers with Worcestershire or A.1 sauce and mix it in with the onions before going in the fry pan. Unfortunately, while flipping, some of the onions that may come off the burgers burn in the skillet, hence the dawn / water / heating method to clean them. Try it. It works well.

Originally Posted by ET2SN

BTW, semi related for this thread.
My local grocery just started carrying these:

https://www.litehousefoods.com/produ...ly-fresh-herbs

I tried their freeze dried red onions and became an instant fan.
Fantastic in canned soups, fantastic in every thing besides breakfast cereals and cake frosting. Well, you get the idea.

Their regular cooking herbs (leaf type) are good, nothing to get excited about but they have a fairly fresh taste and come in a large jar.

I have the freeze dried Jalapenos sitting on my shelf, not sure what I'll use them for but I should have a better idea by Spring.

I have never seen these freeze dried onions and the like but will look to see if our grocer carries these.

By the way, I think the lot of you are all chefs or frustrated cooks.

[Jimbuna]

Used to use this for my burgers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RSRBQ...f2eectkyn41utw

For the past month I'm now using this

https://jean-patrique.co.uk/products/the-whatever-pan