If you have a meat grinder... Buy short rib meat or chuck steak and grind it yourself. If not buy it and have the butcher grind it for you. Tell the butcher you want a coarse grind on the meat. Not the small grind they use to make regular hamburger.
You want your ground beef to be between 20 to 30% fat content. You will get 2 burgers per pound. For 2 burgers, before you form your burgers mix in... 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, not garlic salt, add a 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder. Do not use any salt yet.
Shape your burgers 3/4" thick and 4" wide. They should weigh 8oz on your digital scale. You will need a meat thermometer for this cook. I use a thermapen.
Set your grill up for 2-zone cooking. If you have a gasser just light one of the burners. If you have a charcoal grill move all of the coals to 1 side of your grill. At the start of the cook you want your grill, with the lid on/down to maintain a temp of 225 to 250 degrees, do not let it go above 250.
Place the burgers away from the direct heat and let them bake until the interior temp of your burger is 130 degrees. Your lid will remain open/off for the rest of the cook. Remove your burgers from the grill, put them on a plate and fire your grill up to warp 10 heat... As hot as you can get it. Turn on all of your burners to high heat on your gasser. With a charcoal grill have your coal setup where it is just 2" below your grate.
While your fire is getting hot... With a paper towel blot all of the moisture off of your burgers, you don't want any water on them when you are trying to sear them, that can create steam. After you blot them paint them with a layer of canola oil - the oil will help in the searing process.
When your fire is red hot, put your burgers back on the grill and sear both sides to the point you get that dark brown crust on them, not black. Apply salt to taste after the sear but before you put on whatever cheese you like. .Remove them from the fire when the interior temp of your burger is 160 degrees.
Use a really good hamburger bun like a brioche style bun. Apply some butter to both the top and bottom bun and toast them on a pan in your kitchen. Add whatever condiments you like and enjoy.
That's called the reverse sear. It allows you to bake the interior of your meat evenly with the exterior before you sear the crust. You will have a very moist tasty Steakburger. Not just your everyday hamburger. All credit for this recipe and cooking technique goes to Meathead Goldwyn!
Nice approach. I like the two step method.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Jacob... I'm going to try to revive your grilling page. I use that same technique when I grill steaks on my Big Green Egg. However on my BGE it is an up and down 2-zone technique. I put in 2 grates. One down low, 2" above the lump coal and one high up in the dome, away from the direct heat. I bake it at 250 with the steak higher up in the dome. When the the interior temp gets to 105/110 degrees, I take them off and put them on a plate while I turn the fan on on my DigiQ DX 2 temp controller. That gets my lump coal red hot while I am blotting the steaks and applying the canola or peanut oil to them on for the sear. I sear each side to that deep mahogany dark brown color, turning them often to not get grill marks. I remove them when they are at 125 degrees. The carryover cooking will take them to 130 degrees. Here's a picture of a Tomahawk bone in, Prime grade, 40oz Ribeye I did on my 63rd birthday. https://www.flickr.com/photos/food_pictures/15988903846/
Here's a couple of pics of my setup for that type of cook. This was for a Beef tenderloin cook.
Bake at 250... With the lid down. https://www.flickr.com/photos/food_pictures/8731070456/
Searing with the lid up. https://www.flickr.com/photos/food_pictures/8731070756/
Wow, those are some beautiful looking tomahawk chops. That two step method is so sweet. You can really see the even doneness throughout the chop.
Yes, please revive my grilling forum! If you start posting now, maybe we can hit summer with a little bit of momentum.
By the way, what's the DigiQ DX 2? Never heard of it.
It takes over control of the temperature of your smoker for low and slow cooks... So you can get some sleep during long, long cooks. I also use the fan to increase my temp to Mach 10 when i need it.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bbq+guru+digiq+dx2&tag=mh0b-20...
The reason for the reverse sear technique is to cook the interior of the meat first... So you don't get that 1/4" of brown meat just below the crust that separates the pink interior. Meathead has the science why bake first is superior to sear first and then bake.
Chef Jacob... I looked at the website for your beautiful restaurant in Truckee today. You've done really nice job of creating a comfortable dining experience. Me being me... Thought if I owned that restaurant I would setup a professional grade smoker, somewhere on that property, outside of course, where as soon as my customers got out of their car... They could smell the sweet aroma of wood burning in a smoker. Their tongue's will water as they approach your door.
I would want my guests that sit outside to have the luxury of that sweet aromatic smell of a smoker during their stay. I would add smoked ribs, smoked brisket and smoked pulled pork sandwiches to my menu along with some tasty cole slaw and some really good lightly smoked bbq beans. Don't forget Burnt Ends, the most popular smoked delicacy, that few people know how to cook, are to die for! Even though they are a byproduct of a well smoked brisket - that you can't serve with a quality brisket order.
You could bake some kick ass brioche rolls for your pulled pork sandwiches... Mmmm. Keep your existing menu going but now you've got another hook! Your food cost on pulled pork is very, very low and the same is true of ribs and brisket. Just my opinion nothing more. That is two different customers... Would be nice to have them both.
With the DigiQ you could keep that smoker going 24/7. Just set it up every day before you leave to go home and forget about it. When done right - pork butts/shoulders take 16 to 18 hours to smoke at 225 degrees. I'd have that sucker going full time. I'd smoke those Steakburger's outside in the smoker until the IH got to 130/140/150, i don't know how much heat a saute pan will add to the interior heat, and then bring then indoors to sear them in a sauté pan to get a good crust on them. Mmmm.
As a restaurant owner it's sweet to sell a $15 Steakburger and French fries, add a couple of bucks for caramelized onions... Mmmm. Or... If you want to protect the image of your fine dining experience at Stella's... Open a BBQ joint near by. I've been to Truckee before and I doubt there is a quality BBQ restaurant there.