There is probably not a single person on this planet who does not like hamburgers. Hamburgers are more than just comfort food for a lot of people, they are the first choice of meal for many.
Without any surprise, hamburgers are known to be the best-selling fast food for most food chains, and it is all for the very best reasons. This scrumptious concoction of fresh buns, delectable meat patties, oozing cheese, and a variety of your favorite toppings makes hamburgers a joy to eat.
The best thing about hamburgers is that you can have it in literally any way that you desire, and by that we mean the number of patties, the fillings inside, and of course, the kind of cheese used as well.
Hamburgers might be a little too messy to eat (depending on the number of patties you opt for), but they are also pretty convenient due to their portability. Unlike one-pot meals, you can carry your hamburger and munch on it while walking on the streets. On top of that, they are very fulfilling to eat as well, so that is always an advantage.
However, it can be a little too expensive to buy this yummy meal from high-end fast-food chains all the time. But then again, we dare not tell you to completely avoid having it in the first place!
So what can you do? Well, thanks to many great kitchen appliances, you can easily make your hamburger at home! Not only will it be much cheaper than having to spend tons of cash on restaurant-made burgers, but it will also be much fresher and not mention healthier as it will be completely homemade.
Now you might be wondering about how to get that amazing restaurant-like consistency to your choice of meat because let us be honest- the main factor that decides how delicious or crappy a hamburger is going to be is the patty quality. So it is of utmost importance for you to never compromise on that.
But it is also not easy to maintain the quality of a burger patty at home. This is why we advise you to invest in a meat grinder!
Meat grinders are amazing appliances that you can get to make your perfect burger at home. But how do you make a hamburger in a meat grinder, you ask?
Well, that is nothing to fret about at all! In this article today, we are going to dive into all the how-to of using a meat grinder that will help you create an incredible hamburger right from the comfort of your kitchen.
Grind Your Own Meat for Hamburgers At Home
The next time you go shopping for kitchen appliances, choose to invest in a high-quality meat grinder. A meat grinder is one of the best kitchen tools that you can get your hands on if you want to broaden your culinary skills.
You do not need to separately purchase meatballs and patties for your pasta and hamburgers once you get a meat grinder for your kitchen, as you can easily make those with ground meat.
Unlike meatballs, meat patties are slightly trickier to make, so you will need a very good meat grinder for that. You will want your hamburger patties to be smooth and soft so that they can easily be bit onto.
You can easily get minced meat from stores and butcheries, but we recommend you to grind your meat for hamburgers at home. The store issue bought minced meat is that they come preserved to a certain extent, which is why it can be hard to shape and form them into delectable burger patties.
But when you mince your fresh meat at home, you get to choose whether you want to turn them into burger patties and have them right then or store them away from future usage.
Another great advantage of grinding your meat for burgers at home is that you can personally measure the fat content to be used.
Did you ever wonder why your homemade burger patties are not as juicy as restaurant ones? Well, that is because of the appliance (meat grinder) used.
A meat grinder completely takes your burger game to a whole new level, resulting in you with nothing but a juicy and delicious hamburger meal.
The benefits of grinding your meat at home also branch to the kind of meat you want to use for your burgers, as well as the level of consistency that you want them to have.
This way, you can decide if you want the minced meat to be completely smooth, or have chunky bits in them for a more youthful feel. As we mentioned before, you get to also choose the fat content to your desire, so you get to control how juicy or flat you want your burger patties to be in the end.
The best thing about owning your meat grinder at home is that you can do so much more than just make excellent quality burger patties.
By owning a meat grinder, you will also be able to create meatballs, sausages, minced meat, etc. It also saves you a lot of time and money from having to head down to the store to get minced meat for your burger patties. So do yourself a favor and get a meat grinder today!
Best Meat to Grind For Hamburgers
The great big question of “How Do You Make a Hamburger in a Meat Grinder?” isn’t a mystery at all! But what is the best meat to grind, you say?
Ask any chef and they will tell you that some of the best meat to grind for hamburgers are beef and pork. The former meat type is much more preferred than the latter one, as it comes with a wide variety of cuts and pieces.
Chuck steak
When it comes to choosing which parts of beef and pork to grind, you should always go for the chuck steak. The chuck steak is a large boneless piece of meat, marbled with the perfect ratio of fat to lean.
Most chefs use this amazing piece as it does not require any special tailoring. You also get to add in extra other meat pieces to compliment the chuck steak, making it very versatile and of course, delicious.
Sirloin ( a.k.a Tri-Tip)
Another beef cut that you can grind to make a burger patty is the sirloin. However, the sirloin (or Tri-Tip as called by many) is a very lean piece, so the fat ratio is pretty low.
When opting for the sirloin cut for your burger patty, it is a good idea to always compliment it with a rather fattier beef cut, such as the short rib or brisket.
You do not want to simply grind the sirloin alone for a patty, as the end product will come out as very dry and flat. Including the brisket or a short rib will enhance the overall flavor of the patty, while also giving it that extra ooze of fat. Totally yum!
Brisket
The brisket is one of the finest beef cuts that you can use to grind for an amazingly juicy hamburger patty. The fat ratio in brisket is pretty high, therefore giving it that extra oomph of scrumptiousness when you bite into it.
Another amazing thing about this cut is that it also retains a very beefy flavor, even after it’s cooked with tons of different spices and herbs. We recommend you grind the brisket for a patty if you want to get that authentic beef flavor every time you take a bite.
Hanger steak and skirt
This piece is rather tricky to deal with, however, you will result with a super amazing beef patty if you can successfully manage to work around it.
The hanger steak and skirt cut, also known as the plate cut have a slight tanginess to its taste. This is the cut you should grind for your hamburger patties if you want to indulge yourself in a fancy burger meal.
Compliment the meal with a glass of chilled coke or beer and some nicely cut fries for an even better experience!
Make Hamburger Meat Patties
After choosing the right type of meat, you must follow a few simple steps to perfectly grind the meat into an amazing burger patty. Without further ado, let us get to know what you need to exactly do to create something mouthwatering and incredible.
Start cold
You will want everything, literally EVERYTHING to be completely cold when grinding. The grinder itself as well as the meat you want to grind should be cold.
The equipment needs to be cold as it will allow the meat to stick perfectly to the grinder, therefore making your grinding process much easier and faster to deal with.
The meat should also be very cold since it will stay firmer for a pretty long time. However, you should make sure to slightly defrost it first if the meat happens to be frozen instead of cold.
Defrost the meat and drain off the excess water as excess water will make the minced meat very soggy and also take away its natural beefy taste.
Cutting the meat
To make your grinding process a whole lotta easier, it is recommended that you always cut your desired meat into 1 inched piece. This size is very ideal, as you can easily cut them up further into smaller pieces if you want to grind them more smoothly.
Cold bowl
You must keep a very cold bowl ready in which you will pour out all your minced meat. You do not want the minced meat to start getting cracked up due to dryness. This is why you should always pre-ready a cold bowl.
To keep the minced meat consistent, you should fill a bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Afterward, place another steel bowl on top of the iced one, and then pour out the minced meat into it.
This will help you focus on your next batch of minced meat, without having to worry about the previous batch drying up real quick.
The process of grounding meat can go from easy to very difficult within a split second, so you should make sure to give it enough time to reach a considerable consistency.
Also, try not to waste time doing other stuff as meat can get warmed up pretty fast. In case of the meat, you are working with starts to warm up, place it inside a refrigerator for a few minutes and then start grinding it again.
Always grind twice
A lot of people make the silly mistake of grinding their meat only once. It is a better idea to always put the meat through the grinder twice, as it will result in you with very smooth and soft ground meat.
When you are grinding it for the first time, make sure to use a coarse disk. Afterward, opt for a finer grinding disk the second time you work with the equipment.
Using a course disk the first time will work to crush out all the chunky bits from your choice of meat, whereas the finer disk for the second round will smoothen out the ground meat, therefore leaving you with a perfect mix for hamburger patties!
Shaping the patty
Always make sure to only use gentle hands when shaping your burger patties. Fresh minced meat can be extremely soft, so you do not want to use too much force on them and break them apart. On top of that, exerting too much pressure on the ground meat can harden it.
Use soft touches on the ground meat when you are shaping it into a burger patty. Another tip is to gently pat down on the middle of the patty in the end with either your finger or your thumb, to prevent the patty from popping when you cook it.
Tips to Make Your Hamburger Meat Stick Together
There is probably nothing more annoying than spending time and effort over-grinding and re-grinding hamburger patties, only to have them fall apart right before you cook them for the meal.
This is why you need to do a few things beforehand, to make sure the meat sticks together right till the last moment before it is cooked.
Keep the meat cold
As mentioned above in the article, you must work with only cold meat cuts when grinding them into fine ground meat.
Chilled meat tends to hold its form together for a pretty long time, therefore giving you the flexibility of shaping and forming them into different sizes.
A lot of people make the mistake of using only cold meat before grinding, but then letting it warm up before cooking
DO NOT DO THAT. The colder your ground meat is, the firmer it will be till the very last minute. In case you do not want to cook it right afterward, make sure to place your patties in the refrigerator for at least an hour or so.
Take it out 15 minutes before your cooking, and you will be good to go.
Touch as little as possible
We know, to make a burger patty you need to touch it with your hands while shaping. However, try to finish shaping the meat into desirable portions as fast as you can, as well as with minimal touches.
Raw meat will stay very hard to manage until you finally cook it, so the entire time frame in between that is very crucial.
Touching the meat too often will slowly start to break the pieces apart, leaving you with nothing but a meaty mess on your kitchen counter.
Keep liquids away from the patties
As we mentioned previously in the article, try not to add extra liquids to your ground meat. Liquids such as special sauces (Worcestershire sauce) or marinades break apart the molecules in meat.
If you want to add any sauce or marinade to the patty, you can either use only a minimum amount such as 1 ½ of a teaspoon or so, or simply just pour it over your burger once it is completely cooked and there is no chance for the patty to fall apart any longer.
Restrain from over-flipping the patty
Contrary to popular belief, over-flipping your burger patty does not cook it faster! In any case, over-flipping simply ruins the consistency of the burger patty and makes it fall apart much more easily.
Let the patty cook perfectly on one side at first. Do not worry even if the patty starts to turn a bit too dark on one side.
Once the color is more or less dark brown, lightly flip the patty over and let it cook until it reaches the rareness you want.
Egg
While they do indeed slightly change the flavor of a hamburger, it is no doubt that eggs are amazing binding agents. For those of you fretting over the consistency of your burger patty, simply crack open one egg over the patty mixture before you start shaping it.
Make sure to add only one egg as too many will completely take away the authentic beefy (if, you are using beef) tasty of the meat.
Know that adding an egg to your patty mixture is a completely individual preference, so this is not an absolute must for you to do.
Speaking from personal experience, adding eggs is not the best choice as they take away the beef texture and flavor from the meat, however, you also cannot avoid the fact that they work as amazing binding agents.
So in short, the choice is completely up to you and your preferences.
Season Your Burger Meat
Seasoning burger meat is one of the trickiest parts of making it. As a general rule of thumb, you should always season your burger meat right before cooking it.
Let us backtrack a little here and talk about what you should season your burger meat with in the first place. A good choice of seasoning condiments are salt, ground black pepper, and oregano, however, this section also depends on consumer preference.
You should season your burger meat only a few minutes before shaping them into patties. The seasoning should also be done just a few minutes before you cook the patties.
This is because one of the main seasoning agents is salt, and salt takes away a huge amount of moisture from the meat.
If you season your burger meat at least an hour before you cook it, you will only result with a super dry and flat patty for your hamburger buns.
Make sure to lightly season your burger patties with the right condiments a few minutes before cooking them. Trust us, the timing makes all the difference when it comes to cooking the best hamburger patties!
Can You Freeze Hamburger Meat?
Yes, you can freeze hamburger meat for as long as you want. Other than the ground meat itself, you can also freeze hamburger patties for an indefinite period without having to worry about the patties drying out or going bad.
If you want to freeze ground meat, we suggest you do it in small bowls covered with plastic wrap as that will allow the meat to freeze without necessarily drying out.
For hamburger patties, store them away on a wax-lined sheet of paper, so that they do not stick to the surface. Once you think the patties are completely frozen, you can transfer them to a zip-lock bag.
It is important for you to not skip the step of placing them on a wax-lined sheet of paper for freezing, as this will help the patties retain their form and shape.
Do not store them away in a zip-lock bag from the beginning, as the patties might start to get all soggy and weirdly shaped in the closed-off space.
Another great technique is to also layer the patties into a convenient stack with parchment paper or wax-lined sheet paper in between so that they do not stick to each other either.
After placing the necessary sheets in between, you can store them away in a sealed bag so that the patties stay fresh and ready to use.
Alongside hamburger patties, you can also freeze ground meat (as we mentioned before). For storing ground meat, you should measure and separately portion away from the meat into useable sizes.
You can either store them in small bowls covered with plastic wrap or simply cling wrap the ground meat itself.
The best thing about ground meat and hamburger patties is that you can easily keep them frozen for over 2-3 months at a stretch.
Once you decide to use the hamburger patties for cooking, simply just thaw them by taking them out of the freezer and transferring them to your normal refrigerator.
Keep the patties in the refrigerator for over a night so that they can completely defrost without falling out of shape and form.
One of the worst things that you can do to defrost meat is by microwaving it. Try not to do this as it will only dry out the meat and possibly make it fall apart as well.
If you do not want to thaw the hamburger patties overnight in a refrigerator, you can opt for another alternative.
The second alternative for you here would be to soak the meat under cold water. For this, allow your cling-wrapped meat to sit under cold water (we are speaking completely submerged here) for at least 20-30 minutes straight.
Make sure to follow up on the water and check if it is cold enough or not after 10-minute intervals. If you think that the water is warming up, quickly replace it with fresh cold water again.
Remember, the water needs to be ice cold. This alternative will require you to quickly cook the meat right after you take it out from the cold water bath, so try not to dilly-dally here.
How Much Meat Do I Need For Per Person?
The amount of meat required per person varies on the eater, so you cannot be completely sure of the measurements here. However, you can play it by ear and portion out around 5-6 ounces of fresh ground meat for each patty.
This is a moderate amount of ground meat for hamburger patties per person, where you can easily decrease the amount and also increase the amount too.
An easier way to remember and deduce how much meat you might need for your burger patties is to imagine every person present consuming at least 1 burger.
For example, if there are 4 people present at your party or family dinner, you can easily use up around 25 ounces of ground meat.
To feed 8 people in total (children and adults alike), you will need to portion out 48 ounces of ground meat, whereas you will require 68-69 ounces of ground meat to feed 12-13 people.
- Read also our another blog How To Grind Meat without A Grinder.
How Long Can You Store Burger Patties?
You can easily store hamburger patties in your freezer for up to 4 to 5 months at a stretch. Notice that we mentioned a freezer here and not the refrigerator.
Store them away in a freezer if you want to cook them at a later period, however, store them away in a refrigerator for an hour or so if you know you will be cooking them almost immediately.
Never refrigerate your hamburger patties for over a day!
How Do You Make a Hamburger in a Meat Grinder: A Tasty Recipe For You
Now that we have explained a whole lot of stuff about how you can make a hamburger in a meat grinder, let us take a look at one simple yet very delicious recipe that you can try out to cook for your family and friends.
Serve them restaurant-quality hamburgers from your very own kitchen!
This recipe that we are going to include here in this article on “How Do You Make a Hamburger in a Meat Grinder” is a classic.
This burger recipe is loved by everyone of all ages, and you can never go wrong with something this easy and fun to make!
Ingredients
For the ingredients required to make this class hamburger, all you need are:
- 1 ½ a pound of ground meat/ground beef chuck ( you can use beef, pork, or chicken meat; though beef is the most common meat-type used to make this hamburger
- 1 ½ a teaspoon of salt for seasoning ( you can use sea salt)
- ½ a teaspoon of ground black pepper (optional)
- ½ a teaspoon of garlic powder ( optional)
- ½ a teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 ½ a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce ( optional)
- Fresh buns ( number of buns depends on consumers)
- Additional toppings such as cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion rings, mustard sauce, mayonnaise.
Cooking Procedure
To start preparing the hamburger patties, create a smooth mixture of the ground meat/ground beef chuck and seasonal condiments such as salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano, Worcestershire sauce, etc. On the other hand, pre-heat your grill to at least 375-380 degrees (this is medium-high heat).
Thoroughly combine the entire patty mixture with your hands. Remember to be very gentle while mixing as well. Once you are done preparing the patty mixture, portion out the mixture into one-fourths each, with widths of ¾ inches.
Start shaping each patty gently using your hands. Lightly use your fingers or your thumb to make a soft indentation on the middle of the patty so that it prevents the burger bulge from forming.
Afterward, place your shaped burger patties onto the grill and let it cook for around 4-6 minutes only on one side. Gently flip it over and let the other side cook for the same period.
Do not flip the patty again. Once you see a fine shade of brown forming over the patty, place your choice of cheese (optional) on the patty and let it sit there for a minute or so, so that the cheese melts properly.
When everything is cooked thoroughly, decorate the hamburger buns with the patties and cheese, as well as your extra toppings. Bon appetit!
Final Words
So there you have it! We have finally reached the end of this lengthy article on “How Do You Make a Hamburger in a Meat Grinder”.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article, and that it helps you out when you embark on your burger-cooking adventures.
