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Andy,Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
Don't forget to add about 2 fl. oz. of water to every pound of hamburger meat, and a few drops when you are grilling/brioling. The eggs will hold the meat together, bu the water will keep the meat moist (I guess its less of an issue if you like rare hamburgers), but it will guarantee a tender hamburger even if you use the cheapest cuts of meat.
Cheers,
Ian
Thanks guys for the tips, the egg has been added and although I made the chuck before I read Ian's advice on the water I will add a sprinkling during cooking.
Ok, here's the raw ingredients.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook1.jpg
The brie is the ripest I could get from the local supermarket.
I used the pepper and tomatoes to make the "tomato ketchup"
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook2.jpg
Sizzling away, smelt very nice. Put in some olive oil and blackpepper. Was tempted to add garlic but I don't want to put too much in that will hide the main attraction which is the steak. This might be a losing battle ....
Tada ...
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook3.jpg
Still a bit chunky, I added some Ketchup and a teaspoon of barbeque sauce to give it a slightly more smokey flavour.
Here's my steak out of the pan
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook4.jpg
You might be wondering why I am cooking it before mincing it up? Well ecoli only lives on the outside of meat so if you do not slightly blast it to kill those off first what happens is that the outside of the meat becomes the inside when minced and may never be cooked if done rare, hence the Jack in the Box scenario. Here I did it for 30 seconds only each side and some of it is still red but at least I made the effort!
Finally the chuck about to meet a duck egg.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook5.jpg
Not too finely ground. Also I left all the fat on, ok it is less healthy but my thinking is it will make the burger more moist when I inevatably overcook it.
More photo's to follow. It is sitting in the fridge at the moment trying to firm up. It's always best if your meat firms up, trust me.
Regards
Andy
Ok, next stage and this is one of the tricky ones, actually creating the patty. Here's what came out of the fridge.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook6.jpg
Check the tape measure ;)
Popped the cheese on
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook7.jpg
Now here's the tricky bit, getting the top patty out of the container without it breaking up. Being an old pro I put some greased proof baking paper in and oiled it both sides so it came out nicely.
IT LIVES
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook8.jpg
Then put some clingfilm on and into the fridge, wieghed down with a weight to sqaush it together.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook9.jpg
Tomorrow, the bread bap.
Regards
Andy
In case anyone not american is reading this, a broiler = a grill
Cooking meat to a desired temp. is a fairly simple thing once you know how to...Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
It's about the feel of the meat. You can do it by touch. If you take the steak while on the grill or in the pan and squeeze the sides you will feel the amount of give or firmness of the particular meat.
Take you index finger and your left hand. For rare you will poke the space between your index and thumb, the fleshy bit. That will be rare, lots of give very little firmness. For Med-Rare extend and tighten the muscle a bit, it will be firm but have a bit of give. And Med. will be your thumb and index finger almost into a fist. Firm with little give. Med-well is the same as well. Well is just going to be dark and slightly blackened...and disgusting.
The temps (F) will be if you measure with a thermometer:
Rare - ~135
Med-Rare - ~145
Med - ~155
Med-Well - ~165
Well - ~170
There is very little difference between Med-Well and Well as when the meat is cooked the carry over cooking of the meat will most certainly bring it up to 170.
This is applicable to chicken as well. (Cook to 165 of course)
With regards to cooking the meat before grinding it up, not really necessary if you have confidence in your butcher. While the inside of the particular cut is clean as it has never been exposed to oxygen, if the meat is fresh and high quality you can eat it raw (Beef Tar-Tar anyone?). Check the date when it was fabricated (fresh as possible) and if you trust the seller then by all means I say just go for it. Remember that the particular steak you bought came from a whole side or rack and hasn't really been sitting out in the open air exposed to bacteria.
Just fly HOOTERS airline ,then stop in for a bite to eat ..........all will be well.
Lol - loving the use of a Seagate Drive to weigh it down with!
:rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
Leffe from the bottle!? Triple sin!Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
Let that beer breathe, man
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ethelred
And you say that you're not a chef? You are a trained expert! I bow to your skills.
I have a degree in culinary arts and 3.5 years of cooking exp. (I'm only 20). But I am only a cook (chef is the term used for either exec. chef/exec. sous chef/sous chef/banquet chef and a couple other) everyone else is just a cook.Quote:
Originally Posted by IanY
Nice tips about measuring how cooked something is. I'm still puzzling over how I am going to have to rare and still melt the cheese in the middle. I might go for medium and make sure....
Bread cooking tonight, really looking forward to kneeding a couple of warm baps.
Regards
Andy
Careful - that could be misconstrued :p
I'm going to attempt scrambled eggs for breakfast :D
Depending on how you want to cook it you could get a med-rare with the cheese melted. Brie is a rather soft cheese and will melt at a very low temperature. If you grill it just to barely mark it and throw it in an oven to finish (400-500F) it should bring the meat up relatively evenly and melt the cheese while only warming the inside.Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
Sounds like a good plan. I think I'll wrap the burger after the initial browning in the parma ham to stop the meat getting to dry on the outside, then the parma ham will have a nice cruncy aspect like normal bacon. Excellent!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ethelred
Kai, your scrambled eggs could be construed slightly rudely as well :)
Regards
Andy
I ended up being able to eat no eggs after all...stupid apthous ulcers....*grumbles*
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kai Robinson
Remember that VW add where it said " Here's the man who put all his money on red and it turned up black, here's the man who bought his girlfriend a diamond ring and she left him for Dale Winton ... " etc ?
Well you're the man who once ate a Towering inferno and now has to eat Cup-a-soups. Everything in life is not as reliable as a Volkswagen.....
That's a sad case of affairs. I guess you are not eating Manglue curries at the moment.
My bread making is going fairly well. Done the dough, kneeded it for 10 minutes, now it is rising. Well I hope it is. Or else I'll be having quesillada burger.
Regards
Andy
OK, day 2 finished. Funny how a hamburger is supposed to be FAST FOOD and I'm on my second day and into the 3rd hour.
Ok, raw ingredients. Sorry my flash didn not go off so a bit yellow and blurred
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook10.jpg
Popped them all together, kneeded for 10 minutes and then put in the poly bag to rise.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook12.jpg
My favourite t-shirt in the background. It's a Superbikes t-shirt and was bought in the mid 1980's. Imagine how many washes it has gone through and it still looks great. That t-shirt is probably older than some readers of this post :eek:
Anyhow, enough small talk, here's the finished bap.
http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/cook13.jpg
I'm pretty happy with the results:up: That is a 7 inch bap for a 7 inch burger
DAY 3 ..the big day .. the burger is cooked.
My wifes just throwing up in the toilet as I write this which is very strange :confused: Better go....
Regards
Andy
Zak,
If you somehow use an outdoor grill, I usually have a small aluminum foil container with water in the grill so that there will be some steam even as the burgers are grilling. The burgers always come out moist, even if my friends want their burger patties well done. My sons eat theirs well done because I'm not risking e-coli with them.
I love that shirt on the chair; "I can't help it if there's a hair on me knob". It's very whimsical. Where did you get it? A dead chimney sweep? :p:
Thanks Ian, it does seem that heat and a bit of water is the best way. I'm using just an oven so I am hoping that wrapping the patty in parma ham will do the same trick, the moisture in the burger will not escape whilst the parma ham goes crisp, like normal bacon. What I am hoping for is that I get a crunchy bacon taste quickly followed by soft but flavoury beef and then the cheese as a gooey but strong aftertaste.Quote:
Originally Posted by IanY
Well, we'll see. I'm doing ok up to now but Friday is the "where's the beef" day of course where I put up or shut up, I do the walk rather than talk the talk. I'm pretty confident though. The Oracle told me this would happen. I know that's what it looks like, but it's not. I can't explain to you why. Morpheus believed something, and he was ready to give his life for what he believed. I understand that, that's why I have to cook this burger.
Err, or something.
Regards
Neo
@ zakelwe: that burger bun is awesome :D
Ohhh i will be back to my carnivorous self in short order...the one on my tongue thats causing all the problems is finally disappearing...and so it should after i rubbed salt straight into it!Quote:
Originally Posted by zakelwe
One of the first things i intend to eat when i'm able to eat crunchy stuff again - is a CHEESE AND HAM TOASTIE...but a TRIPLE LAYER! :rofl:
I like the sound of that. You can get cheap bacon off cuts from Tesco's for 70p currently that would make a good alternative to the ham in one of those.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kai Robinson
Regards
Andy
Yeah i used to buy those bacon offcuts when i was in uni...somehow i prefer wafer thin ham in multiple layers with grated gouda and mimolette ;)
Currently able to nom on some cold chicken....mmm. Nommy.