self ground chuck burgers

by beerorkid
(Lincoln, NE)

If you want a tasty burger sometimes you just have to grind your own beef and limit the spices to let the meat be the star of the meal.

I picked up chuck steak with a good amount of fat marbling to grind in my Kitchenaid mixer grinder attachment. Using the coarser grind I sliced the steak into strips and did a single pass.

I loosely packed the 7 ounce burger into a patty and had the grill rocket hot like Chef Todd recommends. Only salt and pepper to season. Open grill and one flip to a perfect med well burger was achieved. The lack of connective fat made the burger be a bit loose, but it was so juicy and the flavor was amazing. I topped it with mushrooms sautéed with self grown dried cayenne peppers, salt, pepper, and a slice of pepper jack cheese.

If you do not have a grinder, but do have a food processor you can achieve the same results with about 10 pulses. Just make sure to not chop the meat too much.

I let the burger rest on a foil trivet to let the juices drain. A bit of variety with the burgers is just another way to continually tweak your methods to find what you like.


Chef Todd Says:
Where'd you get the bun for that SEVEN ounce burger? It looks fantastic, but a two-hander for sure!

You're so right about using the best ingredients your budget and time constraints will allow. Grinding your own beef is the straightest path to a great burger.

Thanks for the photo, too!

Chef Todd.