Home ground garlic butter beef burger

"Beefy"

Most of the time when we buy pre-ground beef for our burgers, we kind of loose out on the flavor we could achieve if we did it ourselves. Each cut of beef carries different characteristics and flavor profiles, just ask google. Don’t get me wrong, I am an avid ground beef purchaser. It’s very rare that I have the time to make my own custom blends of meat. I even experiment with different brands of pre-made burger patties. I have several burger recipes on the blog already using shrimp, goat, sausages, beef, salmon the works, so if your not interested in grinding your own meat, this is not the post for you. Every now and again when I want a really great beefy flavor for my burger, I do my own custom meat blend. So in today’s blog post I’m letting you guys in on my little secret.

Ideally if you have a great relationship with your butcher I would highly recommend you buy the cuts of meat and have them make you a custom blend. Home grinding can be tedious and sometimes you can’t get that perfect consistency, that mix of crumbly and smooth that only a professional meat grinder can give. I have tried grinding meat with the kitchen aid attachment (hate it) it was so slow and took way too long for the amount of meat I had to grind. So for my home ground meat I use semi frozen meat in a food processor. This method working in small batches is as good as anyone can ask for grinding meat at home.

When it comes to cuts you generally will want to go for the medium range to cheaper cuts to grind. No point in taking an expensive filet minion to make a burger. So for me I go for a mix of cheap and medium priced cuts. Sirloin is lean and has a nice flavor, I use a higher percentage of chuck because its cheaper and has a good amount of fat. I add some oxtail fat into the mix for added flavor and fat content as well. Lastly is brisket another cost effective cut, very meaty good flavor but lower in fat.

The best way to introduce fat into a beef burger however is with pork, Pork sausages to be exact are the best and my favorite way to add fat to a beef burger. But since this month is all about beef, I wanted a 100 percent beef blend. I used oxtail fat to achieve this. It did an ok job of adding fat but nowhere near as good a job as the jerk pork sausages I use. So if you do ear pork I would suggest you use ½ pound of sausage instead of the oxtail fat. It also helps with the texture.

It’s all about experimenting, and creating flavorful meals. So there is no wrong or right. Burgers need lean, fat and flavor, once you get that in balance your good to go.

Tips for grinding in a food processor:

1. Freeze the blade
2. Chop meat into 1 inch cubes
3. Partially freeze the meat, they should be half melted half frozen
4. Oxtail fat needs to be rock solid for the food processor to blend it.
5. Work in small batches

Ingredients (printable recipe)

For the burger patties

½  lb Sirloin lean and flavor (could also use a rib eye)

2 lbs Chuck good fat content and cost effective

¼ cup Oxtail fat great flavorful fat

½  lb Brisket flavor and cost effective

3-4 pinches of salt per burger

3 tablespoon butter

1 garlic clove

Fried plantain

1 very ripe plantain

3 tablespoon coconut oil

Toppings

Lettuce

Grilled onions

Relish

Bbq sauce

Smoked gouda

Mayo

Instructions

For the beef patties

• Blend each cut separately
• Add the cubes of meat to the processor about two handfuls at a time and give it 6  two second pulses and set aside
• Grind the oxtail fat into the finest possible size so it distributes evenly into the burger
• If it melts too fast, return it to the freezer to harden before repeating
• In a bowl lightly mix all the cuts together then add back to the processor for 3 pulses just to further ensure they are combined thoroughly
• Form into evenly sized patties, I like mine a little thin about to ½ inch thickness, sometimes less. Place in the refrigerator to set up for about 10 minutes for immediate use, or wrap in individual cling wrap and set in the freezer for use in the future.

For the plantain

• Heat the coconut oil in a sauce pan and fry the strips of plantain until crispy
• Remove from the oil when both sides are cooked and charred
• While still hot mix thoroughly and turn into a paste

To cook the burgers

• Bring a grill to medium/high heat
• In a bowl melt the butter and shred the garlic into the butter
• Season both sides of the burger patty with salt and place on a hot grill
• You want to cook the burgers 5 to 6 minutes per side depending on the thickness of your patty. basting with the garlic butter, but not flipping more than twice, the more you move the patty the more it can dry out. I sometimes try to flip only once.
• Once you have grilled both sides and basted both with butter the last 30 seconds move to a colder side of the grill and top with cheese and allow it to melt (cover the grill to speed up the melting process)
• Remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few minutes

To assemble

• Toast the buns, in garlic butter, spread the top half with plantain spread and the bottom with mayo
• Place the burger patty on the mayo, top with grilled onions, relish and bbq sauce
• Finish with some lettuce and the top bun

Xoxo Greedygirl