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At-Home Hamburgers

Jun 13, 2015#1

Hailey Knight

Nothing will ever defeat a grilled burger in my eyes, but unfortunately due to my living situation, there's no way I can have a grill.

I've tried making burgers in the oven, but they suck. They always suck. They're either too watery, or rubbery--I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Does anyone know any methods, tricks, something I could do to make decent burgers without a grill?

(I hope this is a less intense subject than steak.)

Jun 13, 2015#2

Dei

Fry pan on the stove? George Foreman grill?

Jun 13, 2015#3

DarkAudit

Burger of the Gods. It truly is magnificent in it's simplicity. Or just flat out yummy.

(ETA: the recipe neglects to address the bun and condiments. Toasted bun, mayo, and fresh ground black pepper. That's it. And that's all this needs.)

Jun 13, 2015#4

Bubble181

Yeah, a good pan is pretty much indistinguishable from a grill, anyway.

Mind you, I mean one like this:

And don't forget: NEVER use oil/butter/whatever in one of these.

Jun 13, 2015#5

Hailey Knight

DarkAudit said:
Burger of the Gods. It truly is magnificent in it's simplicity. Or just flat out yummy.

(ETA: the recipe neglects to address the bun and condiments. Toasted bun, mayo, and fresh ground black pepper. That's it. And that's all this needs.)

Wait, really? That's all? I'll have to try this. Thanks.

Bubble181 said:
Yeah, a good pan is pretty much indistinguishable from a grill, anyway.

Mind you, I mean one like this:

And don't forget: NEVER use oil/butter/whatever in one of these.

Didn't know things like this existed. I'll try DarkAudit's link's method with the pan my mom got us for Christmas, and then maybe upgrade to this if I feel it's working.

Thanks guys. That was a lot simpler than I thought it would be.

Jun 13, 2015#6

Bowielee

The only time you should put hamburger in the oven is if you are making meatloaf, for all other things it should be made in a pan or electric grill.

Jun 13, 2015#7

Bubble181

Bowielee said:
The only time you should put hamburger in the oven is if you are making meatloaf, for all other things it should be made in a pan or electric grill.

Or a barbecue, or a griddle.

Jun 13, 2015#8

Bowielee

Bubble181 said:
Or a barbecue, or a griddle.

Those are outside.

Jun 13, 2015#9

figmentPez

I agree, cast iron is the way to go. You can get decent results with just a non-stick pan, but it's much better to go with something that can maintain it's temperature like cast iron does.

Jun 13, 2015#10

Chad Sexington

Bubble181 said:
And don't forget: NEVER use oil/butter/whatever in one of these.

Why not?

Jun 13, 2015#11

Bubble181

Chad Sexington said:
Why not?

Well, you can, but it reduces their usefulness. A whatever-this-is-called-in-English-it's-a-grill-pan-in-Dutch is different from a regular frying pan because of the furrows and gullies (or whatever my English is really failing me today it's far too late for me). If you pour oil or melt butter in these, the furrows fill up with oil and you might as well use a regular pan. You lose the grill-effect. If you really need to use something, you apply it with a brush and on the meat, instead of in the pan.

Jun 13, 2015#12

Chad Sexington

Bubble181 said:
Well, you can, but it reduces their usefulness. A whatever-this-is-called-in-English-it's-a-grill-pan-in-Dutch is different from a regular frying pan because of the furrows and gullies (or whatever my English is really failing me today it's far too late for me). If you pour oil or melt butter in these, the furrows fill up with oil and you might as well use a regular pan. You lose the grill-effect. If you really need to use something, you apply it with a brush and on the meat, instead of in the pan.

Oh I see. I thought you were referring to the fact that it was cast iron. I hear all sorts of bizarre myths about what you can and cannot do with cast iron.

Jun 13, 2015#13

Bubble181

Chad Sexington said:
Oh I see. I thought you were referring to the fact that it was cast iron. I hear all sorts of bizarre myths about what you can and cannot do with cast iron.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html

Jun 13, 2015#14

Chad Sexington

Bubble181 said:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html

I have read this article and sent it to many people

I am a big cast iron fan.

Jun 13, 2015#15

sixpackshaker

Make sure your pan is hot before you put your meat in there. I normally toast my buns with olive oil first to be sure the pan is hot. Only flip your burger once, watch closely to be sure it is cooked half way through before you flip. Don't smash the patty.

It helps to have a lid or a dome to put over the burger to help it cook faster and keep in the moisture. But I quit doing that years ago.

Jun 13, 2015#16

Bubble181

sixpackshaker said:
watch closely to be sure it is cooked 1/3 of the way through before you flip..

...Otherwise you've got a grey mess on your hands.

Jun 14, 2015#17

DarkAudit

sixpackshaker said:
Make sure your pan is hot before you put your meat in there. I normally toast my buns with olive oil first to be sure the pan is hot. Only flip your burger once, watch closely to be sure it is cooked half way through before you flip. Don't smash the patty.

It helps to have a lid or a dome to put over the burger to help it cook faster and keep in the moisture. But I quit doing that years ago.

That's another thing left out of that recipe. It's important to give the burger a couple minutes rest after removing from the heat before consuming. I do that by putting it on an upside down plate on top of a slightly larger plate to drain, then covering loosely with foil. The rest is a perfect time to prepare the bun. Toast it in the beef fat left behind by the burger.

Jun 14, 2015#18

PatrThom

It's a matter of heat.

In an oven, you are applying medium heat evenly from all sides, literally "baking" the hamburger. You can use an oven to cook a hamburger, but the heat has to be high enough that the pan is actually doing the cooking ("oven-fried") and for that you might as well just use a skillet/pan on the stovetop. If you're going to cook a burger in an oven, you should be doing it on the "broil" setting (which is basically just grilling but upside-down).

If your heat is not high enough, you don't get your crispy crust. You also don't get your Maillard reaction, which is where you manufacture all those chemical compounds that give grilled meat its wonderful taste and smell.

--Patrick

Jun 14, 2015#19

Jay

Bubble181 said:
Yeah, a good pan is pretty much indistinguishable from a grill, anyway.

Mind you, I mean one like this:

And don't forget: NEVER use oil/butter/whatever in one of these.

I have a George Foreman Grill for the winter, it's pretty decent but this just made my Amazon list.

Jun 28, 2015#20

General Specific

As a wedding gift, we got a Griddler. It is great, I am able to grill 4 burgers at once and it has very easy cleanup.

Jun 28, 2015#21

sixpackshaker

General Specific said:
As a wedding gift, we got a Griddler. It is great, I am able to grill 4 burgers at once and it has very easy cleanup.

Did you get the waffle plates?

Jun 28, 2015#22

General Specific

no, we didn't. Much to our dismay. It will be a later buy for sure, though.

Jun 29, 2015#23

jwhouk

General Specific said:
no, we didn't. Much to our dismay. It will be a later buy for sure, though.

Or, y'know, Halforumites could band together and buy you one as our cumulative wedding present for you & Dill...

...just saying.

Jun 29, 2015#24

General Specific

jwhouk said:
Or, y'know, Halforumites could band together and buy you one as our cumulative wedding present for you & Dill...

...just saying.

That'd be cool and all, but totally not necessary. I appreciate the thought, though.

Jul 6, 2015#25

Null

I just use a pan, no furrows or anything. Sometimes I add a little worchestershire sauce to the meat before cooking it. Unless it's really hot and the grill's working, in which case, grill all the way.

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