Outdoor Cooking: Burger Tips
Originally posted at TheKitchenHotline.com:
I am a firm believer that the most American food is not the hot dog nor the apple pie but the burger. Both the hot dog and the apple pie trace their lineage to one other country (Germany and France respectively) while the burger reflects our melting pot culture. The bun originates in Egypt, the Mongols were the first to grind the beef while the Germans were the first to cook it, tomatoes are from the New World but ketchup gets here by way of Italy via China and mustard is from India.
There is a very important designation to make here – a burger refers to a sandwich with at least 5 ounces of meat while anything with less than 5 ounces of meat (including a quarter-pounder) is a slider. Remember when the McDonald’s sign used to say how many hamburgers were sold? Today it says “billions served.” There is no mention of hamburgers. Perhaps that is because most of their menu fails to meet the definition of a burger.
Of course when most of us think about throwing a few burgers on the grill few visualize a paper thin wafer of frozen ground beef. Most of us visualize a thick, hand formed patty. That’s why the designation is important, if you try to mimic the weights at Micky D’s you’ll end up disappointed with your grilling experience. In this case bigger is absolutely better.
Calories aside the best burgers contain a grind that is 80% lean meat and 20% pure fat. Unfortunately that much fat can be lethal. Many have experimented with leaner grinds, not just of beef but also chicken, turkey, pork, et al. The result is a dry, less than satisfying burger. Granted it is healthy but not exactly good.
I have two healthy fixes, one easy and the other a bit labor intensive. The first is to throw your lean ground meat into a large bowl then blend in olive oil equal to 1/5th of your meat. That’s 1/5th by weight mind you not volume or 3.2 ounces of oil per one pound of ground meat. Olive oil being unsaturated fat that is full of antioxidants will give your burger the right mouth-feel without adding all the saturated fat.
The other method is for the burger connoisseur like myself. Using the meat grinding attachment on my trusty old stand mixer I usually grind my own meat for burgers. I buy the leanest sirloin steak I can find, usually 96% lean or higher, grass fed if at all possible. I cut that into 2” cubes and place them two or three cubes at a time into the grinder alternating frequently with a tablespoon of coconut oil. This gives me an actual saturated fat for my burger that has the added benefit of being very healthy. The result is a burger that is perfect in every conceivable way. This same method works well for grinding a skinless turkey breast or a nice lean pork tenderloin.
When hand-pattying burgers it is important not to work the meat too much, it can actually make them tough. For the novice I suggest getting a 5 ounce ice cream scoop to make well-rounded balls. Place each ball on a piece of parchment paper or cellophane topped with another piece then gently pressing down with a plate until the patty is ½ to ¾ of an inch thick.
Something else I like to do when making burgers is to blend herbs into the meat. My preference is Herbes de Provence but any dried herbs and/or seasonings will do. This way the meat is flavored throughout and not just on the surface that gets the salt and pepper on it. Oh, yeah, salt is not an option; it has to be used. In addition to enhancing the flavor it is crucial for the Maillard reaction which is the fancy science name for searing meat to get a crust.
Outdoor Cooking: Kebab Tips
Originally posted at TheKitchenHotline.com:
Hailing from the mysterious sands of the Persian Empire comes a dish that is both stunning in presentation and simplistic in preparation. It is also quite misunderstood. Americans first became familiar with this food-on-a-stick under the name shish kebab and as time has worn on we have ditched half of the name. Unfortunately we ditched the wrong half. As it turns out shish means on-a-stick while kebab refers to seasoned meat cooked any number of ways most of which do not involve a stick.
But like with Christopher Columbus misnaming chilies as peppers, the damage is already done. For the rest of this post when I refer to kebabs I mean meat-on-a-stick. Kebabs come in lots of variations including the original shish kebab, Italy’s spiedini and ultimately even the corn dog – a batter dipped, deep fried kebab although that is a pretty loose interpretation.
Now when most of us think of kebabs we think of a long sword like skewer with alternating bits of vegetable and protein. That makes a striking display but it is not exactly sanitary, especially with poultry. Cross contamination is a serious concern with kebabs. You simply do not want raw chicken liquid getting on your vegetables.
That’s why food safety experts suggest cooking the protein all together and the vegetables on a separate skewer. Sure it doesn’t look as nice but it also won’t have you reaching for the Imodium at 2 AM either. If the presentation is that important to you then reassemble the skewers after everything has cooked. Beef, lamb, duck and seafood do not carry nearly as much danger as chicken and turkey do.
Here are a few other tips for a successful kebab experience:
- Be sure to marinate no less than 30 minutes and no longer than 24 hours.
- Only marinate in the refrigerator to avoid food-borne bacteria.
- Meats should be cut bite-sized (uniformly-sized 1 to 2-inch cubes) for quick and even cooking.
- Fatty meats can be cooked at a higher temperature. Lean meats will need a longer time at a lower heat.
- When using seafood, choose firm-textured fish (salmon, tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish, shark, etc.) and shellfish.
- A light spray of cooking oil will help keep the kebabs from sticking. Turn the kebabs often for even cooking.