I've tried everything and my burgers are still hocky puck dry! šŸ˜­

(Kristen Ann) #1

For the love of meat, someone please tell me what I need to do to get some moisture in my burgers!! Over the years Iā€™ve tried so many tactics to make a deent burger, but eventually gave up and stopped making them. I have to camp for work and Iā€™d like to bring a pile of pre-cooked burgers with me, but my latest attempts are still falures. Here is everything Iā€™ve tried:

~ add egg
~ donā€™t add egg
~ add egg yolk only
~ add sauce
~ donā€™t overwork when forming them
~ make them fatter
~ make them with burger press
~ stuff the inside with an ice cube
~ stuff the inside with cheese
~ stuff the inside with ground beef fat
~ cook in a pan
~ cook in a pan then steam them for last minute
~ cook on a grill
~ cook in foil in an instapot
~ cook in air fryer
~ never press down on them while cooking

I use store bought ground meat (usually 80/20 mix) and cook them to 160F. I just purchased some 70/30 mix for my next trial.

#2

And thereā€™s your moisture problem! Youā€™re cooking your burgers WAY too long. go for 135-140, pull them and let them sit for a 3-4 minutes, they continue to cook when you pull them off. For beef youā€™re going BEYOND well done. Donā€™t add eggs, that make them meatballs. Not pressing down is correct.

(Scott) #3

^^^this. I was thinking that they are over cooked too. My burgers are juicy and a little red on the inside. Of course I like my steaks a little on the purple side too.

(Central Florida Bob ) #4

On the serious side, Iā€™m with @lfod14 and @Rclause except Iā€™ll extend the window down to 130. Theyā€™ll continue to cook for a while.

On the not-so-serious side when I saw your list, I started to try to turn it into a Dr. Seuss style rhyme! It didnā€™t work so well.
I cooked them with an egg
I cooked them on my leg
I cooked them with cheese
I cooked them with ease

(Kristen Ann) #5

Ah thank you. I thought for store bought ground beef, you had to cook to 160. I will try this, thanks!

(Kristen Ann) #6

:laughing: Yes I see thatā€¦

(Scott) #7

They tend to err on the ā€œcook it to death sideā€. It took me a long time to figure out to grill chicken to 150 ~155 and let it rest covered for ten minutes. The temperature will keep rising and it will be juicy. They used to say to cook it to 180. I saw a chef on TV say no chef will do that because it would be so dry no one would ever come back.

(Bunny) #8

What I do is boil or simmer for hours on really low heat and even sous vide really cheap tough meat in a plastic bag and slowly cook (very very low heat) in water for hours. Barely turning on stove button.

After doing any of the above then you can then sear in tallow or suet on very high heat.

Hamburger patties for example I put a little water in a covered pan. Steam and boil then sear in hot greaseā€¦lol

Makes it so tender, juicy and fatty.

Always boil your meat on very very high heat first if possible (depending on cut and type of meat) but donā€™t boil until fully done thatā€™s how the higher end fancy restaurants do it or you might end up with beef jerky depending on the type of meat? You can even to this before throwing on a BBQ grill.

(Kristen Ann) #9

Hmm thatā€™s interesting and sounds yummy, but I donā€™t know if Iā€™m patient (and skilled!) enough for all that.

(bulkbiker) #10

Never invite yourself to Bunnyā€™s for dinnerā€¦boiled meatā€¦ hmmmmā€¦

(Bunny) #11

If you want rare cuts donā€™t boil it so long. Sous vide is much better.

Mark likes his still Mooingā€¦lol

(bulkbiker) #12

4 mins per side on the grill is fine for meā€¦ why anyone would boil steak I have no ideaā€¦

Youā€™re right though sous vide is way superior and nowhere near a ā€œboilā€ā€¦ 50 deg c max.

(Bunny) #13

Would never boil a steak that goes straight onto a grill or iron flat skillet.

Boiling is for that cheap tough stuff!

(bulkbiker) #14

So why would you boil hamburger pattiesā€¦ donā€™t they fall apart?

(Bunny) #15

If you donā€™t pour gallons of water on them ā€œa little waterā€ and then cover and steam, then sear.

(bulkbiker) #16

Well you said you steamed and boiled themā€¦

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(Alex ) #17

Ice cube!???

(Bunny) #18

They kind of boil and steam at the same time, the point is to hydrate then sear to seal in the moisture and natural juices.

(bulkbiker) #19

Again Iā€™d just chuck 'em on the grillā€¦ but I make my own so maybe thats the differenceā€¦

(Bunny) #20

I think some people just over-cook them I like them medium raw.