Cast Iron Burgers?

Feenbo

I am in search of the perfect  burger - cooking direct sometimes has too much smoke flavor and just have not pleased with my indirect results.  Are there advantages of cooking on a cast iron skillet?  I do not own one so if the answer is yes and you have a brand, size suggestion for a large egg I would appreciate it.

SmokeyPitt

Burgers are great on cast iron.  I still like them both ways.  For some reason I tend to use cast iron for thinner burgers and a more traditional method for thick burgers.  I have seen a technique for a reverse sear for burgers where they are smoked and then seared on CI that looks good. 

If the main purpose of the CI is burgers then I would look for a griddle.   I have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-7414-Reversible-Griddle/dp/B00062WTQ0

...and I like it.  It was only $20 when I purchased it.  It is not seasoned (just means you have to coat it with oil and put it int he oven or egg for a while). 

You could also go with something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000E2V3X 

...it is pre-seasoned so it is ready to roll when you get it. 

grege345

10 cast iron lodge. Many uses. Corn bread. Sear steaks. Cook burgers in bacon grease. Deep dish pizza. You won't be disappointed

Skiddymarker

There is another thread live now with a similar conversation. Like @SmokeyPitt says - reverse sear is good if you like a little smoke flavour on your burger. 

Indirect as low a temp as you can get allows seasoning and smoke to work, then sear in CI pan for finish. A torch will do the same think, but I prefer a CI griddle on my gasser. Allows me to have some burgers getting taste on the egg while others are getting finish crust on the griddle. 

stevesails

I am curious. How do you get smoke flavor in a burger direct if you are just using lump?

khristyjeff

We like grilled burgers, too but sometimes need a classic drive-in type burger. I use a cheap CI skillet on the egg to keep spatters and grease smells out of the house. Google Cooks Illustrated Best Old Fashioned Burgers. This gives you the crunchy edges and melty cheesy goodness.

Canugghead

another option is baking steel?  inspired by this thread, I made a couple of DIY baking steel, great for pizza and steak, haven't tried it for burgers yet ...

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1514974#first

Ladeback69

stevesails said:

I am curious. How do you get smoke flavor in a burger direct if you are just using lump?

Have you not cooked burgers direct on the egg before? The lump is charred wood and does give the burgers flavor especially when the fat drips on to the hot lump. My burgers and meatloaf both have a lite smokey flavor when cooked on the egg. RO is really good for this if you don't want to add other woods. I even get a smoke flavor going indirect.

Acorn

Mens Journal has a great recipe "Burgers In A Cast Iron Skillet", its a family favorite. Very similar to what you might expect from a Steak & Shake only much better. Hopefully the attachment can be seen.

Terrebandit

Have you tried the search function on this forum? You would be surprised by the number of burger threads that are out there using CI.