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More Wicked Good Burgers-Brat Burger-Mega Post

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited May 2013 in EggHead Forum
Yesterday I made my 3rd burger, rolls, toppings and side dish from Wicked Good Burgers. The recipe was called Brat Burgers and it had a companion recipe called Mindy's Pretzel Buns and Mindy's Pepper Jack Cheese Sauce. For a side I chose Sweet Potato Pub Fries seasoned with Sweet Potato Dust. Cutting to the chase: this ranked among some of the best food I've made and the pretzel buns were far and away the best hamburger rolls I've ever eaten or made. Having two Eggs came in handy as I kept one set up for indirect grilling to bake the rolls and indirect grill the sweet potato fries. The other was used for high temperature direct grilling. I'll move onto the pictures and will note I grouped them by the particular item as opposed to the chronological order I made them in, which involved constantly moving back and forth between items. This makes it easier for you to follow.

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Mindy's Pretzel Buns used: Bread Flour, light brown sugar, sugar, instant yeast, buttermilk, pale ale, kosher salt, vegetable oil and hot water.




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The pale ale I used was by a local microbrewer/restauranteur called Boston Beerworks, who have won many prizes for their beer offerings.


 
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You will see throughout this post how useful a zero tare kitchen scale is. Zero tare refers to the ability to put a plate or bowl on the scale to hold the food. The scale will zero out the weight of that item when you push a button. Here I am using the bowl of the mixer to hold the 514 grams of bread flour I need.



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The first step was to combine the water, instant yeast and ale in a small bowl.



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The wet items from the last picture, plus the remaining dry ingredients were added to the bowl of the mixer and the mixer was set to the lowest speed to combine them.



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The mixer was set to medium low and the vegetable oil was drizzled in. The dough was mixed for another 7 minutes.



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The dough is finished being mixed and goes into a dough doubling pail which has been sprayed with oil. The first rise is 4 hours.



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Here is the dough after it's 4 hour first rise.



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The dough is turned out of the pail nad is folded in half and the folded in half again. Then it is back to the dough doubling pail for a 2 hour second rise in the fridge.



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This next process: poaching the dough in a baking soda bath was totally new to me. Besides a gallon of water, the other ingredients were baking side, a hefe weizen (wheat beer) and light brown sugar.



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IMHO the Germans make the finest wheat beer and so I treaded myself to a 4 pint pack of German wheat beer.



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The next use of the kitchen scale was to weigh out equal sized pieces of dough to be rolled into balls before poaching.



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The dough balls were poached for 15 seconds and were removed, flipped over, and poached for another 15 seconds on the second side.



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The dough balls have been brushed with vegetable oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and are on one of the Eggs. The Egg has been stabilized at 350 degrees with the platesetter installed legs down. The baking sheet is set on 1/2 copper plumbing T's used as shims.



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The rolls were cooked for 14 minutes and I turned the pan 180 degrees at the midway point.


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To make the Sweet Potato Dust the first steps were to toast some coriander and fennel seeds and then grind them.



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The ground toasted coriander and fennel seed were joined by fresh ground white peppercorns, red pepper flakes, light brown sugar and sea salt.



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Two sweet potatoes were cut into 8 wedges each. They were placed in a large bowl and were tossed with olive oil, kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper.



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The sweet potato fries are on the Egg which is set up for indirect grilling as before, but the temp is now 425. They cooked for 24 minutes total and were rotated 180 degrees midway through. 



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The finished fries were seasoned with the Sweet Potato Dust.



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The ingredients for the Mindy's Pepperjack Cheese Sauce were American cheese, pepperjack cheese, fresh squeezed lemon juice, heavy cream and kosher salt. These items were melted in a sauce pan and used to top the burger.



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The burgers used 1 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder and 1 1/2 pounds of veal chops which were cut into strips to fit into the feed chute then placed in the freezer for 45 minutes before grinding.


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The frozen strips of veal and pork are being ground. I alternated the strips of the two meats to help get a better mixture.



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The patties also used kosher salt, softened butter, fresh ground nutmeg, fresh ground white pepper, hefe weizen (wheat beer), and ground ginger. The kitchen scale was this time used to weigh out 6 ounces of the meat for each patty.



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The brat burger patties were cooked on my second Egg which was set up for direct grilling at 500 degrees using the cast iron grill grate installed with the wide side of the bars up. The patties cooked for 2 minutes per side and were covered and rested for 5 minutes.



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Time to eat! I was able to reuse the Jack D'Or and Tomato Ginger Ketchup I made for last Saturday's meal. The Sweet Potato Pub Fries specifically mention the ketchup as a good pairing.



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The Brat Burgers and Mindy's Pepperjack Cheese Sauce.



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The Mindy;s Pretzel Buns were like eating a large incredibly tasty soft pretzel. These were the best hamburger rolls I've ever had.



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The Sweet Potato Pub Fries seasoned with the Sweet Potato Dust were amazing! They are easy to make and have wonderful flavor. They are a great change of pace from French Fries.



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This was an incredibly tasty meal and though I never expected this, it turned out to be one of the best meals I've ever made.

Jim
Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.

Comments

  • JRWhitee
    JRWhitee Posts: 5,678
    Nice job Jimbo that looked like a lot of work but I am sure it was worth it. 
                                                                
    _________________________________________________
    Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story!
    Large BGE 2006, Mini Max 2014, 36" Blackstone, Anova Sous Vide
    Green Man Group 
    Johns Creek, Georgia
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Awesome. Just awesome. There is nothing else to say.

    (other than you're right about the Germans and beer) =D>
  • MJG
    MJG Posts: 598
    Wow. You are certainly putting that new kitchen to good use. I enjoy your posts very much. If you go to the New England Eggfest I'd like to buy you a beer as thanks.
    Large Big Green Egg in a nest. North Shore of Boston.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited May 2013
    Thanks as always for everyone's kind remarks.
    MJG said:
    Wow. You are certainly putting that new kitchen to good use. I enjoy your posts very much. If you go to the New England Eggfest I'd like to buy you a beer as thanks.
    I'll gladly have a beer with you, no need to buy me one. In fact it would be payment enough if you would tell me where and when the New England Eggfest is. I've been looking for something around here but so far everything I found was just a small, or seemingly small, event sponsored by a particular dealer.  Is this a somewhat bigger event? Is there any kind of website that talks about it? Thanks in advance for any help on this. I'm actually thinking of going to the Eggtoberfest in Atlanta, but I'd also like to go to something around here and meet some of the local Eggheads.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • MJG
    MJG Posts: 598
    Check it out... http://www.newegglandfest.com/ I purchased tickets last week, have the calendar marked, and can't wait!
    Large Big Green Egg in a nest. North Shore of Boston.
  • pwg56
    pwg56 Posts: 93
    Your cooks are just unbelievable. Can you give an idea of time spent, actual time and or total time? Most cooks on this forum seem possible to undertake, these seem maybe a bit out of reach.. And finally, did you post all 3 burgers you made? I think I missed one....
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    I can't even come close... I'm outta here.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • tyenic1
    tyenic1 Posts: 150
    My goodness, you have a lot of time on your hands. Looks great and hope to give that a try sometime. Maybe when I retire I'll get around to doin it. :-)
  • DomCal
    DomCal Posts: 31
    Looks absolutely delicious! 
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited May 2013
    Thanks guys for looking and your comments. 

    Those of you concerned about the amount of time I mays spend, several comments are in order. 
    -This is my hobby as is photography, so I don't mind spending some time on it, particularly since it also benefits others. 
    -The meals on the weekends represent regular family meals where I invite my parents, my FIL, and other friends or relatives who may be around that day. My mother did something like this most of my life and now she is too old do it, So I took over doing it. It gives me an excuse to cook and my wife fully supports and encourages it.
    -My parents or guest are more than willing to bring side dishes or desserts. I am trying to do more of that on the grill to advance my own skills in cooking different items and learning to multi-task and do multi-item cooks.
    -Also for 26 years I commuted into Boston where my commute took me 90 minutes (13 yrs.) and 2 hours (13 yrs.). During those years I mostly cooked on the weekends because weeknights I'd walk in the door at 7 or 7:30 PM.
    -Now I work for myself and have gained back 4 hours of time during the day. Also I am on good terms with my boss (me). As long as I get my time in during the day, he doesn't care exactly when I do it. This  lack of a commute allows me to do cooks on weeknights if I want. Instead of 2 hours devoted to commuting I am using the time to go shopping or do prep for something that requires fridge time. The 2 hours extra at night is plenty of time to get a weeknight cook in.At 5:30 my commute from work to the Kitchen is 15 seconds not 2 hours.
    -I take pictures which adds time. But this is my hobby too and I use the pictures on my website. 
    -Also having the pictures is very helpful the next time I make this dish or something like it.I get to relive the cook, see the results and the date/time stamp allows me to tell how long it took.
    -Baking and rise times. Don't let the rise times for baking discourage you. The pretzel rolls I made had a total of two rises of 6 hours. But you aren't standing with your face pressed to the window of the unheated oven watching. You are free to do other things, anything.

    OK as for the times. Taking the pictures probably add 10, 15, 20 percent to the times, but they also allow me to go back and tell how long something takes. The second time it will take less time since I am not usually photographing the second cook. Also I am still getting used to the best way to work in my new Kitchen, so these times will only come down.

    Thursday Evening: Start the mustard sauce: 20 minutes
    Friday Evening: Finish the mustard sauce, make the ketchup and trim the meat: 3 1/2 hours
    Saturday Morning: Start the rolls: 45 minutes
    Saturday Afternoon: Finish up all prep and cook: 3 hours.

    Tuesday Evening: Everything: 2 hours

    Brat Burger
    Saturday Morning: Start the rolls: 40 minutes
    Saturday Afternoon: Finish up prep and cook: 3 1/2 hours 

    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    MJG said:
    Check it out... http://www.newegglandfest.com/ I purchased tickets last week, have the calendar marked, and can't wait!
    Thanks! I just got my ticket. Actually I had stumbled upon this site several months ago and the dates listed on top of all the pages said June 25th 2011. Considering this was 2013 when I was viewing it, I figured it had come and gone and was no more. Actually they still have the 2011 date on some of the inner pages of the site.

    I am Eggcited to be going and hopefully will meet some folks from this board in person.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    Wow Jim...completely over the top.  I did brats (the pre-cooked stadium variety) in home made pretzel buns once.  Just making the buns was enough work for me for one day! 


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    The pretzel buns sound like a great idea. I've got a sourdough pretzel recipe that I'm going to use to make some pretzels... may try using it for hamburger buns too.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
  • RAC
    RAC Posts: 1,688
    Wow!!!!!!! About all I can say

    Ricky

    Boerne, TX

  • GatoGordo
    GatoGordo Posts: 80
    Thanks for the post. I made the pretzel buns yesterday and they were fantastic.
    LBGE, Stoker WiFi, UDS, Pit Barrel Cooker
  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,722
    That looks amazing.
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum