Welp...Won't be buying 73-27...

dougcrann

...ground beef again. Cash and Carry had the 10 pound tubes on sale, $18. Grabbed 2. Cut them into 1 pound packs, Helfer out some for burgers tonight.  Holy hell did,I have some flares. Grate was actually on fire. Was billowing smoke...would make this odd noise followed by a big smoke ball....then flame out the exhaust for a few seconds...process would just repeat. Getting the cheese on was fun....surprised I still have eye brows. Looks like burgers will be done high heat indirectly til the remaining 19 pounds are gone...Good times...

milesvdustin

I had a propane grill go into an uncontrolled inferno once cooking cheap frozen burgers. It was insane. Alcohol was involved. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Busted out on that one.  Reminded me of Travis' 4 hour dumpster fire in  His xl a few years ago. 

dougcrann

milesvdustin said:

I had a propane grill go into an uncontrolled inferno once cooking cheap frozen burgers. It was insane. Alcohol was involved. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Busted out on that one.  Reminded me of Travis' 4 hour dumpster fire in  His xl a few years ago. 

Alcohol was involved? Seems like most interesting grilling disasters it always is...

4 hour dumpster fire? Please tell me you have a link to this....PLEASE?

Years ago we had a cheapo Charbroiler gasser...was nicknamed Charburner...thing cooked 2 ways...raw or nuclear...don't know how many times we had to run down the road to Hungry Howies for pizza and wings when we used that pile-o-crap. Come to think of it...beer was almost always involved....go figure...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The dumpster fire is on here somewhere. It was epic. 

nolaegghead

Travis has a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, yet I'm sure it was a factor in the case of the dumpster fire.

dougcrann

I am on my phone, does this site have a Search engine? Really want to read this dumpster fire thread...

DMW

Travis' table fire is in this thread:
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1160340/do-not-ever-do-this/p1

SmokeyPitt

You could make a nice meatloaf out of it indirect.   The other problem with super fatty ground beef is you start out with what looks like 1/2 lb burgers and end up with sliders when they are done.  

northGAcock

That ratio is flat grill cooking at its finest. 80/20 for the charcoal grill is ideal. Enough fat to create the smoke / flavor so much that gives you the deep flame you speak of. 

nolaegghead

It's not like, oh, you're one percent over 26% fat, now it's uncookable because of fire.  Keep the lid closed and the fire small, or cook indirect. 

In my opinion, if you're rendering out all the fat you're over cooking your burgers.

Foghorn

This is why my wife prefers the 96% beef.  She says the burgers are better.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1192119/poorly-selected-ingredients-adds-up-to-the-best-burger-ever

The Cen-Tex Smoker

DMW said:

Travis' table fire is in this thread:
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1160340/do-not-ever-do-this/p1

ha ha- I forgot that was my thread. That was a bad hangover. Still get the shivers when I think of it

HeavyG

That high a fat ratio is good for making smash burgers. No worries about losing eyebrows making those (unless you're doing something really, really wrong).

As Nola said - quit opening the dome. All that oxygen rushing in enables eyebrow singing flames. If flames become a problem keep the vents narrow to keep your fire damped.

Darby_Crenshaw

Gotta do those a bit raised and around 400 direct

as others mentioned, the flaring is from opening the lid. But doing it at high temps with the dome closed isn't good either. The fat smolders and that is not desirable smoke flavor, just burnt fat n

Theophan

Foghorn said:

This is why my wife prefers the 96% beef.  She says the burgers are better.

I thought your picture of that burger was one of the most gorgeous pictures of a burger I've ever seen, but my own experience is that lean ground meat is always dry.  Do you think the fact that you stuffed the burgers is what made them seem lean, sort of like two really thin, perhaps rather dry burgers with a bunch of melty cheese and bacon in the middle?  (Which sort of makes the point of using lean beef questionable...)

I'm really curious about this, because I've never had a decent burger made with lean ground meat, and would be interested to know what your wife likes better about ones made with 96% lean beef.

Foghorn

Theophan said:

Foghorn said:

This is why my wife prefers the 96% beef.  She says the burgers are better.

I thought your picture of that burger was one of the most gorgeous pictures of a burger I've ever seen, but my own experience is that lean ground meat is always dry.  Do you think the fact that you stuffed the burgers is what made them seem lean, sort of like two really thin, perhaps rather dry burgers with a bunch of melty cheese and bacon in the middle?  (Which sort of makes the point of using lean beef questionable...)

I'm really curious about this, because I've never had a decent burger made with lean ground meat, and would be interested to know what your wife likes better about ones made with 96% lean beef.

@Theophan, I think there are 3 answers to your question that all contribute - although I can't specify as to the percentage contribution of each.

1) I pulled them off when the meat was 138, so while it was lean, the meat itself seemed relatively moist.

2) My wife and I just prefer leaner cuts in general.  We both prefer filets to ribeyes. 

3) I do think the melty cheese and bacon in the middle helped the overall "moistness" of the burger. 

With that said, I have been able to make a 96/4 burger that was not stuffed that was juicy.  But if I were cooking just for myself, I would choose something along the lines of 85/15.

Legume

For me, compression is the enemy of lean meat.  If you go with 90%+ lean, mix in a little something like chopped onion, crumbled cheese, etc and just loosely form the burger and don't press it when you cook it.  The opposite of a greasy smash burger.

Biggreenpharmacist

dougcrann said:

...ground beef again. Cash and Carry had the 10 pound tubes on sale, $18. Grabbed 2. Cut them into 1 pound packs, Helfer out some for burgers tonight.  Holy hell did,I have some flares. Grate was actually on fire. Was billowing smoke...would make this odd noise followed by a big smoke ball....then flame out the exhaust for a few seconds...process would just repeat. Getting the cheese on was fun....surprised I still have eye brows. Looks like burgers will be done high heat indirectly til the remaining 19 pounds are gone...Good times...

You should get yourself a smokeware cap and that won't happen. 

Theophan

Foghorn said:

@Theophan, I think there are 3 answers to your question that all contribute - although I can't specify as to the percentage contribution of each.

1) I pulled them off when the meat was 138, so while it was lean, the meat itself seemed relatively moist.

2) My wife and I just prefer leaner cuts in general.  We both prefer filets to ribeyes. 

3) I do think the melty cheese and bacon in the middle helped the overall "moistness" of the burger. 

With that said, I have been able to make a 96/4 burger that was not stuffed that was juicy.  But if I were cooking just for myself, I would choose something along the lines of 85/15.

Ah, I'm scared of ground meat, these days, so I bet I cook mine to a higher temp than 138.  I keep thinking of grinding my own beef and cooking them the way I used to, a bit charred on the outside but WAY pink inside.  THAT's the way I love a burger!  But I don't want to take the risk with regular ground meats these days.

And as far as fat goes, we are very different!  Lean meat would be better for me  health-wise, but as far as flavor, juiciness, and tenderness go, bring on the FAT!  Roy Blount Jr. wrote a poem called, "Song to Grease," one stanza of which goes,

Oh, when our joints refuse to function,
When we stand in need of unction,
Bring us two pork chops apiece,
A skillet, lots of room, and grease...

DoubleEgger

I use 85/15 ground round and get rave reviews on my burgers. 

dougcrann

DMW said:

Travis' table fire is in this thread:
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1160340/do-not-ever-do-this/p1

Speechless...simply speechless....almost looks like someone poured gasoline in it. Will be saving the picture....

dougcrann

Not to argue but....it was flaming with the lid shut. Egg would billow smoke for 30 seconds or so...would then send out a popping aound...smoke stops followed by flame tips...cycle would then repeat...so it was not from the sudden rush of air from opening the lid. DW was off, bottom vent about quarter open...Dome temperature, on a freshly calibrated thermometer was 400*...

Biggreenpharmacist

I run into that sometimes after first flip when a lot of grease had built up on top of the burgers then it dumps into the fire when I flip them. 

steventconners20

If you have a skillet you can make a mean char on some burgers. That ratio makes some good tacos.