In other news (apolitical thread)...

[FearlessF]

I might get 9 holes in late this afternoon - 75 and sunny
Yesterday was 55, rainy, and windy

[MikeDeTiger]

Found out Wednesday last week that we would get Friday off, so we went to my dad's in Louisiana since he was BBQing.  He smoked approximately two tons of chicken, pork chops, hamburgers, and sausage.  With all the sides his wife made, I actually didn't even get to sample everything. 

So we had to bag up a good amount of leftovers to take home with us, and worked our way through it the rest of the weekend 


I really need to start smoking more hamburgers because I absolutely love them.  I just hate doing all the grill cleanup for a few patties that only me and the missus will eat.  I know they could be frozen and I could do more, but I don't know how good they'd be.  

[Cincydawg]

How does one smoke hamburgers?

[MikeDeTiger]

How does one smoke hamburgers?

What do you mean?  Not sure what you're asking. 

[Cincydawg]

I have never heard of smoking hamburgers, so I'm asking for some detail about how it's done.  Is it akin to smoking ribs?  That doesn't sound good to me.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I really need to start smoking more hamburgers because I absolutely love them.  I just hate doing all the grill cleanup for a few patties that only me and the missus will eat.  I know they could be frozen and I could do more, but I don't know how good they'd be. 

This is one thing I miss about getting rid of my Traeger and not having a gas grill. The "I'm just gonna make something for the wife and I" and just want to be able to press a button and turn something on. 

That said, the small kamado works well for this. It's a bit of a pain to set up and light, but I've done it so many times that it doesn't bother me much any more. And there's always the Blackstone as well. That's good for burgers (just did them with the kids Friday) and you get a nice crust. And then I can always do it inside on the stove in cast iron--but that's much more of a mess than dealing with the grill!

[MikeDeTiger]

I have never heard of smoking hamburgers, so I'm asking for some detail about how it's done.  Is it akin to smoking ribs?  That doesn't sound good to me.

You just flavor some ground beef however you want, shape it into a patty that fits a bun, and throw it on the grill.  Smoked hamburger patties are amazing.  

[MikeDeTiger]

This is one thing I miss about getting rid of my Traeger and not having a gas grill. The "I'm just gonna make something for the wife and I" and just want to be able to press a button and turn something on.

That said, the small kamado works well for this. It's a bit of a pain to set up and light, but I've done it so many times that it doesn't bother me much any more. And there's always the Blackstone as well. That's good for burgers (just did them with the kids Friday) and you get a nice crust. And then I can always do it inside on the stove in cast iron--but that's much more of a mess than dealing with the grill!

What kind of kamado do you have?  Is that the thing you said infuses meat with more smoke flavor than a grill?

[Cincydawg]

You just flavor some ground beef however you want, shape it into a patty that fits a bun, and throw it on the grill.  Smoked hamburger patties are amazing. 

Ok, I would have called that grilling rather than smoking, which ot me is very different.  Grilling is very high heat, smoking is very low heat, to me.

[MikeDeTiger]

Ok, I would have called that grilling rather than smoking, which ot me is very different.  Grilling is very high heat, smoking is very low heat, to me.

I do my burgers at low heat, for a grill.  Not everybody does it that way, but I do.  I do the lowest my Traeger will go, 180, I think, and do it as slowly as possible.  It doesn't take hours and hours, but I smoke them much longer than if I had a propane grill and I just threw them on for a few minutes. 

I only go higher than 180 if I'm in a hurry, and for burgers, if I'm in a hurry, I wouldn't mess with the smoker anyway.  Hamburger patties are the one thing I'm completely happy with the amount of smoke flavor I wind up with.  Everything else, I could do with a bit stronger.  But as brad and utee have pointed out in the past, I'd probably only be happy with either stick-burner or a kamado.  But burgers absorb it really well. 

[MikeDeTiger]

btw, that was probably not what I was eating this weekend.  Dad did a LOT of meat and I think he only spent like 3-4 hours on it that morning, total.  I only got there in time to eat and didn't see what temp he was grilling at, but there's no way he was slow cooking. 

Was still impressed with how it all came out, though.  His is a Pit Boss.  Might be a better smoker than my Traeger.  I'd still say, for whatever amount of time he kept the patties on, I could still taste it and it was much better than not having smoked it.  

[Cincydawg]

I usually go for a lot of the Maillard reaction when grilling meats.

That means highest heat practicable, usually.  I've never tried burgers cooked on low heat.

A buddy of mine boiled his burgers, which I've also never tried, you get a guaranteed 100°C *or a bit less cook temperature.

[betarhoalphadelta]

What kind of kamado do you have?  Is that the thing you said infuses meat with more smoke flavor than a grill?

I've got two from the brand Kamado Joe. I have the Big Joe and the Joe Jr. Mine are both the first gen models--had the Big Joe since 2014 and I know I got the Joe Jr before I got divorced, so probably 2015. 

I don't know anything about infusing the meat with more smoke flavor... The kamado makes an excellent smoker. IMHO it is better for smoke flavor than a pellet grill like a Traeger, but won't give you as much smoke flavor as an offset stick burner... However there are plenty of great ways to smoke meat... 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I do my burgers at low heat, for a grill.  Not everybody does it that way, but I do.  I do the lowest my Traeger will go, 180, I think, and do it as slowly as possible.  It doesn't take hours and hours, but I smoke them much longer than if I had a propane grill and I just threw them on for a few minutes. 

I only go higher than 180 if I'm in a hurry, and for burgers, if I'm in a hurry, I wouldn't mess with the smoker anyway.  Hamburger patties are the one thing I'm completely happy with the amount of smoke flavor I wind up with.  Everything else, I could do with a bit stronger.  But as brad and utee have pointed out in the past, I'd probably only be happy with either stick-burner or a kamado.  But burgers absorb it really well. 

I've never tried smoked burgers... I like that sear/char. The Blackstone is great to sear a burger. The ones I did Friday were my typical patties (~5.5-6 oz) so they're not "smash burgers", but with the Blackstone you get a really nice surface char. 

Otherwise a Kamado is great for that too, because you can get to REALLY hot temps on a kamado that you can't get near on a Traeger, or most typical gas grills. But you can also do that with a Weber kettle, so it's more about the use of charcoal and the ability to get the cooking surface close to the heat than it is anything truly unique to a Kamado. 

A buddy of mine boiled his burgers, which I've also never tried, you get a guaranteed 100°C *or a bit less cook temperature.

Are you sure they were boiled, and not sous vide? I've never done sous vide on a burger personally, but I've heard it can be good. 

But I can't imagine actually cooking one at a full boil... Seems like you'd get a completely overdone, dry, nasty burger, and yet without any of the fun bits that you get when searing.