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BBQ Burger: Blow By Blow

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finished burgerLast night I made burgers.  End of story.

Sidebar:  I live Tweeted it and shall now share my technique with you.

Also: Hey, look!  A recipe for BBQ Burgers with Double Smoked Goodness.  I’m not going to guarantee that they are the best burgers in the world, but…  Ah, screw it.  To me, they’re the best burgers in the World.  And I know that you’ll dig them too.

burgerBeing in a rush, I forgot to add the photo of that Primal Cut beef. Here you go, dear readers. You know I would never forget you.

Each patty should be a 1/4 pound — or, preferably, a bit bigger.  Do not — I repeat, do not — go with an extra lean ground beef.  The fat in your burger is what it going to give it both juiciness and flavour.  It will also cause for some of the flare-ups needed to properly char your beef.

Allow me to save you a step.  Here’s that rub recipe:

2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp mixed whole peppercorns
3 tsp dried time leaves (or 3 tbsp fresh)
3 tsp dried rosemary leaves (or 3 tbsp fresh)
1 tbsp coarse salt.

Toast the coriander seeds and peppercorns over medium heat until good and aromatic.  Use a mortar and pestle or food processor to break mixture up into coarse pieces.  Mix in other ingredients.

It is dynamite on steak, burgers, fish, and pork — definitely do try that pork and greens recipe!  I’ve even sprinkled some on peameal as part of a simple sandwich.

But I digress.

mustardAt this point, I was rushing to make sure everything came together just right. My spelling and hashtags fell to the wayside. Worry not, I’ll have the full recipe at the bottom of this post. I also forgot to include a secret weapon that I used to push this burger over the top.

Did I mention the hashtags started to fall apart?  I really do know how to spell burger, you know.

So, let’s recap and fill in some holes, recipe style:

BBQ Burgers with Double Smoked Goodness

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of good quality ground beef — I used the ground chuck from Primal Cuts, which had a nice balance of fat to it.
Farm to Table steak rub (see above for the recipe).
8-12 slices of smoked bacon.  In this case, I used a fantastic product from Seed to Sausage in Sharbot Lake, smoked in a hickory smoker.
Smoked cheddar — we usually go with the more local Maple Dale smoked (which is awesome), but had some Cow’s Creamery (P.E.I.) award winning on hand this time around.
4 buns — something that will have a bit of structure to them — we use homemade Ciabatta buns.
A good quality mustard — we grabbed some Kozlik’s Horseradish Mustard, made and sold in Toronto at the St. Lawrence Market.  Definitely go with something that has some oomph!
Pickles OR in-season tomatoes (both are optional — but I wouldn’t recommend using both.  They’re meant to add just a touch of juice/acidity).

Instructions:

  • Divide beef into 4 thick patties and sprinkle a liberal amount of rub on each side.
  • Slice your smoked cheddar (good and thick).
  • Light your grill and set to medium.
  • Grill your bacon with the lid open — keeping an eye on it in case of flare-ups (which, trust me, will happen) — to desired doneness.  Make sure it gets a bit charred and smokey.
  • Once you remove the bacon, set temperature to high and get it good and hot.
  • Grill your burger for 2 minutes and then rotate 180 degrees and cook for another 2 minutes.  Note: This is done to make fancy/shmancy hashed grill marks.  If you don’t care about the prettiness, just cook for 4 minutes without rotating.
  • Flip burger and repeat.
  • At this point your burgers should still be a bit on the rare side (130 degrees or so with a quick read thermometer).  Flip again, add your cheese.  Put your bacon somewhere over indirect heat to warm.  Close the lid.  By the time your cheese melts, your beef should be a late medium rare or medium — I like mine around 150 degrees.
  • Remove everything from the grill.  Slather the bottom half of the bun with mustard, place your cheeseburger on the bun, pile on your bacon, add your pickle or tomato and top with the other half of the (perhaps mustard-slathered) bun.
  • Serve with good quality salt and vinegar chips or a salad.  Or, heck, both.
  • Enjoy with a cold beer.  I had a Blonde from the brand new Smithworks Brewing Company.