Build a better burger

“Hey, this is interesting,” Colette said, “an article about making your own hamburger.”

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning. We’d just enjoyed a delicious breakfast of eggs Florentine and new potatoes fried with rosemary, onions and garlic, and we were sitting at the kitchen table with our coffee—Henri’s improved considerably by two sugar cubes, a spoonful of heavy whipping cream, and a healthy splash of Tullamore Dew. We were enjoying the Sunday paper and catching up on the news. I was mostly agreeing with Beth and Miss Manners.

“We should try it,” Colette said. “What do you think?”

“It sounds like a lot of work to me.”

“What!? You haven’t even read the article. Here.” She handed it to me across the table. “It’s easy. Take a look.”

“I’d rather take a nap.”

She scowled.

Turns out she was right. Grinding your own beef into hamburger is easy and quick, requiring nothing more than two different cuts of beef, room in your freezer for two large cookie sheets, and a food processor. We prepared a batch later that day and since then have made several more, including one afternoon grinding some chicken thighs, which made for delicious burgers but was even better the next day mixed half and half with the beef.

We’re especially excited about it with summer grilling on the horizon, and we’re looking forward to a season of experimenting with different cuts of beef. I’ve read that substituting brisket, skirt steak, sirloin and other cuts for the short ribs we used (see below) makes for excellent ground beef. In any case, you want the chuck to constitute 50 percent to 75 percent of the mixture.

Among the advantages of grinding your own is that you can adjust the lean-ness by cutting more or less fat off the beef you start with. Keep in mind, though, that any less than about 10 percent fat will make for rather dry burgers.

The following recipe is adapted from an article by San Francisco Chronicle food writer Lynne Char Bennett, who herself adapted it from Cook’s Illustrated.

Henri’s fresh-ground burgers

Cut away any gristly connective tissues from 1 lb. chuck roast and 1/2 lb. boneless beef short ribs (or 1 lb. with bones—cut meat from bones). Dice meat into 1/2-inch cubes; place the pieces on cookie sheets, allowing for spaces between them. Freeze for 10-15 minutes, until the pieces begin to get solid but are still slightly pliable. Remove from freezer, and place cubes in food processor with steel “S” blade, and pulse until the meat is ground enough to form into patties. Discard large pieces of fat or gristle.

Put the ground meat from both cuts into large bowl, add 1/2 tbsp. salt and 1 tbsp. crumpled dry basil, and mix gently with fingers. Form into patties, and cook (you’ll get more flavor from a grill, but less fat loss and no flare-ups in an iron skillet) to an internal temperature of 140 degrees (medium).

Options: For ground chicken, use boneless/skinless thighs. Chicken burgers are delicious, but combined roughly half and half with beef they’re even better (note that any meat with poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165). In addition to using chicken or the other cuts of beef, you can also use pork shoulder instead of the short-rib meat.

Also, try experimenting with different spices, instead of or in addition to the basil. I like dried thyme and oregano. You also can throw a couple of garlic cloves and/or onion slices into the mixture (before food processing).

Use your home-ground burger in any recipe that calls for hamburger, from spaghetti sauce to chili to tacos. We really like these mini-quiches, cooked in muffin tins. They make for great snacks or quick breakfasts (and also freeze well).

Henri’s mini-quiches:

Sautee 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 onion, 1/2 small zucchini (all chopped fine) and 2 garlic cloves (minced) in olive oil until no liquid remains. Add to large bowl and mix in two eggs and 1 lb. home-ground beef. Add 1/2 tsp. garlic powder and paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.

Coat muffin-tin cups with pan spray and fill each one about 3/4 full, and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until egg mixture and meat are done.