Home made burgers

[swiperfox]

Thinking of making some for lunch today but never made them before so was wondering if any of you have any fantastic recipes!!

I'm thinking you bind the mince with egg - is that right? I cant use breadcrumbs.

Also, can you do it with frozen mince? (defrosted obviously!! )

[RTMTMML]

The mince may be a bit wet (the defrosted mince I mean). However, yes you bind it with egg. Chop up some onions, maybe chop up some musrooms, bit of chili and some dried herbs (can't remember exactly which ones I used and can't be ar**d to stand up and look - sorry honey).

[swiperfox]

lol morning thats ok I just really need the basics of how to do it so i dont end up with just fried mince lol! Will prob go and get some fresh mince too

[NotQuiteCockney]

I normally do mince, egg, onion (or garlic), crushed chili, and breadcrumbs. For 500g mince, one egg, one onion (or a few cloves of garlic), and a pinch of chili, and then enough breadcrumbs to make it dry enough to shape. I find it ends up too wet without breadcrumbs, although you can use parmesan instead if that's good for you?

Why are breadcrumbs out - gluten?

We eat homemade burgers rather a lot.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, and then about one handful of mince per burger, then flatten a bit. You can make bigger burgers, but as they need to be cooked right through, it's easier to do smaller ones.

[swiperfox]

thanks for that - sounds perfect! Cant do breadcrumbs because i'm doing Atkins diet - but parmesan sounds brill!!

I actually love homemade burgers, my mum used to do them all the time - am now wondering why i've never made them before for dd/ds!!

[RTMTMML]

forgot about the garlic - definitely need garlic. Also you can bake them in the oven, but don't turn them until they are pretty much cooked (or they break apart).

You can use turkey mince, but that needs a lot of added flavour (v bland)
chicken mince - also needs flavouring
lamb mince - yummy though take care as very fatty

[swiperfox]

def garlic - loooove garlic!!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, then parmesan - you want the parmesan really really finely minced I think. Any very dry cheese would probably do the job. And you keep adding until the mixture isn't too wet.

DS1 loves burgers.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Not minced, grated. Duh.

[swiperfox]

so what do i do with the egg - just beat it and rub it into the mince as i mould it together?

As i'm typing i'm thinking 'that is such a stupid question'
lol just paranoid they all fall apart!!

[RTMTMML]

beat egg, mix together with ALL of the mince, etc., then form burgers.

[Clementine]

anyone a recipe without egg.

[binkie]

you don't need egg at all, or any kind of binder - and you can use defrosted frozen mince

the key thing is to salt the mince and squidge it well in; smallish handful firmly squeezed per person

a hot frying pan first (I use mixture of olive oil & butter), to give the outside a nice brown crust & bind the meat; then turn it down a bit so's to cook through

turn over and continue cooking; doesn't need to be the gentler heat as it should be cooked through

if you want a cheeseburger put a slice of cheese on top while you're doing second side and then under the grill to finish off

personally I like them with pile of sauerkraut under the cheese (which should be emmenthal)