Do you make your own burgers?

[lucysmam]

I'm thinking about investing in a burger press.....is it one of those gadgets I'm likely to use once or do you regularly use yours?

And, if you have a nice burger recipe....please share so I can try it out

tyvm

(am off to bed but will pop back in the morning to see if anyone replies )

I do as I need gluten free- I do 500g of good lean mince, a couple of chopped spring onions, an egg, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce ( which isn't gluten free). Squidge into a burger shape and grill- makes 4 nice sized burgers.

Yes, always - I never buy burgers, no idea why! I just use mince, a bit of bread and milk (read that in some recipe somewhere and it makes them really moist (hate that word!!)), some seasoning and bind with an egg. I don't have a burger press so just shape them with my hands.

We do. Don't use egg though. Just meat. Usually minced turkey but sometimes lean beef if feeling flush. We cook them on the health grill. Yummy.

Sometimes add Chilli paste, herbs etc but no bread crumbs etc.

Yes, homemade burgers rock!! I make mine with mince - normally a lean version. I mix with seasoning, herbs, some mustard, an egg yolk and put a baby bel in the middle. If you use egg to bind, I don't really see why you would need a burger press - but then I've never owned one so I don't know how good they are!! The baby bel goes goey like mozzarella and its ace!! Yummy burgers far better than anything you buy in the supermarket!

I make burgers, but don't have a burger press. I just shape them in a large circular pastry cutter (think that's what they are called - those metal things that come in sets of different sizes).

My recipe is ridiculously simple. All I do is chop an onion in the food processor, maybe adding a bit of garlic if I feel like it. Add the mince, season with salt, pepper & some chopped herbs, and maybe a few drops of Worcester sauce. Blend it together for a few seconds just to combine the ingredients.

Tip it all into a large bowl & give it a good stir. Then for each burger just fill the pastry cutter with the meat mixture, give it a good press down with your fingers & tip it onto a plate until you're ready to cook. They don't fall apart if you've squashed them enough.

Sling them on the barbecue or the grill & enjoy!

I do, just use my hands to squidge it into shape.

I make our own, with just meat, salt, pepper, grated onion and sometimes a bit of chilli. I dislike egg and bread in them so put it all in the food processor blend for a few seconds and shape by hand.
I make a burger shape then form so that the middle is a third thinner than the outer ( think space ship or doughnut without a hole!!)
My mum gave me a burger press ages ago, and to be honest it just made washing up, so now at the back of the cupboard. Mind you, DH loves it, if he can find it!

I make my own as well, I use lean mince and bind with dairy free marg only I add a finely chopped onion and some chilli's to mine... bloody lovely.
loving the baby bel idea ITOO

I do, was given a burger press years ago and always use it.

Recipe: one pack of lean beef, one slice of bread made into crumbs (using a mini food processor), one egg, pepper, one teaspoon of marmite, home ground chilli powder (if just for the grown ups)

Serves 4 greedy ones (usually 2 plus 2 for the freezer)

Oops, forgot one chopped onion!

Mince, onion (finely chopped), s&p, paprika. Shape with hands and chargrill.

Just the meat and a bit of seasoning. I don't like onions in burgers, the kids are allergic to egg and we're trying not to eat bread so no breadcrumbs.

We just press them into the right shape with our hands and they don't fall to bits. Binders or burger presses are really not necessary.

We could have a ' Great British Burger Off' with all these recipes

Always make my own with 500 g pack of lean mince, egg, 70 g bread, mild paprika, parsley, grated parmesan, seasoning, all in a food processor then I weigh each ball to about 85g and press between hands to a burger shape. I think the burger press would be useful to have as each burger would be the same size and weight but you could do that yourself without buying and storing another gadget.

I make mine by hand. Never seen the point of a press as i like to make them different sizes. Here'show i make a basic burger-

I place one pack of mince (do not use low fat meat) in s bowl and add-

1 small fine chopped onion
half teaspoon of powdered garlic (according to US burger afficionados this gives the authentic diner taste and I can vouch for this) or use half teaspoon of minced garlic
salt and pepper- pinch
dash of Worcestershire sauce

Mix together by hand until meat mixture is well combined with ingredients. Do not mush up too much. Shape into patties not too thin.

For an added extra you can add any of these ingredients below inside the burger by forming into a ball, breaking it open slightly then pushing the filling inside before shaping back into a patty-

a pinch of grated Cheddar;
some fine diced Gherkin

Or add diced bacon to the minced beef mixture for amazing flavour.

I don't use lean beef mince. I add grated onion and garlic salt. I don't have a press and divide the mixture into halves until I get 8. I add cheese to the middle of half.

I also make lamb burgers. I use the homemade donner recipe. Paprika, turmeric, garlic salt, pepper, dried onion, salt, celery salt, oregano, mixed herbs, chili flakes, dried mint etc. I make a load which I slice or meatballs.

Does anyone mince their own meat and mix up the cuts to get a good combination of flavour and texture? If so which cuts do you use?

I make inside out cheeseburgers. Or as dp calls them 'heart attacks in a bun'

Mince, some breadcrumbs, onion seeds, chopped onions, random other spices depending on mood. Moulded around some grated cheese and grilled.

Sorry, forgot the egg yolk to bind them, they ooze otherwise.

NOOOOOO!!!! Seriously, making a burger is easier than making a sandwich!!! A burger press is just some manufacturer taking the piss out of you!!!

Always make my own burgers, I use Jamie Oliver's botham burger's recipe (but make them a lot smaller than he recommends). It's a lovely spicy recipe with cumin and coriander in it. Yum!

And I love my Lakeland Limited burger press and have used it for about 20 years.

I find a Burger press is really useful for veggie burgers where you can struggle to keep bits stuck together but with meat the burger becomes too compacted and looks a bit like a shop-bought burger and probably tastes a bit like it too, if I'm putting the effort into making my burgers I want my burgers to look like I made them.

I suppose it depends how you like your burger.

I have an issue with my cheese all escaping from the middle when I put cheese in the middle. Is there a solution?

You need to maybe use less OhYou. Or grate the cheese and then squidge it up so it is more paste like (sounds awful but it works) before you push it in.

I use the Lakeland plastic thingy that Nigella made me buy. And Jamie's recipe. The one with grated cheese and a tsp of mustard in the mix.