Homemade Burgers... binding them, help please!

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

My first foray onto this excellent board and I'm after a bit of advice please.

I want to make burgers but make them as low carb as possible. These are the ingredients that I would use and I've stricken out what I think I can't use now:

Mince of some sort
Finely chopped onion
Fresh parsley
Fresh chilli or two including seeds
Egg
Seasonings - salt, pepper, steak seasoning, etc.
Flour
Breadcrumbs

So my question is, what can I use to bind the burgers so that the don't 'slop'? I was thinking of Baking Powder?

And, is there an alternative to breadcrumbs for the crispy texture?

Advice and tips would be very helpful, thanks!

I find the egg is sufficient. I also add some olive oil, mix everything together, shape them and then let them "set" in the fridge.

My beef burgers are just 20% fat beef (the Lidl "Simply" stuff), egg, shallot, olive oil, cumin, coriander and salt and pepper.

My pork burgers (which have been a recent "invention" and deemed a great success) are pork mince, egg, olive oil, a generous squoosh of Worcestershire sauce and then, because they are quite "wet", some ground almonds. Shape and leave to rest in the fridge.

You can also add finely grated Parmesan if you want. (If I did that for beef burgers, I'd omit the cumin and coriander and substitute with oregano).

Ground almonds and egg

I find too much egg causes the slop, generally I don't use egg now as I would have used breadcrumbs to help bind it but that's not massively healthy either. Maybe just try using the meat and herbs without the egg?
Also if you cut an onion so you have large rings you can put the burger into the onion and cook it like that so it retains the juices as I find the lower fat meat can dry out much faster 😊

I don’t bind ours with anything. Just decently fat content beef mince, sometimes onion and a herb or sometimes not. Just squish into patti shapes and fridge for a bit.

Just ensure they are sealed on the heat (pan or bbq) before attempting to turn and you’ll be fine.

But good quality steak mince with virtually no fat, add herbs, salt and pepper, squash together into patties and that’s all you needs. No egg, onion, breadcrumbs or anything, all unnecessary.

I don’t bind them with anything either - just good beef mince, onion, and seasonings.

It does help if you put the burgers into the fridge to chill for a while before cooking.

Tomato ketchup - makes them taste yummy too!

I use one egg for c800g mince. Any extra burgers (unusually makes 6 or 7 generous burgers and there are only 3 of us) I freeze for another time.

I make pork and apple burgers which are pork mince, peeled apple grated and patted dry, and some dried sage salt and pepper. No egg no oil. They are great.

I make two pieces of toast and then grind them into crumbs, a good slurp of olive oil and an egg yolk to bind, them put in the fridge

I just use mince herbs chilli. No need to bind.

I just use mince, onion, salt and pepper. They stay together fine.

If you use 1lb mince, 1egg, salt n pepper, parsley and a 1/2 crust of breadcrumbs they come out fab

I don't use anything either.

You don't need egg. Mince, flavouring.

This is in the low-carb Boot Camp topic, therefore zero fat mince, apples, breads crumbs are all not "good" Boot Camp burgers

High fat mince and/or extra oil and/or an egg and/or Parmesan and/or ground almonds (after the first 2 weeks) are all good!

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll revise the way I've been doing it as I've never put them in the fridge but it's obvious now - and I'd never considered parmesan - or ground almonds either.

DH does burgers every week and uses mince, salt, pepper, splash of bbq sauce/garlic etc. NEVER uses breadcrumbs etc. they are always perfect.

@LyingWitchinTheWardrobe - it's probably too late now, as I'm very late catching up with posts in this topic!

But when I make burgers, I only use mince! High fat beef mince, seasoned with salt (you need a lot of salt), black pepper and some extra oil.

The secret is not to turn the burgers more than once - let them sit in the pan or on the barbecue for a good few minutes, and then flip them only once.

Definitely don't need to add breadcrumbs, almonds, eggs, flour, tomato ketchup or anything else!