hamburger

[Wagonmaster]

Not sure if this has been covered in the past, but a search of the word didn't bring up much in the first couple of pages. My moose burger is quite dry to the point where it falls apart on the barbeque and doesn't have a whole lot of flavor once cooked, probably due to the dryness. We take care to remove most of the fat and silver skin when trimming our meat. This certainly decreases the problem of the grinder getting clogged up. Some people add pork fat, while grinding, which I am prepared to do, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having lean, healthy game meat. Thought I'd throw this out there to see if the members have some good recipes for additions to the meat to improve the final product, ie. a tasty, juicy burger. Some reference to amounts and proportions would be useful. Thanks in advance.

[The Dawg]

I usually dump a bit of Worcestershire sauce and a couple eggs into the mix when I'm forming the patties.

Egg adds moisture and works as a binder.

[Philcott]

I add pork shoulder to my burger. It needs some fat. You can still keep it extra lean but I'd add some fat.

As NDawg said an egg will add moisture to it.

[BearStump]

When I make up a 20 lb. batch of burgers I use 15 lbs of super lean moose meat and 5 lbs of regular ground beef. seems to be a good mixture and still dont get much fat dripping. its still pretty lean.

[Big Lew]

I usually dump a bit of Worcestershire sauce and a couple eggs into the mix when I'm forming the patties.

Egg adds moisture and works as a binder.

x2! Eggs do a good job binding on any dry ingredients.

[dime]

My wife uses bread crumbs, or a dried out bun soaked in milk, as well as an egg. They do not fall apart, and although they are not greasy, I do not find them dry. Whatever fat is in the meat stays in the burger because of the bun which soaks it up. There is also fat in the egg and milk, which helps as well. Finally, if you add some finely chopped onions, they add both moisture and flavour to the hamburger.

[riflebuilder]

I always mix in beef trimings to my Moose burger. It is still extra lean but has good flavor and makes great burger.

[sawmill]

Crushed cracker crumbs(I like Ritz crackers) an egg and half a pack of onion soup mix,or,a new one I am going to try........a cup or so of COOKED stovetop stuffing and an egg mixed in straight lean deer.I never add anything to my game when I grind it,pure well trimmed meat.And don`t cook the shit out of it either,that will dry it to the point that my hound dog won`t eat it.And I like to put the cheese inside the patty,cheddar or Mozza or Swiss,molten cheese inside the burger,pretty wicked good.

[BearSupreme]

Add some pork fat for sure. If you can get local or organic pork fat id recommend that over the mass produced stuff. There is such a thing as eating too much lean meat..

http://www.ergo-log.com/meatonly.html

[604redneck]

never added fat too moose and never had an issue with them falling apart i just always add eggs and bread crumbs or chips or something

[BiG Boar]

Bacon. Chop up some bacon and mix that with it. Great flavor and it should make it juicier. But I'd still add the bread crumbs and egg also.

[Tenacious Billy]

I've found if I let the burgers rest in the fridge for an hour or so after forming them they tend to hold together a little better too....

[Scuba_Dave]

Moosie Goosie burgers!! The goose adds some nice flavor and grease to the drying up moose. You can still add bread crumbs or egg or whatever to it as well as far as I know...But the two together makes one heck of a burger :)

[Darksith]

eggs and bread crumbs or soda crackers...so simple...even with beef you always add eggs to your meat to help it hold together...

[Ubertuber]

I always add an egg and sometimes some Panko bread crumbs.
Split it into 1/4 pound sections, knead them well so they don't crumble, then press into patties. I find that if I refrigerate them for a while they hold together even better. Don't over cook them, that's the sure fire way to dry them out.

[brutus]

lol i was going to say dont cook the shit out of it,most people over cook hamberger meat period,moose elk deer of beef for that mater

[pnbrock]

pork picnics great for adding fat

[Bistchen]

I marinate my hamburger in a can of mushroom soup !:)

[CSG]

Alright, you want a good burger? Here are some secrets

-A good burger is 25% fat, that seems like alot but even that is with beef which has alot more fat marbled into the meat. I would add some pork shoulder to your grind because it wont dry out and I would also add some pork back fat which you can get from a safeway butcher.

-Grinding. For me i prefer a chunky grind, the largest die on my grinder. Be very aware of how much you are grinding the meat, if you overgrind it will become gluey and the texture is not very good when you cook it.

-Dont add breadcrumbs, your trying to avoid your burger from drying out but you are going to add breadcrumbs which will dry it out and make it gummy... The bread soaked in milk is not a bad one though, an old meatball secret.

-Adding flavor is always a good thing, diced up bacon is always a good one. I like to add a bit of raw oats, not much, because it adds a nutty flavor and it tastes great when its toasted. Herbs are always good, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, but I prefer to keep it simple.

-if your burger is breaking up, dont add egg, add salt. Salt is a binder when used right. ever wonder how sausage meat stays together even when its out of the casing? you need to cure your diced burger meat for a couple hours. scroll to the 11 min mark in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03h5T_tiyx0 to find out how to form your burgers.

-I rarely have problems with the texture of my burger so I dont form in the saran wrap like in the video. For a game meat aplication, because I want to get as much moisture as possible into the burger I would use a sausage trick. When you grind the salted meat and the pork shoulder and fat back, I put it into my mixer and I add 1 cup of very very cold iced water for every 10 pounds of meat and I mix it on medium until the water is absorbed. This brings together the mix and it also gets more moisture in there. Whatever you do, dont overwork the meat or it goes gluey again.

-when talking about grinding, I would dice up what I want to make burgers with and then freeze it in small packages. Pull the pack the night before to the fridge and then grind the next day. Once the meat is ground it is more prone to losing liquid as it defrosts.

-Defrosting. If you freeze and thaw meat properly you can not tell in a side by side which one is frozen. No joke, I have done this many a time. THe problem is that we dont have the ability to freeze properly in our houses or at the butcher shop. What we can control is the defrosting, always always always pull the meat directly to the fridge and let it defrost completely in the fridge, this can sometimes take 2-3 days but it makes a difference.

-Cooking. Everyone overcooks their burgers, chefs in restaurants do it all the time. If you want to get serious, get a temperature probe, cheap ones are like $15 in the cooking section of your canadian tire. All burgers and Sausages should never be cooked to more than 160 degrees F, ever. Probe your burgers to tell when they are done, also the temperature will continue to rise a couple degrees so I like to pull them off around 150-155 and let them rest. Whatever you do, do not squeeze, rip, poke or open up the burger, this lets the juice out.

Thats all I can think of right now, if you have any questions feel free to ask

[Ride Red]

my wife uses bread crumbs, or a dried out bun soaked in milk, as well as an egg. They do not fall apart, and although they are not greasy, i do not find them dry. Whatever fat is in the meat stays in the burger because of the bun which soaks it up. There is also fat in the egg and milk, which helps as well. Finally, if you add some finely chopped onions, they add both moisture and flavour to the hamburger.


x2 .

[tomahawk]

When I grind the burger I weigh the meat to grind and add 6 or 8% beef fat which is free at the butcher counter in the grocery store, perfect mix of extra, extra lean but is juicy and helps bind the meat together. Adding dry items like bread crumbs, crackers etc will help bind the meat but what happens if you shove them in your mouth? Yep its going to make it drier. Its a filler that is used commercially to make the meat go further as it is way cheaper then the meat but each to their own. For the burger you have now you can add eggs and that will definetly help but try some minor amounts beef fat and you'll never regret it.

[Mishka]

Instead of bread crumbs I use oat flakes. It works really well and considered a bit healthier than bread. Now, for moose meatloaf I don't add any pork fat but I do mix in parmesan cheese which acts like a fat. I haven't tried it with burgers, but it might work well for you if you don't want to add pork fat.

[lovemywinchester]

I always chop a red onion and add it to the burger. Dont be shy with it. I believe the moisture in the onion will help keep the burger moist on the bbq as well as tasting great. I do this with my venison burgers and they are always delicious so it should work with moose.

And as stated before:
2 eggs per pound.
Bread crumbs for sure. Use flavoured croutons for bread crumbs if you can.
DON'T overcook them

[1/2 slam]

never added fat too moose and never had an issue with them falling apart i just always add eggs and bread crumbs or chips or something


x 2......throw in some garlic or onion as well

[MOWITCH SLAYER]

we add two eggs and a hand full of rolled oats and add what ever spices you like right into the bowl . Mix up real good and cook in a little olive oil. If you are using the barby ,brush with olive oil, if you are a family man your children well be lined up for more and to me thats what hunting is all about. P.S. we do the same with deer

[hotload]

I've found if I let the burgers rest in the fridge for an hour or so after forming them they tend to hold together a little better too.... I was going to add this bit of advise as well. The egg, crumbs, and other meats added always helps hold things together but preparing your meat well in advance and putting it away in the fridge always helps keep the meat together better rather than just making it up and cooking it, besides all this your meat tastes better with your spices if it's rested........................

[dizzydan]

I usually dump a bit of Worcestershire sauce and a couple eggs into the mix when I'm forming the patties.

Egg adds moisture and works as a binder.

Same here. DAN>>>

[bridger]

My neighbor adds finely chopped celery to his moose burgers. Adds moisture and holds the patties together. Ounds weird but they are delicious

[pnbrock]

I'm told adding straight beef fat will bring the gamey flavour outs this true?

[Angus]

Mix up ketchup, Worchestershire, onion and garlic powders, salt and pepper and a bit of chili powder until has the consistency of BBQ sauce. Add in dried basil flakes as a binding agent, then crumble your burger meat into this and form patties.