Burgers are simple. Anyone can throw some hamburger meat on a grill and make a decent burger. This recipe isn’t that type of burger. This is the advanced course on how to grill burgers. It's the type of burger you’d happily pass over a steak to get. This is a real gourmet steak burger.
Some refer to these as "stuffed burgers", "ultimate burgers", "Jucy Lucy's" or "inside-out burgers". Call it whatever you like, but don’t forget to call me when you make them!
Ultimate burgers like these are such a favorite among my facebook friends that I’ve included all they ways that they like to make theirs - or at least how they did ‘em before I shared mine. This will be one of the best burgers you’ve ever had.
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our Father's Day Gift Ideas.
Directions
I use dried mushrooms as a trick to add different flavors into the burgers. To rehydrate the mushrooms you should rinse them thoroughly. Then place in a bowl with cold water or other liquid. This takes as little as 20-30 minutes, but can also be done up to a few hours or overnight.
Chop and saute the mushrooms while you mix up the ground beef.
For this burger I mixed 2 lbs of an 80% grind of chuck with a 2 lb Tri-tip roast using my KitchenAid meat grinder
. Grinding your own burgers is the key to getting them to taste EXACTLY like you want. Other cuts I would suggest mixing with beef chuck are brisket points, ribeye, top round, eye of round, etc.
Follow the pictures to the right to make the stuffed hamburger patties. You can do it by hand, but a stuffed hamburger press
will seal everything in and produce a consistent shape. The Stuff-a-Burger is the press I used in the picture. It's about half the price of the StufZ burger press
. Both work great and are available on Amazon from the links above.
- 1) Mix the ground chuck and ground steak together. Add 1/4 cup worcestershire and 2 tbsp Bullsy Beef Rub or in a pinch substitute with a rub of half salt, half pepper and a little garlic powder.
- 2) Grab enough ground beef for the lower patty.
- 3) Place the patty in the press.
- 4) Insert the indented part of the burger press.
- 5) Press the burger to make the bowl shape. Only compact the burger enough to make the shape.
- 6) Fill with a portion of the cheese and mushroom mixture (don't overstuff). Cover with 1 tsp of Cholula or your favorite hot sauce.
- 7) Place a smaller patty on top and use the other end of the press to form the burger and seal in the stuffing.
- 8) Remove the burger from the press.
- 9) Wrap each burger with a piece of bacon. Use a toothpick to secure if necessary.
- 10) Now we're ready for the grill. Follow the directions below according to your type grill.
Ready for the Grill
You now have a gourmet ultimate burger ready to go. To grill it you’ll want to use a lower temp to start with than a regular grilled hamburger. This will help it cook evenly and maintain the juices. If you have a problem with hot spots or stuff sticking to your grates you may even want to look at a product called GrillGrates
(they come in all different shapes and sizes - even some for kamados). I even use my wireless maverick thermometer so I can keep a close eye on the temp (you know it’s a real hamburger when you need a thermometer).
For wood I prefer the taste of either oak or hickory with my burgers. On this cook I used a little bit of pecan with the oak. For charcoal or gas grillers I recommend starting with just a large handful of soaked wood chips and seeing what you prefer.
For gas grills you can use a smoker box or pouch. Light only one or half of your burners where your smoker box/pouch is. Cook your burgers on the other side (indirect heat).
For charcoal grills place your chips/chucks directly on your lump charcoal. We are cooking indirectly, so bank your coals to one side. You may want different heights on your grates if your grill/smoker allows. We'll move the burgers to the other side (direct heat) to sear them when they're finished.
You can run these on a smoke setting before you crank these up, but I like to cook them at 275-300F for 45-60 minutes and then lightly sear them at the end. This ensures your burger will cook to the proper temp and loses the least moisture. Cook your burger to 5-10°F short of your desired doneness (the USDA recommends 160°F for ground beef) and then move your stuffed burger over direct heat and crank up the temp. The goal is to sear the outside without charring it.
Allow the burgers to rest 3-5 minutes. This is, after all, a steakburger - you don’t lose all the juices to the plate. Now is a good time to toast the buns while you allow the burger to cool down a little. Plate up your burger and add any toppings if you dare. For this burger I didn’t want to disgrace it with a plain old ketchup or guild its flavor under a barbecue sauce. I used Heinz’s ketchup with balsamic vinegar. The flavor was spot on. Now the only thing left to do is lean over and do your best impression of Guy Fieri’s “hunch”. Enjoy!
Other Stuffed Favorites
Once you have a stuffed burger like this one you'll crave it nightly. These put burgers from the fast food giants to shame and may make you wonder what you've been eating. When I asked some of my followers what they like inside their burgers, here's what I got:
- Ken F. - bacon, cheese &sweet onion and garlic always works for me...
- Paul H. - Fresh diced tomato, basil, chilli, cheddar cheese and maybe some blue cheese for saltyness
- Maurice G. - Bacon, bacon cheddar, white American CHEESE, onions-sauteed or diced bits, JALAPENOS
- Nathan B. - Never had one, seems like its high time I do!
- Brent M. - Vidalia onion , garlic, bacon spices
- David H. - Chopped pecans mushrooms and blue cheese,the ultimate stuffed burger.
- Brad B. - Blue Cheese Baby!
- Brian B. - Cheese and bacon. I wonder what a little bit of sausage would taste like.
Stuffed Hamburger Presses