Good to know! I always grind my meat partially frozen, but I usually form patties when it is just out of the fridge (and until now I have not used a press). Will try the press when the meat is colder next time!
I assume you read the NYT, but if not, this picture illustrates what @mq7070 just wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/meat-environment-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
Yes!
I grind meat nearly frozen when I can but the meat is not frozen when forming patties by hand. Patties are placed on a sheet pan lined with parchment, covered and frozen and vac packed until ready to use. So far been happy with the results
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Scubadoo, your patty looks quite smooth - do you do anything special when you shape them? And how do you grind - coarse, fine, once, twice, etc.?
I vaguely remember putting hamburger meat in a food processor(might have even been in a blender) maybe 30 years ago. Can’t remember anything other than it was sticky and smooth. Can’t even remember what I used it for.
Grind once with the medium die. It came with 3 dies. The coarse has a multiple pie shaped openings, the medium and fine have circular openings
I’ll usually vac pack two together since it’s usually just the 2 of us.
I package them individually because, ours being pork shoulder, I’ll sometimes season one like sausage and use it on pizza. Or other things.
That photo in the Times shows warm to slightly cool meat being pressed, without the waxed paper disks on both sides. When I use a press they come out perfectly smooth on both sides, and the edges. I like an inexpensive plastic press better than the metal ones. I think they just come out better. (But I usually just make them by hand when I just make a burger for myself.)
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me too.
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I’m late to the party here.
Generally I hand form hamburgers with a center dimple for the grill. They hold together well but the edges are not smooth.
For special events I weigh out each patty and use a form. I get pretty smooth edges - not as pretty as the picture at the top of the thread, but pretty smooth.
For forms I cut the top and bottom off cans. Large tuna cans for big burgers, Thai curry cans for sliders. This is the hardest part as finding cans that have rolled edges top and bottom so you can take off both is becoming difficult. I lightly wipe oil inside the form with a towel before each use. Works for me.
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Haven’t read all the posts yet. I saw your picture, and it looks to me like a sous vide preparation, if I were to try to reproduce that.
I also use tin cans to as a burger mold. I have a 32oz can that I use for my burgers which are weighed to 6 oz
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How thick does that make them? I have no lack of tin cans.
Well, V = πr²t and ground beef is 1.006 to 1.033 g/cm³ so for any given weight of meat and a known diameter form you solve for t.
Example: 6 oz burger is 170 g so close enough to 170 cm³. 4" diameter form, 5.1 cm radius.
t = 170 cm³/(π(5.1 cm)²) = 2.1 cm or a fat 3/4".
It all depends on how much meat and how big a tin can.
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Correction. Grabbed the wrong can. The can I use is a 32 oz. can you might find kidney beans in. Burgers measure 4 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick. What was I thinking??? I use the wasabi can to make a diced raw tuna stack.
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This is how to make the perfect burgerhttps://oke.io/0BDp4Ba
