Anyone Made the Mini Cheeseburgers?

[J.Corley]

I am making them for the show I have tomorrow and I haven't been able to practice it yet.
Any tips or advice would be appreciated!

TIA

 

[chefshawna]

There are a bunch of threads on here about the mini cheeseburgers, I'd do a search and read some, there were a lot of negative comments on the way they looked coming out of the oven with all the grease on them. I haven't done them yet myself. Hopefully yours will turn out great. They did say they tasted o.k.

 

[kaseydee]

be prepared for the meat to shrink up a bit & know that you will want to drain off the grease. They are good though! I could personally do with a little less garlic but everyone loves them.

 

[DebbieJ]

Make sure you chop the onion very very finely.

 

[Humble Beginnings]

They are good but yes do not be surprised when they come out of the oven. They are very good!

 

[chefann]

Most of the liquid that's in the pan when they come out of the oven is actually juice, not grease. (Nerd alert! I put the bowl of dripping in the fridge when I made them the first time, and it didn't solidify. So it's not grease.) But you will want to pour most of it off. I find that the burgers are a little more enjoyable (and the buns soften up better) if you leave a little of the moisture on the pan before you top the patties and steam them.I think these are good, and would be a fun demo.

 

[Ginger428]

Most of the liquid that's in the pan when they come out of the oven is actually juice, not grease. (Nerd alert! I put the bowl of dripping in the fridge when I made them the first time, and it didn't solidify. So it's not grease.) But you will want to pour most of it off. I find that the burgers are a little more enjoyable (and the buns soften up better) if you leave a little of the moisture on the pan before you top the patties and steam them.

I think these are good, and would be a fun demo.

I agree, I did the same thing Ann did & I knew it wasn't all grease because I used 94% FF....they were great!!

 

[jrodeo]

I am making them for the show I have tomorrow and I haven't been able to practice it yet.
Any tips or advice would be appreciated!

TIA

Just make sure you stack the buns on top of the meat. At our cluster cook-a-thon to try out all the new recipes we put them back in the oven after assembling them on the pan just like you'd eat them. (bun-meat-bun) It took forever for the cheese to melt (you'll get what I mean when you go over the recipe) and we couldn't figure out why (so they were overcooked) but they still came out really good. Kind of bland, tho.

 

[janezapchef]

Am I the only one who really struggles with the draining? I found it really cumbersome. When I did this at a show, I took the pan back in the kitchen and had the guests fill out the dps then. I feel like I have to concentrate on this part to make sure I don't flop the whole thing of meat out and don't burn myself with hot liquid! Concentrating = not good for me at a show! Other than this step, they were fun and easy and have been a HUGE hit whenever I make them!

 

[Curlyone]

I made the mini cheeseburgers for our cluster meeting in September. Everyone loved them. I also used 97% but they do shrink up quite a bit. I found some buns at our local Ukrops grocery store that were a perfect size and were less expensive than using the hot dog buns. I also used my large spreader #1646 and layed it across the pan. I held onto it as I drained the pan. I saved the juice for my dog. He really enjoyed it!!

Also while the meat was cooking in the oven, it started flopping and I was afraid that I might have a grease fire on my hands. I would advise anyone to place a piece of alum foil on the lower rack or under the bar pan to catch the liquid and to keep the oven clean. but other than the above, they were very tasty and easy to make. I think that if you were to put them in front of most men (according to my clan) they would think that the whole plate was for them. They truly are appetizers! But a big hit!

 

[cactus_flower]

The first time I made these, I had so much grease/liquid that I could hardly get them out of the oven without burning myself. However, I used 2 lbs of ground beef, so possibly that is why. I decided I would not attempt these at a show.However, I made them again last night and have now reconsidered. I used 1 1/2 lbs grd beef. It would not fill up my lg bar pan, and after it shrunk, I ended up with 20 mini burgers instead of 24. I did have some grease/liquid, but not as much. When I took the pan out of the oven, I set it on top of the stove. I had planned to remove the grease/liquid with my baster, but didn't get to it right away. After 5 or so minutes, I got the baster out and noticed that the liquid had been absorbed by the meat. And the burgers did not taste greasy at all!They were a hit with my DH & DS.Also, I left the onion out this time. Last time it was too overpowering. I put bacon on 2/3 of them and bread & butter pickles on the rest. yummy!! I just may make them at a show!

 

[wadesgirl]

The "juice" is from the onions. I cut the onion amount in half and didn't have as much that time.

 

[Ginger428]

The first time I made these, I had so much grease/liquid that I could hardly get them out of the oven without burning myself. However, I used 2 lbs of ground beef, so possibly that is why. I decided I would not attempt these at a show.

However, I made them again last night and have now reconsidered. I used 1 1/2 lbs grd beef. It would not fill up my lg bar pan, and after it shrunk, I ended up with 20 mini burgers instead of 24. I did have some grease/liquid, but not as much.

When I took the pan out of the oven, I set it on top of the stove. I had planned to remove the grease/liquid with my baster, but didn't get to it right away. After 5 or so minutes, I got the baster out and noticed that the liquid had been absorbed by the meat. And the burgers did not taste greasy at all!They were a hit with my DH & DS.

Also, I left the onion out this time. Last time it was too overpowering. I put bacon on 2/3 of them and bread & butter pickles on the rest. yummy!! I just may make them at a show!

Thats an idea...let them sit 5 minutes, because I think mine were a little dry!

 

[J.Corley]

Great tips everyone!!! I am so nervous I haven't done a cooking show in a very very very long time. Mainly staying active with catalog shows. I am returning to basics to get my shows scheduled again.
Thanks a bunch!

 

[straitfan]

My DH doesn't really like onion, so I keep a jar of dried minced onion in the cupboard. When I made these I dumped the dry onions and also dried parsley in them and didn't have an excess amount of liquid. (But of course then you can't demo the food chopper!, but it worked well for just us!)

 

[cactus_flower]

Never considered the liquid from the onions--thx Wadesgirl!

 

[chefann]

I had Rachael Ray on yesterday (I don't know why, because I usually can't stand her), and she grated onion into some turkey burgers. I wonder if grating the onion on the UM would work in this recipe? It would make the pieces smaller so they'd integrate better with the meat.Has anyone tried doing that?

 

[Ginger428]

If everyone agrees that its the onions, maybe if we strain the onions & then mix with the meat....

 

[chefann]

But the onions are dry to the touch (well, basically) when they're added to the meat. The juice comes out when cooking. My theory with the grating is that because the pieces would be smaller, more juice would come out when grating, which could then be removed (by patting dry with a paper towel). And then there'd be less in the pan after cooking.

 

[Ginger428]

AHA!!! I gotcha...

 

[esavvymom]

After reading the tips about these, I tried them tonight. I used 1/2 of a small onion- which I thought was MORE than enough. There was just a small amount of liquid.

My family loved them! With the pickles, my DH and I thought they tasted like a fast-food cheeseburger. We're going to serve them at my son's birthday party. I'm going to premake the hamburger patty portion the night before, then the morning of the party, I'll reheat them and put the pickle/cheese/buns on top.

Thanks for everyone's tips!- made our trial a breeze. DEFINITELY will do these again.

 

[chefshawna]

Well, I'm glad to hear that they turn out better when the onion is lowered!! I will probably cut them out all together b/c DH doesn't eat onions, so maybe that will help even more! Now I just have to make them! LOL