Kosher Food and Drink

We all love a fresh grilled hamburger! But smoking a burger is a way to add even another layer of juicyliciousness.

It’s easier than you think.

It’s easy to be intimidated by smokers or most any other kitchen tool with which you are not familiar. But a smoker can be viewed as simply an oven which also produces smoke. Further, you don’t need to own a dedicated smoker (though a great starter smoker is this one) to smoke foods. All it takes is a small smoker box and simple technique and you can accomplish much of what the fancy smokers can.

The technique here is relatively simple. Prep, smoke, reverse sear.

We prepare our patties in our favorite style (a simple recipe is below) preferably using a good ratio of ground beef/fat, such as 80/20. If this is too much to think about, and you don’t want to grind your own (a topic for another time), make sure you have a good butchershop or quality purveyor.

Smoking Your Burgers:

1. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F.
2. This is a good time to form your hamburger patties.
3. Once the smoker/grill is at 225, place the patties on the grates, and smoke until internal temp reaches 125 degrees F. This should take about an hour.
4. Reverse sear your patties at high heat (500 degrees F). You can either use your grill or a cast iron pan to achieve this. Get a good char on each side and internal temp to your preferred finish. I like medium rare, so took mine to about 132 degrees F. If you don’t already own a simple kitchen thermometer, order one now. They are just about $10 and make all the difference in finishing your meat properly and safely.

And that’s it! A couple tips:

• Slice up some red onion, about 1/4 inch thick, and grill when you’re searing your burgers.
• Toast your bun. A toasted bun makes such a difference, even when using simple store bought white buns. Texture. It’s always about combining different textures in food.
• Always make sure to cook to temperature. Not to look or color.

Simple Burger Recipe:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ½ teaspoon onion powder 
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 tablespoons raw minced white onion (optional)

I make large patties, at least a third of a lb. each. So a lb. recipe will give you three big, juicy burgers. See, I did the math for you.

Try your hand at smoked burgers and I’m sure you’ll want them every single time. Enjoy!