Feb 01: Burgers for the Bowl

Today is the Superbowl!

Besides the football game, the attraction is the commericals. The high dollar commericals run about $3 Million per 30 second TV ad. With that much money, past advertisers have come up with very ingenious and entertaining commericals.

In terms of food, the Superbowl has become a big snacking day. Chips, dip (especially 7 layer dips), wings and picnic style foods. Food that can be eaten without utensils, especially a knife.

My bit for today is mini-hamburgers, also known as, sliders.

Part 1 - Ground Beef Tasting
Before I made the burgers, I wanted to see if there was a difference between ground beef fat %. Many home economist state that buying the least expensive ground beef (higher fat %) is the best way to go. When you cook the ground beef, the fat will cook out. If you drain the fat, you end up with the same stuff.

For the taste test, lean ground beef (15% Fat) and extra lean (7% Fat) were purchased. "Regular" ground beef (25%-30% Fat) was sold out.

Price per pound
Lean: $1.99 (sale price, not sure of the actual price)
Extra Lean: $4.29

Two patties were made each 75 grams (2.6 ounces).
15% fat patty on the left. 7% fat patty on the right.
Visually, the 15% patty is lighter in color and contains more bits of fat.


Plugged in my brand new George Foreman grill I received for Christmas! :)
Twice the cooking area as my old GFG.


Cooked 5 minutes. 15% fat on the left.


After cooking, the drip pan contained more fat on side with the 15% burger patty.


The results - The 15% burger seems porous and crumbly. The 7% burger has a dense texture.
Both patties were bland with no strong beefy flavor.

Weight after cooking:
15% = 45 g (1.5 ounces)
7% = 46 g (1.6 ounces)
Obviously, 15% ground beef drained fat and juice while the 7% drained mainly juice.


Part 2 - Mini-hamburger with blue cheese
Four 2 ounces patties were pressed to about 3 inches in diameter.
1 Tablespoon of blue cheese placed in the center.


The patties were topped with the second patty, pressed together and rounded off.


Grilled in the GFG for 5 minutes.
Ack! Blue cheese is leaking out!


To correct for the leakage, add extra on top. More of the good stuff!


For the bun, I used soft dinner rolls. I'm not into thick heavy buns.


The finished burger - lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and mustard.