How do you make thin hamburger patties that stay together?!
How do you make thin hamburger patties that stay together?
Answers: My mother would make a ball of the raw meat and then use 2 bread plates with wax paper, you could use plastic wrap. Put the ball between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, place on an upside down bread plate then flatten with the bottom side of the other plate. Apply the pressure around the edges of the top plate to have a flat buger. The plastic wrap keeps the meat from sticking to the plates and helps keep the edges smoother. Tap around the edges of the burger before frying to keep them from separating. Source(s):
I have use this but my hubby likes thick burgers. (Been cooking 35 years) Flatten them with a rolling pin. My boys like theirs flat and that's all I do, I use 80/20 meat and it stays together just fine, if you are using a high percentage you may need some binder, such as breadcrumbs. Try to use a meat with a little bit of fat in it . We never use anything except 80% lean meat in our burgers and they don't fall apart. I use oats instead of breadcrumbs and I also use egg as a binding agent. Avoid adding too much saucy stuff -- bbq sauce, except on top once they're on the grill. Egg and pepper and salt and oats. If I try adding fresh onions (rather than dried), the burgers tend to fall apart.
also try chilling the burgers before you grill them.
OATMEAL HAMBURGER
1 c. dry oatmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sage
1 medium onion
3 eggs
Mix oats, salt, and sage in bowl. Chop onion fine and add into oats. Beat eggs until thick and yellow. Stir oat mixture into eggs and fry in oil just long enough to brown lightly on both sides. Put in pan and cover with a tomato/mushroom sauce (You can skip the sauce). Simmer 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. add some cracker meal or corn meal to them. it will help them stick Add to the meat bread crumbs and one egg yolk I use a couple of table spoons of steak sauce added in to help them hold together, and it adds good flavor too. The colder the meat, when you're working with it, the better it stays together. Refrigerate, make patties, then refrigerate again. Press ground beef into a firm ball and then flatten. if this still doesnt work try adding an egg to the meat. My husband the "grill master" puts them in the freezer for a little while to chill them. Seems to work very well. Sometimes flashes them on foil for a few and them puts em' on the grill. Add an egg to the hamburger meat when u add your spices take a baking sheet with really low sides line it with freezer paper then take the burger place it on top of the paper take another piece of paper or saran wrap works too. then roll the hamburger out with a rolling pin or glass i use an empty wine bottle to the size of the pan once you do that remove the top piece and the bottom piece of paper or wrap then cut the burgers desired size this works really good for me