Pork/Bacon "Burgers"

[surftrybe]

Anyone try running some 50/50 (pork/bacon) burgers on a smoker? I have a pork loin that I ground up and some cherrywood smoked (came smoked raw from grocery store) bacon I have minced, really want to mix it up and place patties on the GMG pellet smoker tomorrow. Wondering if the bacon being raw will cook through all the way if that method would work, I can certainly grill them, but what fun is that. Thoughts?

 

[mike243]

It will cook all the way but problem i had trying to make bacon and beef burgers is they wanted to fall apart due to the amount of fat I reckon, decided better to cook the bacon and place on the patty lol may hold together better with pork on pork I surely dont know bit worth a try imo

 

[uncle eddie]

I have done pork burgers on my MES40 - smoked at 275F (the highest temp I could go). They were fine. The pork burgers are a firmer texture than compared to beef hamburger, which is why I make pork-burgers thinner.

I have never mixed bacon in with the pork burger...but if I did, I would think I would have to grill it (325F +/-) to make sure the bacon would get done. When I smoke things with bacon wraps, the bacon is done-ish when smoked at 275F for short smokes of like an hour or so.

 

[surftrybe]

Thanks Mike243 and Uncle Eddie. I'll experiment and report back : )

 

[thirdeye]

I make my pork burger from pork butt, so you will likely need some additional fat since you are using loin. A few years ago I made some pork sausage that had bacon added, and as I recall I had to partially freeze the bacon so it would grind the way I wanted it to.

 

[sawhorseray]

I've been making a beef-porkbutt combo burger that's a staple in our house for over 15 years now, might even have a couple for dinner off the flat top tonight! RAY

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Someone was hinting that it was time I made some hipshot burgers, we hadn't had any since the move to AZ three months back Hipshot Burgers 18 lbs. eye of round 12 lbs. porkbutt 1&1/8 cup Soy Protein Concentrate 9 tbsp canning salt 1/3 cup powdered dextrose 1/3 cup ground pepper 3cups cold...

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[GaryHibbert]

I've been making a beef-porkbutt combo burger that's a staple in our house for over 15 years now, might even have a couple for dinner off the flat top tonight! RAY

I've never tried adding ground bacon, but, like Ray, I make 50/50 beef/pork burgers and just add the bacon--they're great.
It'll be interesting to see how yours turn out. I'm thinking there'll be a LOT of grease coming out during the cook, so you'll want a good grease pan under them.
Gary

 

[surftrybe]

Thanks everyone. I did spur of the moment 50/50 beef-bacon burgers last night on the grill as a bit of a tester - I know that's not apples to apples, but it gave me a bit of a feel for it. They came out pretty good, 93% lean beef to comp for the fat in the bacon. As others have mentioned, the bacon is to offset the lean pork loin, I realize now I really chose poorly to take the hard road to get to a pork burger, agreed that pork butt would be the best/easiest way to achieve it - and then at point, why not just go pulled pork sandies instead of burgers : ) all in the fun of it I guess - and, it's just me and the wife, we are trying to be healthy most of the time, so we are purposefully trying to grab smaller cuts of meat - so hard to find mini-me size pork butts, whereas pork loins are super small - and I didn't even think about grabbing a couple of pork steaks, that would have worked equally as well I'd think

You guys are awesome, will circle back after I actually do the pork, which is now slated for Thursday evening

 

[chopsaw]

I have added raw bacon to beef , then grilled it . Mixed feelings on it myself .
I make a pork brat that uses raw bacon in the mix , and they are really good . Those are grilled though . Like thirdeye said above using bacon with ground pork loin is a good way to add fat to the lean mix .
Smoke for however long , then finish on the grill . I bet they would be good .

 

[Bearcarver]

I never tried adding Raw Bacon to any Burgers, so I can't help there.
However my normal Burger mix is 50% Venison, 25% Pork (Butt), and 25% Beef (80/20), and it Grills/Cooks up just like 100% Ground Beef.

Bear