# Oh good lord! Smoked hamburgers...



## happyhag (Jan 12, 2013)

I just smoked some hamburger patties for 8 hours in the best, most beautiful thin blue ribbons of perfect smoke ever. Oh my GOODNESS! I've never smoked hamburger patties before and I'm shocked. I thought it would be terrible tonight, that it would be better after a rest. I thought it was too much smoke. I thought it would be, at very best, "okay"...oh man, I was wrong on all counts!

These burgers are insane! Does anyone else do this regularly? Have a good recipe you like?

I was smoking pork bellies today, three big slabs, but you know how it is to look in and see room for more...feels like wasted smoke! Hahah I decided to go ahead and slip some patties in up on the rack. I don't know how I'll ever eat a burger not smoked again.


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## diggingdogfarm (Jan 13, 2013)

HappyHag said:


> These burgers are insane! Does anyone else do this regularly?



Nope, always irregularly!!! :biggrin:



~Martin


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 13, 2013)

Wait a second...Correct me if I am wrong but are you saying... You smoked Raw Hamburgers for 8 hours? That would be the most Dangerous thing you could do to un-cured ground meat. The only way this is safe is if the ambient smoker temp never got above 40*F, then there would be no issue...JJ


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## boykjo (Jan 13, 2013)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Wait a second...Correct me if I am wrong but are you saying... You smoked Raw Hamburgers for 8 hours? That would be the most Dangerous thing you could do to un-cured ground meat. The only way this is safe is if the ambient smoker temp never got above 40*F, then there would be no issue...JJ


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## dward51 (Jan 13, 2013)

Why 8 hours?  Was it a cold smoke?


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## smoking b (Jan 13, 2013)

I am curious as well. I've smoked burgers before & was even thinking about doing a couple tomorrow but I have always hot smoked them...


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## diggingdogfarm (Jan 13, 2013)

They're quite good cold smoked (at safe temperature, of course).

~Martin


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## bbqonice (Jan 13, 2013)

??  I would say why the heck would you want to waste all that time plus put your food in the danger zone for temps....

grill them regularly but add a couple sticks of your favourite wood to give it some smoke flavour...


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## smoking b (Jan 13, 2013)

BBQONICE said:


> ??  I would say why the heck would you want to waste all that time plus put your food in the danger zone for temps....
> 
> grill them regularly but add a couple sticks of your favourite wood to give it some smoke flavour...


When hot smoking they are only in the danger zone for a couple hours then they are done - not an issue with safety. When I grill burgers they are not on long enough to even thing about taking on an appreciable amount of smoke flavor. There is really no comparison between a grilled burger with a wee bit of smoke flavor & an actual smoked burger. I'd be willing to bet that if you tried it you would wholeheartedly agree.


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## delie (Jan 13, 2013)

Hello HappyHag,

I tried this and it was the best burger I've ever eaten (spiced to your taste of course) .  4 lbs of the leanest, inexpensive cut of beef ground up with 1lb. of Mangatitsa back fat.

You will have the tastiest and juiciest burger you have ever eaten.  Be sure to freeze the backfat for about 15 minutes after chopping it up.  Freezing the backfat prevents gooy smearing 

in your grinder.  The Mangalitza backfat can be ordered online.

I grilled the burger till ALMOST done then put them in a cold smoker for about 15-20 minutes.  -  toasted chibiata bread smeared with mayo and tobasco -  slice of tomato, slice of head onion and

crunchy lettuce.

Good luck.

Delie here


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 13, 2013)

There is no issue smoking Hamburgers at smoker temps under 40*F but that ain't going to happen during Hamburger Season on a 90*F Sunny July 4th. You can Hot smoke at 200-225*F then finish on the grill. You could even get away with a Ambient Temp Smoke for no more than 1 Hour and then Grill Well Done. But 8 hours at anything else than 40*F is risky and if the OP did not get sick, it is only because they eat Hamburgers very Well Done...I sincerely hope the lack of follow up is no indication of Gastrointestinal Distress...JJ


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## bbqonice (Jan 13, 2013)

Smoking B said:


> When hot smoking they are only in the danger zone for a couple hours then they are done - not an issue with safety. When I grill burgers they are not on long enough to even thing about taking on an appreciable amount of smoke flavor. There is really no comparison between a grilled burger with a wee bit of smoke flavor & an actual smoked burger. I'd be willing to bet that if you tried it you would wholeheartedly agree.


only for a couple of hours???  lol....dont cook any of mine...  a steak maybe...when you grind hamburger...especially if you bought it at a store that was ground ??whenever....then you bring it home and let it sit on the counter or this case in a warm area for "a couple of hours"...that is basic food save no no.

hamburger immediately when it is ground now has multiple surface areas that grow bad "bugs" I will call them....you have to keep hamburger in the safe zone more so than a steak as only each surface of a steak has being exposed to air and such....thus you grill it at high heat to kill anything.

there is a reason why you add cure to sausage...same thing....


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## happyhag (Jan 14, 2013)

Oh you guys, you guys...haha, don't freak out!

I had several slabs of cured belly hanging in there for maple bacon. It's a  cold-smokehouse. I was very delicately, with the thinest of wonderful blue soft smoke, enveloping my bacon in there for the better part of two days (with breaks here and there for the bellies) and for 8 hours of this time I had some patties off in the corner on a rack.

It was a dead cold smoke we def never broke 40, because the location of my smokehouse stays very cold and get zero hours of sun in the winter time and is covered in snow drift anyway. Very dry, completely cold smoke.

Cold smoking is kind of my thing. I don't really like hot smoking as much...though I do sometimes finish something which has been cold-smoking for a long time with a brief hot smoke. I have excellent control of the temp in my smokehouse because it's such a large rig with great draft...here it is, unfinished, so you can see the piping and how nicely a tiny, glowing ember of a fire can create a gentle, gentle, completely cold smoke:
 













TheSmokehouse2.jpg



__ happyhag
__ Jan 11, 2013






^That is unfinished...so you see, I actually can safely smoke raw meat in that fashion...and I did...and it was amazing and I will do it again as soon as I possibly can. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Winter is AWESOME for cold smoking! (By the way the meat was fresh, local, clean ground beef from someone I know). 

Delie! THAT is such a great suggestion! It;s so funny you should mention Mangalitza because my pig raising friend and I are about 80% sure that we're going to try to get some Mz piglets from Canada(we're not very far away). We just have to figure out if we can still get them from this breeder we thought we could go to...we heard something about a ban in his province on owning them? So, who knows...but YES I'm sure that would be the best! I can't believe we'd not thought of it before (to smoke the burgers).

Oh and I feel I should mention. We scrambled up some eggs in the pan drippings from the burgers BEST EGGS EVER!  I'm smoking two rabbits right now...my friend is smoking duck breast...we have so much awesome fat hanging around that we feel silly for not making sausage while the temps outside are so damn good! (Wish it was colder, but it's cold enough)


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## roger shoaf (Jan 14, 2013)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> There is no issue smoking Hamburgers at smoker temps under 40*F but that ain't going to happen during Hamburger Season on a 90*F Sunny July 4th. You can Hot smoke at 200-225*F then finish on the grill. You could even get away with a Ambient Temp Smoke for no more than 1 Hour and then Grill Well Done. But 8 hours at anything else than 40*F is risky and if the OP did not get sick, it is only because they eat Hamburgers very Well Done...I sincerely hope the lack of follow up is no indication of Gastrointestinal Distress...JJ


If you want a safe hamburger on Independence Day, you might do something like this.  Take a container of some sort and hook it to a couple of pipes.  Smoke goes in one pipe and comes out the other, and the whole container is kept chilled.  Meanwhile the chilled hamburger patties are sitting on racks  inside the container.  No bugs growing.


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## smoking b (Jan 14, 2013)

BBQONICE said:


> only for a couple of hours???  lol....dont cook any of mine...  a steak maybe...when you grind hamburger...especially if you bought it at a store that was ground ??whenever....then you bring it home and let it sit on the counter or this case in a warm area for "a couple of hours"...that is basic food save no no.
> 
> hamburger immediately when it is ground now has multiple surface areas that grow bad "bugs" I will call them....you have to keep hamburger in the safe zone more so than a steak as only each surface of a steak has being exposed to air and such....thus you grill it at high heat to kill anything.
> 
> there is a reason why you add cure to sausage...same thing....


I grind my own burger at home. The burgers I smoke are not in the danger zone anywhere near 4 hours total time. I am not putting myself or friends at risk by making these tasty treats


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 14, 2013)

HappyHag said:


> Oh you guys, you guys...haha, don't freak out!
> 
> I had several slabs of cured belly hanging in there for maple bacon. It's a  cold-smokehouse. I was very delicately, with the thinest of wonderful blue soft smoke, enveloping my bacon in there for the better part of two days (with breaks here and there for the bellies) and for 8 hours of this time I had some patties off in the corner on a rack.
> 
> ...


I'd like to see more shots of your smoke house!


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## delie (Jan 16, 2013)

Hello HappyHag,

A friend of mine is the pioneer of Blond Mangalitzas.  He is the original importer of the Blonds.  He is located in the north country.  I am assuming he is located close to you.

He can ship "weaners"  to you or you can pick it up. Even with air shipping costs ( about $300 )  it is worth it!  His email address is  [email protected],  Tell him

Douglas referred you to him.

Just remember this when raising it.  Don't harvest it too young, I harvested mine at 7 months (got anxious).  The quality is best when harvested at about 16 to 18 months.The pig will look like an over filled balloon.  Also, these blondes are so pretty - don't become emotionally attached or your going to end up with a beautiful  "BLOND TANK".

I save the rendered lard from the MZ and kind of sorta half deep fry eggs under medium heat and spoon the lard over the egg (Spanish styled eggs).  Can't describe the flavor the MZ lard imparts on

the eggs.  The white is cooked and the yolk is not.  Great for a mop-uo with a slice of toasted Rye bread drenched with fake butter (lo in PUFA and SFA).  The first time I tried this style of cooking

eggs - I bought a 4 lb. tub of MZ lard ($60). through the internet.  I had to wait about 3 weeks because it sells out so fast.  So, don't waste any lard as it is sooo expensive but sooo yummy.  The best

for baking also.  The rendering from "hot smoking" is fantastic as it is flavored.  SAVE IT, SAVE IT.

Delie here


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## happyhag (Jan 17, 2013)

Sure thing, dirtsailor!  Here are some pics of it during construction!

 













smokehouse3 firebox.jpg



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__ Jan 17, 2013


















smokehouse4.jpg



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__ Jan 17, 2013


















smokehouse5.jpg



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smokehouse6.jpg



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smokehouse7.jpg



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__ Jan 17, 2013


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## happyhag (Jan 17, 2013)

Thank you SO MUCH for the Mz info!


Trust me, I never throw away fat...Mz renderings will nevvvver be wasted here! Hahahha "Blonde TANK!" - love it! But no worries, we raise rabbits for meat. Once you get past the sadness of processing a bunny rabbit, everything else gets a little easier. Though I DO so love the look of the MZs! So pretty!

Thanks again for the information, we're really wanting to raise these pigs, we're fat lovers over here, for sure! A little bit of lard can make ANYTHING better! Haha


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 17, 2013)

HappyHag said:


> Sure thing, dirtsailor!  Here are some pics of it during construction!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh man that's one great smoke shack!!!


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## happyhag (Jan 18, 2013)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> Oh man that's one great smoke shack!!!


Thanks man, it's KILLIN' it this winter. I'm so happy...the firebox being located where it is, far enough away but also DOWN HILL makes for a PERFECT draft. So I can burn a supppper small, TINY smoky fire and every bit of the smoke goes straight up into the house. It's amazing. The other thing that is nice about it being uphill, is that if I burn a big, hot fire, I can achieve a hot smoke in the house. It's awesome. I'm really happy with it!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 18, 2013)

HappyHag said:


> Thanks man, it's KILLIN' it this winter. I'm so happy...the firebox being located where it is, far enough away but also DOWN HILL makes for a PERFECT draft. So I can burn a supppper small, TINY smoky fire and every bit of the smoke goes straight up into the house. It's amazing. The other thing that is nice about it being uphill, is that if I burn a big, hot fire, I can achieve a hot smoke in the house. It's awesome. I'm really happy with it!


That sounds great! I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your posts!


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## tamarockstar88 (Mar 10, 2013)

That's awesome. wish I could build something like that


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## raymo76 (Mar 10, 2013)

HappyHag that is one bad a$$ smoke house. I really want a smoke house set up like yours man, I think I might try to scrounge up the funds to build it during the summer.


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## heybuddy (Apr 24, 2014)

I have smoked hamburgers once, after I had finished seasoning my grill. Now I don't remember the result of how they tasted cause it was so long ago. But I made some today (4/23/14) and I don't know if anybody has accomplished this yet. A smoke ring on a hamburger. 

But it's something I'm gonna need to test and find out what is the absolute best method on smoking these burgers. Let me know what you think.













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__ heybuddy
__ Apr 24, 2014


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