# SOUS VIDE HAMBURGER? GOOD OR BAD?



## Sowsage (Jan 7, 2020)

Just curious if anyone has done a sous vide hamburger before? Good or bad idea? Just looking for things to try out with my new SV unit.


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## Winterrider (Jan 7, 2020)

Never have done before but I would think it would fall apart.  ???
Experiment. . .

If you like hard boil eggs, they turn out excellent and easy peeling. 
190° / 20 mins, then ice bath. Eggs to room temp before bath.


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## sawhorseray (Jan 7, 2020)

I'd think a burger would already be about as tender as it's going to get Travis. Then you have to toss it into the sous vide pot for a good hour, and then sear it. All we ever dine on is my Hipshot burgers, 3.5 minutes a side over hot coals.






						30 lbs Hipshot Burgers
					

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...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				




We like them a bit rarer than any restaurant will serve us, my wife like them more than a straight fillet or ribeye burger. Happy wife, happy life! RAY


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## Sowsage (Jan 7, 2020)

Winterrider said:


> Never have done before but I would think it would fall apart.  ???
> Experiment. . .
> 
> If you like hard boil eggs, they turn out excellent and easy peeling.
> 190° / 20 mins, then ice bath. Eggs to room temp before bath.


Thats kinda what I thought ....it would fall apart. But I did Google it and found a bunch of things about doing them. I guess an experiment is in order. We love eggs so ill give that a try as well. Wouldn't mind trying to make some "soft boiled" I like a softer or runny yolk so might be something to play around with as well


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## Sowsage (Jan 7, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> I'd think a burger would already be about as tender as it's going to get Travis. Then you have to toss it into the sous vide pot for a good hour, and then sear it. All we ever dine on is my Hipshot burgers, 3.5 minutes a side over hot coals.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Those look great! I'm gonna have to try this out sometime!


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## sawhorseray (Jan 7, 2020)

Winterrider said:


> If you like hard boil eggs, they turn out excellent and easy peeling. 190° / 20 mins, then ice bath. Eggs to room temp before bath.



Thanks for posting this! My wife does HBE constantly and* hates* peeling them.  I'll try it this week! RAY


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 7, 2020)

Done the eggs in the SV and also justice top steamed.

Stove top steamed at 12 (up to 14) minutes. Then ice bath.   Perfect eggs.  Easy to peel.

for stove top steamed eggs all you need is 1” of water. Bring to boil. Put eggs in (I do use a steamer basket) cover and wait. When done pull out eggs ice bath.

if you do decide to do eggs SV. Make sure you put them in a bag. If one breaks you’ll hate cleaning the SV machine.


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## sandyut (Jan 7, 2020)

SV burger sounds like it could get funky fast...and just make red pasteurized mush.  IDK...I would probably not try that one.

Eggs are intriguing!  they are on my list.  Wife is gone all weekend so it bloody meat and experiment time!


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## Sowsage (Jan 7, 2020)

Well I'm just too curious about this burger thing. I think I'm gonna do it. I'll post it up for everyone to see good or bad( thats how we all learn right?) I have a few too many briskets in the freezer so maybe I'll grind that up and use that.  What kind of burger? I dont know. Suggestions are welcome. I'll probably go for medium. Any less than that is a little under done for my liking on a burger.


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## sandyut (Jan 7, 2020)

Now brisket burgers sounds delish!


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## Sowsage (Jan 7, 2020)

sandyut said:


> Now brisket burgers sounds delish!


They are! Dont get me wrong I love a good smoked brisket but it's a great cut to grind as well.


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## JCAP (Jan 7, 2020)

I’m interested to see how this turns out. It probably should work just fine if you do one burger per bag then sear em off....


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## xray (Jan 8, 2020)

Sowsage, sorry for the late reply. I have done SV burgers before. They come out pretty good. I usually go 125F for 1.5-2hours from frozen and then hit them with a quick sear.

If I’m making burgers, I’ll vacuum seal two in a pack. Slightly freeze them first before sealing or else the vacuum will squish them...but once they’re shaped and frozen they hold their shape just fine when SVing.

A lot of times when our local supermarket holds specials on fresh hamburger patties(they’re usually pre mixed with cheddar, bacon, jalapeños, mushrooms etc etc.)...we’ll buy a few to portion and vacuum seal and into the freezer.

Sous Vide won’t replace grilling fresh burger...but from a frozen state and in a pinch, it works very well. It’s a hell of a lot better than buying those preformed frozen patties!


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## Sowsage (Jan 8, 2020)

xray said:


> Sowsage, sorry for the late reply. I have done SV burgers before. They come out pretty good. I usually go 125F for 1.5-2hours from frozen and then hit them with a quick sear.
> 
> If I’m making burgers, I’ll vacuum seal two in a pack. Slightly freeze them first before sealing or else the vacuum will squish them...but once they’re shaped and frozen they hold their shape just fine when SVing.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply xray. I think the main reason I want to give it a try is so I can get that nice medium all the way through the burger. Almost like doing a reverse sear on a steak. I know it's just a burger but it would still be fool proof that way. Also I'm curious about the texture and moisture and if there is any difference.


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## xray (Jan 8, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> Thanks for the reply xray. I think the main reason I want to give it a try is so I can get that nice medium all the way through the burger. Almost like doing a reverse sear on a steak. I know it's just a burger but it would still be fool proof that way. Also I'm curious about the texture and moisture and if there is any difference.



They are moist with a warm pink center all the way through at 125F.  The reverse sear concept still applies. You can increase the temperature if you want more doneness to the burger.

As for just being a burger, that’s true. It’s nothing life altering but it gives you repeated results every time. The biggest advantage is being able to meal prep frozen burgers.

If you could make a good burger on the grill with fresh ground beef, using a SV for that reason is overkill...but say you got a good deal on burger and froze the rest, you could have some pretty tasty hamburgers year round.


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## gnatboy911 (Jan 8, 2020)

I've done them several times. Yes, they do hold together well and don't fall apart. Tenderness isn't goal with a SV burger, its consistency of temp throughout the meat. The first time I cooked them the same temp as I like my steak, 131. I found them too rare for my preference, they were quite soft.  I've done them at increasing temperatures and I have found that for burgers 145 was good for me.  It was mostly a texture thing I think. They were just too soft at a lower temp.  It was the same for my wife.  We have just ended up doing burgers in the cast iron skillet the last few times.  Some people really like the SV burgers, they just weren't a huge win for us. 

Like most things with SV, a lot of the temperature and time is a matter of personal preference. You just have to experiment to find what you like.


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## Sowsage (Jan 8, 2020)

gnatboy911 said:


> I've done them several times. Yes, they do hold together well and don't fall apart. Tenderness isn't goal with a SV burger, its consistency of temp throughout the meat. The first time I cooked them the same temp as I like my steak, 131. I found them too rare for my preference, they were quite soft.  I've done them at increasing temperatures and I have found that for burgers 145 was good for me.  It was mostly a texture thing I think. They were just too soft at a lower temp.  It was the same for my wife.  We have just ended up doing burgers in the cast iron skillet the last few times.  Some people really like the SV burgers, they just weren't a huge win for us.
> 
> Like most things with SV, a lot of the temperature and time is a matter of personal preference. You just have to experiment to find what you like.


Thanks for the reply. When you do yours at 145 how long are you going?


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## gnatboy911 (Jan 8, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> Thanks for the reply. When you do yours at 145 how long are you going?



usually 1-2 hrs. They don't need a long time, just enough for them to come up to temperature all the way through.


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## Sowsage (Jan 8, 2020)

gnatboy911 said:


> usually 1-2 hrs. They don't need a long time, just enough for them to come up to temperature all the way through.


Cool. Im definitely gonna try to do some. Just because why not. Dont know if it will be for me or not but I wont know until I try.


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## gnatboy911 (Jan 8, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> Cool. Im definitely gonna try to do some. Just because why not. Dont know if it will be for me or not but I wont know until I try.


I've seen some people do SV burgers stuffed with cheese with some very tasty looking results. I'll try that one of these days.


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## Sowsage (Jan 8, 2020)

gnatboy911 said:


> I've seen some people do SV burgers stuffed with cheese with some very tasty looking results. I'll try that one of these days.


Ive done some like that before but just cooked on the grill or cast iron. They are awsome!


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## zwiller (Jan 8, 2020)

I plan to fool with this myself.  I have been slowly developing a "pub" burger which is a huge gourmet type like you see advertised.  I tried lots of things and most failed but were edible at least.  I think SV would be perfect for them.  Not sure but I think you may not want to season them before the bath.  Might effect texture and same as mixing into the burger.


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## Bearcarver (Jan 8, 2020)

Here ya go guys, All You need to know about SV'ing Burgers:
kicked-up-sous-vide-burgers

Bear


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 8, 2020)

I could see SV for 6-8oz of meat made into stuffed burgers. It's hard to get the cheese melted, inside, and keep the meat medium or less. But I see no gain using the SV for smaller, 4oz , plain patties. Even frozen they only take 6 minutes a side to medium. 
I need to try a stuffed SV Burger...JJ


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## BaxtersBBQ (Jan 8, 2020)

YouTube search souvide burgers and check out the SouVideEverything channel. Dude also does some insane souvide BBQ. I’ve tried a lot of his recipes but not the burgers yet


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## dr k (Jan 9, 2020)

I'd pasteurize ground meat so Baldwin's table shows 20mm burger(s) in a 133° bath will be pasteurized in 2hrs. Pasteurize eggs at 135° for 1hr 15min, then you can safely eat em raw or anywhere to hard boiled.


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## Bearcarver (Jan 10, 2020)

BaxtersBBQ said:


> YouTube search souvide burgers and check out the SouVideEverything channel. Dude also does some insane souvide BBQ. I’ve tried a lot of his recipes but not the burgers yet




Yup---90% of my SV research is from Doug Baldwin's book & Videos from the "Sous Vide Everything" guys. They do everything!!

Bear


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