REAL FOOD in AMHERST: Make a Better Burger for the BBQ

With summer in full swing, the backyard grills are in full employ.  And that means burgers!  I’d like to make a simple suggestion to you to vastly improve your burger  experience - make your own ground beef for your burgers.  All you need is a kitchen food processor and a nice modestly priced piece of beef. 

While it’s quite tempting to go to the store and grab a package of frozen hamburger patties to throw on the grill, bypass the frozen and head for the meat counter.  And bypass the already ground beef.  I don’t need to tell you that most of us are quite suspect now on what is really in that pre-ground beef at the grocer. 

So instead, look for a nice roast.  Top round, bottom round, rump roast - pretty much any nice selection of beef will work.  Choose one as lean as you like your patties.  You are in full control now of your hamburgers! 

When you get home, use a sharp knife to cut the roast into chunks.  There is no rhyme or reason to the way you cut it, just cut it into pieces about the size of a deck of cards.  Throw 2 or 3 of these into your food processor with the cutting blade installed.  Turn the processor on high for several seconds.  Stop and see if your meat is ground to your liking.  If not, whirl for another few seconds.  You can grind spices into your beef too.  Like onion, a clove of garlic, Worchester sauce - have fun experimenting. 

When the meat is ground, dump into a separate bowl.  Do the remainder of the roast.  Now you have a huge bowl of ground meat and YOU know exactly what’s in there.  Form into patties for the grill  

It really didn’t take you but a couple of extra minutes (just toss the food processor parts in the dishwasher).  And so worth your efforts   If you have too much ground meat, freeze the individual patties for later.

The first thing you will notice is how much more your hamburgers taste like steak burgers - REAL meat flavor.  Sure makes you wonder what you’ve been eating with that pre-ground meat.  And as a bonus, it’s less expensive to buy a nice sirloin or round roast whole versus buying it already ground.  You get very little shrinkage while cooking, you know it's 100% beef, and it's much healthier. 

You and your family will thank you for it. 

~~Feel free to post questions or contact me through our family website:  NHHoney.com

Kathie Nunley is an Amherst resident who feeds her family on their 2 acres