Homemade "ultimo" burgers - tender, beefy, delicious

 Skip to recipe

I love burgers, but I find store bought are expensive and too thin. I have been making my own patties for about 4 years; one upside of making my own patties is I can confidently cook to medium rare! 

These burgers have VERY FEW ingredients. How do they stay together, you ask? The secret to these burgers staying together is during grinding, the meat releases a protein called myosin that makes the meat sticky. This holds the patty together with no need for egg or other binding agents.  They do need to be frozen before cooking though, or they can be too crumbly.  These are super delicate, so I typically pan fry, or cook on a grill mat.

These burgers are so popular that my kids call them "Ultimo burgers". I don't know what ultimo means, but I think it's a compliment!

I don't have a meat grinder, I simply use my food processor; it's easy! here's how:

(makes about 20 5oz burgers)

Homemade Beef Burgers

Ingredients

• 2.75kg beef roast (sirloin tip or blade)
• 225g butter, chilled
• salt and pepper
• other seasonings (optional)

Start by cutting the butter into 1/4" cubes and put aside.

Now, cut the beef roast into 1/2" thick slices, and cut those into 1/2" x 2" pieces, and spread on a parchment lined sheet. About half of the meat will fill a sheet, so making this full recipe will do the steps twice.

Place half the butter cubes in among the meat pieces and put in the freezer for about 15 minutes until the beef begins to get firm (but not frozen solid).

This recipe makes two trays of burgers, so you can start prepping the second tray while the first batch is setting up.

Remove from freezer, and add about 6 or 7 pieces plus a few bits of butter in the food processor. Run for about 10 seconds, until the meat and butter are well ground and mixed. Keep an eye the first time you do this; too short a time and the meat won't be ground small enough; too long and the meat can get pulverized. Spread the mixture out evenly on the parchment as each batch is ground.

Once everything is ground, sprinkle about 1 tbsp kosher salt, and 2 tsp black pepper evenly over the ground mixture.   I sometimes make a spice mix of seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne to give it a bit more kick! Be creative! Add your favourite seasoning!

Separate the portions by weight into 5oz (150g) piles. You can eyeball this, but I find weighing makes the cooking more even.

Form each into a patty roughly 4" across and 1" thick. arrange on sheet and freeze for at least 2 hours.

I put my frozen patties in zipper bags in packs of 5. Freezing on the sheet first prevents them from sticking together afterwards.

To cook, thaw overnight in the fridge. I have tried cooking from frozen, but I find the burgers are more tender when thawed first. Place in a lightly oiled pan and cook about 3-4 minutes per side.

As these cook, the butter melts and you end up with mini pockets of deliciousness!

I like these burgers medium, so there's still a little pinkness in the center. If you want them fully done, be sure they cook to internal temp of at least 160F.

Put on your favourite cheese for the last 2 minutes for a perfect cheeseburger (I like Monterey Jack because it has nice flavour, but is still a good melting cheese).

It sounds like a lot of effort, but you will get 20 homemade 5oz burgers, at less than $2.00 per patty.  Plus, you know what's in it, cause you made it yourself!

 Give it a try! 

Let me know what you think!