Kamado Burgers

Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  10-15 minutes
Smoker Temp:  350 - 400 F
Meat Finish Temp:  160 F for Well; 150 for Medium Well; 140 for Medium


Note:  Recipe & Instructions are based on 1 lb. Hamburger meat, if you need more burgers, a little math will go a long way. 😉

 

Ingredients 

• 1 lb Ground Beef (Hamburger Meat)
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Egg or 3 Tbsp Egg Whites (1 egg equivalent)
• Salt/Pepper to Taste
• Chopped Onions to taste (Optional)
• Meat Rub - For this I used Famous Dave's Rib Rub
• Soaked Hickory Smoking Chunks

 Grill Setup

• Direct Heat on Pit Boss K22 
• Food placed on bottom rack
• Soaked Hickory Smoking Chunks

Prep 

1. In large mixing bowl:
1. Crack and scramble egg (or egg white substitute)
2. Add Worcestershire Sauce
3. Add Salt / Pepper to taste (Optional)
4. Dash or 2 of Rub
5. Mix all ingredients
2. Cut or rip ground beef into 6 pieces and throw into bowl
3. Reform the meat back together, ensuring all ingredients in bowl are absorbed into the meat.  During this step, add in any onions to mix into the meat.
4. Form the burgers and place onto baking sheet.  (I line the baking sheet with parchment paper)  TIP:  If you buy Peanut Butter from Sam's or Costco, you can use that to form the burgers into a perfect round shape with proper thickness.  Or find use another lid that is roughly 4" in diameter and 3/4" thick.  Give or take. 
5. With your pointer & middle finger together, bend fingers from middle knuckle to top knuckle and make an indention in the middle of the burger.  I make a 'cross' or 2 perpendicular lines with my knuckles in the center of the burger.  This is to help keep the shape of the burger while on the grill.  As the burger is cooked the moisture goes to the center and this helps prevent your burgers from becoming a football.
6. Sprinkle rub on the top of the burgers 
7. Place cooking sheet in the fridge for an hour before you are to cook.   

Directions 

1. After forming your burgers, you can go light your grill and bring your grill up to temperature of 350-400 F.   You can take your time bringing the grill to temp while allowing the meat to cool and absorb the rubs and juices
2. With grill up to temp, place burgers on the grill, and cook on one side for 5-7 minutes.  Rule of thumb is 5 minutes at 400 F.  Adjust accordingly based on the temp of your grill and your desired finished meat temp.
3. Flip burgers and cook for another 5 minutes or the same time as in Step 2.
4. Place cheese on top of burgers for 2 minutes to melt  (Optional)
5. Pull burgers off grill and allow to sit 2-3 minutes before serving

Notes

• Propane Grill or Kamado Grill?
• This was the question I always asked myself when it came to burgers.  If you have the time, use the kamado.  If you don't, this recipe will still work on your propane grill that is collecting dust.  If you're going to grill a lot of burgers and want consistency, I've found the kamado grill to be the much better option.
• No flare ups!
• One of the most frustrating parts of grilling burgers can be the grill flare up and hot spots on the grill.  I was wondering how my kamado grill would handle this, and there was 0 flare ups during the cook.  Using propane and other charcoal grills this always happens as the meat juice drips to the fire.(In layman terms)  This didn't happen once during the cook and I was left with perfectly cooked burgers.  So if I'm cooking burgers for a party, I'm going to be using the kamado and this recipe to avoid having to waste my beer to put out a grease fire.
• To smoke or not to smoke?
• This was a question I had.  Would the natural fire put off enough of a smoke flavor for me?  Did I want to add smoking chunks, knowing that it was going to be a relatively short cook?  I opted to burn through some smoking chunks.  The burgers definitely had a smoke flavor too them that wasn't overpowering.  Next time I may try without the smoking chunks and see if there is a noticeable difference. (Will update when I do)
•  Toast Your Buns
• I like to coat the 'sliced' portion of the bun in butter and place on a griddle inside on low heat.  This will toast and warm up the buns to allow for better taste.  There are certainly other methods as well to toast your buns, but a toasted bun is a better bun.