I am doing something wrong - no pics - it would be too heartbreaking to view. I mix ground beef, egg, chopped onion, Worcester sauce, little bit of BBQ sauce, oatmeal and milk together to make burgers. I use a fairly hot pan, drop the meat into the pan and shape the burger. Wait until it is almost cooked through then flip them and they disintegrate into many pieces. Getting them from the pan to the bun is not good either. Anyone got any ideas - I would love to hear them.
Weird. I'd maybe start with reducing the amounts of the 'liquid' ingredients. Another possibility is to use two spatulas when you flip, one on top and one bottom to make the flip a little more gentle. Once you get 'em flipped like that, get the cheese on top immediately.
I don't cook that often anymore but dear husband prefers the normal fat content in beef instead of the lean beef. Also he has cut down the amount of liquid over the last few decades. ( I know, not healthy )
Oh, and WW. This is one of the rare occasions when not taking pics is the proper course of action. It's hard enough just reading about your plight. Restraint is the better part of valor in this situation. Thank you for understanding that.
WW, By no means am I in any way qualified to address such a question, but I do a little cooking myself and wonder why you are adding so many other ingredients to the burger? Maybe if you backed off a bit in the amounts or chopped up the non binding (onions) finer, it would help? I'm sure the taste is the same, just throw in some tater tots and call it a skillet casserole next time it happens!!
Strange, the egg is the binder..... sounds like the burgers need alittle weight on top. Something to help sear the bottom of the burger for easier flipping.
I've found when making meatloaf, that if I put too many onions IN the meat mixture, the same thing happens. Lots of moisture. Try sauteeing the onions first? That would help flavor. Drives me crazy, but no one else seems to mind much. When I make burgers (rarely.....high-ish cholesterol), it's usually just burger, and I form before putting in the pan.
Maybe you could cook those with the additives on a Geo. Formam grill where both sides are cooked at once so there is no turning. We use 85 % lean. No additives. Ball formed in hand, gently shaped. Never over handle them. Low steady heat. When there is moisture on top, flip once. And no more. Usually only a minute or two on that side add the cheese and off they go. Pink center will have a soft touch to the surface. Well done is firm. (Over cooked!)
Wow!!! what a lot of good advice. So I decided to try again today. After reading through everything people said, I decided to go with just the beef and some bread crumbs. If that worked, then I would try adding seasonings etc. So I got lean beef because they didn't have regular. I thought I would just make two 1/4 lb burgers for dinner. (we shouldn't be eating any more than that.) Got carried away because I am using large Kaiser buns so each burger ended up 1/2 lb each. Mixed in the bread crumbs, flatten and shaped a large thinner patty, fried the onions and mushrooms separately, added the patties to the pan and cooked it at a slower heat. [I am getting used to a new pan as well]. And guess WHAT!!! they flipped in one piece. Below picture of a just flipped burgers that stayed together. Horrors, my large thinner patties started to shrink in and UP. They kept getting higher. It took longer to cook than I thought it would. We like them just past pink in the middle. Finally here they are on the bun. Campinspecter said "how am I going to get that in my mouth?" Obviously back to the drawing board to make 1/4 lb patties that don't get too high and to add some seasonings. They were tasty though. One thing did go wrong so I didn't take pictures. The Kaiser buns fell apart half way through eating the Hamburger. I wonder if hamburger buns are different than Kaiser buns? I always thought it was just the size and shape. I will keep you posted on how my next batch of burgers turn out.
Yes WW! As is usually the case, the devil is in the details. As far as your burgers swelling up on you? I took a page out of matt's book and for my last batch, I put a knuckle sized dimple in the middle of the burger before I put it on the heat. dammed if it doesn't work as far as keeping the burger from swelling up. Don't ask me what the science is behind it but give it a try, it just works and leaves your burger in roughly the same height as you started with.
