Components Of Hamburger Meat

Hamburgers have been in existence some say for over 150 years having been sold in American restaurants as early as 1885 but what exactly are the components of hamburger meat?

This is a difficult question to answer given there are so many types of hamburgers in the modern society ranging from the most common beef burger to ostrich and bison burgers. Each manufacturer will use different products in the making of hamburger meat very much depending upon the base meat which is used for the burger patty. However, the most common of hamburgers, the beef burger is made of two distinct categories of ingredients.

1. All Meat (100% ground beef) burger

This hamburger meat is made of nothing but 100% ground beef which usually originates from the flank area of the cow. Off cuts of beef taken from various other parts of the animal are also used with the primary objective to ensure that nothing other than beef is used. Seasonings will accompany these types of hamburgers but they should not contain any other filling ingredients other than simply ground beef and seasoning.

2. Hamburgers/Beef Burgers

As the title lacks any coherent objectives in terms of ingredients these burgers will contain a certain amount of fillings (breadcrumbs, rusk etc) to bulk out the meat and will commonly contain a higher degree of fat content and more seasonings to add additional flavourings. Preservatives are also usually added to prolong shelf life and generally are significantly more expensive than All Meat burgers for obvious cost reasons.

Thankfully, in today’s observant society most manufactures of food products around the world are obliged to clearly display the ingredients used in either of these two burgers. Hamburgers do not require preservatives or indeed any additional ingredients other than 100% pure beef and some seasoning and good value hamburgers will display only these ingredients. These can also be frozen on the day of purchase (removing the need for preservatives) and bought out and defrosted when required.

The only consideration in terms of components of hamburger meat really comes down to price. If you are on a budget and cannot justify the small increase in purchasing all beef burgers then simply buy yourself some ground beef and follow our How Do You Season A Hamburger page for ideas to spice up your burger meat. This will make several hamburgers some of which you can package up and put in the freezer for another day all the while saving you some money.

How To Make A Hamburger Pattie

Just how do you make a Hamburger pattie? Well, the first step is to create the best beefburgers using our Worlds Best Hamburger Recipe and once you have completed these steps we are now ready to shape your amazingly tasty hamburgers into patties.

Just to make you jealous, I have the added advantage of owing a genuine Buthers hamburger press which is an outstanding piece of equipment and makes amazing shaped hamburgers. However, to make up for my gloating you can also own one simular to mine. The Johnson-Rose 5 Inch Cast Aluminum Hamburger Press is a great little manual burger press which makes no fuss, just gives you perfectly round patties and is made from cast aluminum meaning it will last you a life time.

You simply form a small ball of hamburger meat and place a Hamburger Patty Paper – Box of 1000 sheet on the top and bottom and squeeze the two halfs together. You end up with a perfectly formed hamburger pattie ready for grilling or frying. Buying ready made beefburgers is really expensive and unessasary if you consider buying yourself the above equipment combined with the worlds best hamburger recipe and a couple of pounds of ground beef. You can freeze them and use them when required saving yourself lots of your hard earned money whilst eating much heathier too!

It seems to be a win win situation, have fun making your hamburger Patties and enjoy your cooking!

Casseroles With Hamburger Meat

If you have some left over hamburger meat and you are thinking about what can I make with ground beef and rice then this casserole dish using up your surplus burger meat will fit the bill perfectly.

The ingredients have a distinctive Texan influence and produce the most amazing flavours during cooking. The great part about this casserole is in it’s simplicity, you simply cook all the ingredients together including the rice which absorbs all the cooking juices and flavours resulting in a truly scrumptious beef mince casserole.

Texan Casseroles With Hamburger Meat Ingredients

* 1 – 1.5 pounds of hamburger meat (you can also use just ground mince beef)

* 3 large finely sliced onions

* 1 Green pepper

* 1 large clove of garlic crushed

* 1 teaspoon of chili powder (reduce if you do not like it too spicy)

* 1 400g can of chopped tomatoes

* Half a cup of rice (long grain or basmati)

* 1 Teaspoon of salt

* Half teaspoon of pepper

Firstly, smear a decent sized casserole dish with oil ready for the meat mixture.

Brown off the hamburger meat and onions in a frying pan or skillet on a medium heat until the onions reach transparency and then add the garlic and peppers and continue cooking until the pepper is soft. Now remove the pan/skillet from the heat and stir in the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients.

Now transfer the mixture into the pre oiled casserole dish cover either with a lid or some tightly fitting tin foil and cook for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Once cooking time has elapsed remove the lid or foil and cook for a further 10 minutes. Your casserole with hamburger meat is now ready, serve with some grated cheese and soured cream, something quite special and once tried with no doubt become a family favourite dish!

How Long is Hamburger Meat Good For

Hamburger meat is usually purchased in a polythene packaging which retains the burger mince along with trapped oxygen. This air is treated to prolong the life of the mince if kept inside the packaging. If you purchased fresh ground mince (the principle ingredient of Hamburger meat), how long will this hamburger meat be good for? Well, this will keep fresh for around 3-4 days.

Top tips around keeping beefburger meat are to be aware of when the product is passed its best. The shelf life of raw hamburger mince will be passed it’s best when it has a wet, slimy feel which is indicative of the proteins of the meat breaking down due to composition, the mince meat can still retain its colour when stored in the packaging it was purchased but can at the same time go off so you need to be aware of these signs. The other obvious sign of course relates to the smell of the hamburger meat once opened from the packaging.

But how do you know if a raw hamburger has passed it’s shelf life? Meat stored in this way usually omits a smell once opened which is perfectly normal even with fresh meat, simply give the burger mince a few minutes to air and return to it with your nose, does it continue to smell distinctively off? does it have a top coat of slightly wet and in some cases slimy feel to it? to be safe if it continues to smell or feels wet ans slimy, dispose of it.

The best ways to store burger mince are to place it in the coldest part of your refrigerator and to consume within 3-4 days of purchasing. If you are looking to keep it for longer, your best option is to place the packet into the freezer and defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before using.