Today's experiment with cold-smoking New York Strips for an hour and then grilling them went really well. I mean awesomely well. That got me to thinking: could the same technique be applied to ground beef? Cold smoke the raw ground beef for an hour. Then form it into patties and grill it.
Has anyone tried it?
QuoteCold smoke the raw ground beef for an hour. Then form it into patties and grill it.
All I'm going to say is no don't do it.
Ah what the heck
You are smoking moist raw meat in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere well within the accepted "Danger Zone" for one hour.
"Don't forget this one cardinal rule: IF IT CAN'T BE CURED, DON'T SMOKE IT."
The fact remains that you are placing raw meat in an anaerobic atmosphere for one hour where conditions for the development of several types of bacteria may develop, including clostridium botulinum. Smoke cuts off oxygen. Strike one. Next, the well-known "Danger Zone" is universally accepted as 40°F. to 140°F. (4°C. to 60°C.). I don;t think you can run your smoker cooler than the danger Zone in the summer. Strike two. The meat is moist. Strike three.
Well here is the thing cold smoking steaks is one thing but ground beef is another story.
Bacteria can grow just on the surface of the steak but ground beef can be a breeding ground for bacteria all through the meat.
If you grind it yourself in a very clean grinder and the meat was kept continually cold you should be safe. But I would never attempt it on ANY ground beef you did not grind yourself in a sanitized grinder. Even then you are putting yourself at risk..
Cold-smoking ground beef not recommended for the reasons above. With hamburgers, it's easy to give them a touch of smoke while you grill them using wood chunks, chips, pellets, etc. Some just hot smoke them (although I'm not one of the "some" so don't know how well that works). Hot-smoking a meatloaf or fattie, on the other hand, is an excellent way to go.
What if you put a touch of quick cure or #1? Would that be sufficient? It would give a salt to the meat but you could adjust before your end use.
Quote from: Wazzulu on July 31, 2012, 11:29:43 PM
What if you put a touch of quick cure or #1? Would that be sufficient? It would give a salt to the meat but you could adjust before your end use.
Tender quick would completely change the flavor. Some pink salt would change it a little. You would not want to skimp on the amount of cure used per pound. The cure would need to be mixed into the meat completely to do any good.
But you would still need to smoke them at around 150F. Probably would taste more like a smoked beef sausage burger due to the cure.
Why don't you just try adding some liquid smoke to your ground beef before you grill them instead?
Or maybe cold smoke the patties while they are still frozen for maybe 20 minutes. That might be enough to give you the smoke profile you want.
Glad I read this. I have been cold smoking burgers for a few weeks and finishing on the grill. I guess not such a good idea.
If they are big (6-8 oz) can you hot smoke for a period of time and then sear them up on the grill? Not sure how they would absorb the smoke frozen.
I guess this is on reason the pellet grills are popular. No budget for that. My grill is an old Weber Genesis 1000. What other options do I have for burgers? I have tried the pucks on the flavor bars and that does not to seem to work so well.
Quote from: Swim Dad on August 25, 2012, 09:45:33 AM
Glad I read this. I have been cold smoking burgers for a few weeks and finishing on the grill. I guess not such a good idea.
If they are big (6-8 oz) can you hot smoke for a period of time and then sear them up on the grill? Not sure how they would absorb the smoke frozen.
I guess this is on reason the pellet grills are popular. No budget for that. My grill is an old Weber Genesis 1000. What other options do I have for burgers? I have tried the pucks on the flavor bars and that does not to seem to work so well.
Liquid smoke in the meat :)
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For a quick cook I mix in Zach's Hickory Rub. Pretty dang good!
QuoteIf they are big (6-8 oz) can you hot smoke for a period of time and then sear them up on the grill?
Yes you can. Use a high temp like 225 degrees in you smoker. No problem with safety in that application as 225°F constitutes "cooking" temperature and the smoke application is secondary. As the temperature climbs throughout the "Danger Zone", with a target of 225°F., it does so quickly enough to be safe.
Swimdad, I started out smoke cooking ribs using a cast iron smoker box and wood chips in my Weber gas grill. Can't see why that wouldn't work for burgers.
Smoker box was about $8 at Home Depot. Fill it with soaked wood chips and set it over a burner while preheating the grill. I've even set the smoker box directly on the burner rather than on the flavorizer bars. Once the smoke is rolling, throw the burgers on the grill and see what happens. To extend the cook (and smoke) time, start with frozen, or near frozen patties.
I also like to use the end pieces of my home smoked cheddar or a heavily smoked cheddar for cheeseburgers. Since the cheese is from the outside of the block, it was exposed to more smoke than pieces from the middle of the block. This gives a more robust smoke flavor to my cheeseburger.
Quote from: tskeeter on August 31, 2012, 05:11:42 PM... soaked wood chips...
Bad tskeeter, bad! Never smoke with wet wood!
americanspicecompany.com
Get yourself some hickory or mesquite powder and call it a day, just my 2 cents though.
John
depending where one lives keeping temps under 40 can only be achieved in winter time. and cold smoking adapter with no heat in the cabinet. smoke still creates heat id try it if we ever got a real cold winter ::)
I have to agree with the "L" word on this one. Liquid smoke which is actual smoke.
And for those who may not know and I can use a refresher, perhaps someone could remind us why not to use wet wood or chips.
Quote from: Quarlow on September 08, 2012, 09:23:54 AM
I have to agree with the "L" word on this one. Liquid smoke which is actual smoke.
And for those who may not know and I can use a refresher, perhaps someone could remind us why not to use wet wood or chips.
Taken from http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_soaking_wood.html
Mythbusting: Do I Have To Soak My Wood?It is conventional wisdom that you should soak wood chips and chunks before using them in a charcoal or gas grill or smoker. All the books say so. All the TV shows say so.
To test the concept, I began by weighing two handsful of wood chips, and two handsful of wood chunks on a digital scale. Both bags were labeled "apple". Then I soaked them in room temp water for 12 hours. I then took them out, shook off much of the surface water, patted the exterior lightly with paper towels and weighed them to see just how much was actually absorbed. Chunks gained about 3% by weight and chips about 6%. That's not much. Chips absorbed more because there was so much more surface area than chunks.
DOH! That must be why they make boats out of wood! Wood doesn't absorb much water!
Let's say the coals or gas jets on your grill are 1,100°F an the surface of the coal or jets. If the wood surface is wet the wood cannot heat much beyond 212°F, the boiling point, until the water evaporates by turning to steam. The temp sticks there. It is the same principle as boiling potatoes in a pot water. No matter how much heat you apply to the pot, the potatoes cannot rise above 212°F until all the water is gone. Then, when they hit the bottom of the pan, they will get hotter and hotter as the water is driven out of them.
In a grill or smoker, after the water is driven off, the wood starts to warm from the outside in. When the surface hits 575°F (approximately), it begins giving off combustible gases. They may then burst into flame and the wood will be consumed rapidly. But if the wood is starved for oxygen, as it is when placed in a foil packet or a smoke box, gases and smoke particles emerge slowly and the wood will not burst into flame. It will smolder and emit smoke.
Soaked wood can slow the time of combustion slightly and, that can cause problems. You might see "smoke" but much of it may be steam. You may think the wood is smoldering properly, when it isn't. If you walk away and come back in an hour you may find the wood is not smoking. Or it has burst into flame and been totally consumed. Now some cooks use this to their advantage. On their cookers they have found that the wood bursts into flame when they add it mid cook, so adding wet wood prevents this until they can close the door and restrict the airflow again.
In addition, if you toss dripping wet wood on hot coals, the water on the surface can cool off the coals when the goal is to hold the coals at a steady temp. According to Blonder "Getting the air/wood mixture right is the most important thing."
Thank you. :)
The problem is liquid smoke just isn't as fun. But spices and the L word might have to do. I have been out of town and not been able to experiment. I miss my Bradley. Just a couple more weeks.
This fall I am going to rip apart my weber and give it good scrubbing and clean out the burners. I might have better luck with getting wood to burn well. The Amazing Rib guy has some good suggestions for the weber. But he does not seem to think very highly of our methods over here.
I do need to start grinding my own meat. I like my burgers to moo very loudly.
Another idea. Cold smoke some chuck or whatever for an hour. Then grind??? If I did that could I then freeze the some patties? Has anyone ground up a packer brisket for hamburger?