Cold Smoking Ground Beef?

[FumblingFoodie]

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?

[devo]

Cold 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.

[devo]

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.

[muebe]

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..

[Ka Honu]

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.

[Wazzulu]

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.

[muebe]

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.

[Swim Dad]

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.   

[mikecorn.1]

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 :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smokin Soon]

For a quick cook I mix in Zach's Hickory Rub. Pretty dang good!

[devo]

If 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.

[tskeeter]

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.     

[Ka Honu]

... soaked wood chips...

Bad tskeeter, bad!  Never smoke with wet wood!

[muebe]

... soaked wood chips...

Bad tskeeter, bad!  Never smoke with wet wood!

^^^ what he said! ^^^

[Consooger]

americanspicecompany.com

Get yourself some hickory or mesquite powder and call it a day, just my 2 cents though.

John