Anyone use the Bradley to smoke hamburgers?

Habanero Smoker · July 16, 2009, 01:40:29 PM

It not advisable. If I were to do it, the safer route would be to cold smoke; keeping the temperature below 70°F (approximately room temperature), keeping the smoking time below 1:40 hours. Take the meat out of the refrigerator directly to the smoker.

Hot smoking at 140°F, you are more likely to provide a better environment for bacteria to grow. Even if you maintain a temperature of 140°F, near the surface of the meat the temperature will be much lower. Also with ground meat, you not only have to worry about bacteria on the surface, but also the bacteria that is now distributed throughout the meat, because it has been ground. Also although smoke has antimicrobial properties, it only provides protection to the surface. The antimicrobial properties that are present in smoke are the acids, but basically it is the phenol and phenolic compounds (also found in abundance in many vegetables and fruits; grapes are a good example) that provide this protection; besides other compounds.

sherlock · July 17, 2009, 04:38:15 AM

Thank you Sir.

I will feel more confident by abanonding this idea. Cooking for 20 +/- people and don't want to take a chance. I really appreciate everyone of you out there for your help since I joined.

Nathan

NePaSmoKer · July 17, 2009, 04:55:05 AM

Done it many times with now problems. Turn on smoke gen and heat to 200*. Place burgers on racks and relax and drink a cold one. No problema and great tasting burgers.

nepas

Habanero Smoker · July 17, 2009, 02:08:02 PM

I still say it is not safe to smoke uncured ground meat below 225°. You can also smoke uncured sausage at low temperatures, and most of the time it will come out safe, but it is not the safe thing to do.

NePaSmoKer · July 17, 2009, 05:33:24 PM

Habs

The USDA and other GOV BS agensies that say dont do this dont do that are not always right.

My ¢2 worth

nepas

Habanero Smoker · July 18, 2009, 02:03:40 AM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on July 17, 2009, 05:33:24 PM
Habs

The USDA and other GOV BS agensies that say dont do this dont do that are not always right.

My ¢2 worth

nepas

You are correct they are not always right, but they are not always wrong. Overall they are mainly correct, and do a fairly good job in protecting our food supply. The 225°F is not only an USDA recommendation (and they lean more towards 250°F with 225°F being the lowest), but a recommendation by many professional chefs. Everyone needs to choose what information they want to follow. As long as the information is out there, then at least people can make an informed decision.

My 1 cent worth.
Just had to give you some change back. :)

NePaSmoKer · July 18, 2009, 04:52:33 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on July 18, 2009, 02:03:40 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on July 17, 2009, 05:33:24 PM
Habs

The USDA and other GOV BS agensies that say dont do this dont do that are not always right.

My ¢2 worth

nepas

You are correct they are not always right, but they are not always wrong. Overall they are mainly correct, and do a fairly good job in protecting our food supply. The 225°F is not only an USDA recommendation (and they lean more towards 250°F with 225°F being the lowest), but a recommendation by many professional chefs. Everyone needs to choose what information they want to follow. As long as the information is out there, then at least people can make an informed decision.

My 1 cent worth.
Just had to give you some change back. :)

:D :D
Hey i cant get no bubble gum with that change :D

nepas

Slamdunk · July 18, 2009, 10:33:54 AM

Just an additional warning comment....

Many years ago our local paper had an article on the dangerous consequences, including death, of "Hamburger Disease", caused by the under cooking of hamburgers. I took it seriously enough to circulate the article at work.

From then on I was very cautious when it came to the "doneness" of my barbecued hamburgers - no pink meat, fat a clear white liquid. I would, and still do these last 20 years, cut into each patty to ensure it is done.

One day our 3 year old daughter became sick with flu like symptoms, including diarrhea. It was bad enough that we took her to the hospital where we were told it was the flu. That night she was in worse condition so again off to the hospital we went. Another doctor examined her and was very concerned, especially of the diarrhea. While the doctor was examining her, my daughter went into convulsions. I was helping the doctor as she tried to get a blood sample but because of the convulsions the doctor was having no luck in taking a sample. The doctor went away for a bit to make a phone call to the Children's hospital. She came back and told me that she was sending my daughter by ambulance to the Children's hospital. I followed the ambulance for the 3/4 hour trip where many times the ambulance would having it's siren on as they blew through red stop lights. I knew they wouldn't be doing that if this wasn't a very serious situation. My mind was racing ....

After two ?? hours the specialist came out to tell me that my daughter had "hamburger disease" the same disease as the article I had circulated at work. There were only eighteen cases that year reported in a population of millions - three of which came from the small town where we live.

Asking the specialist how serious it was etc., he told me there was only a 50/50 chance that my daughter would survive the night!!! I stayed with her in intensive care the night. And it was the worst night of my life. To make a long story short, my three year old daughter was in hospital for close to two months, underwent countless blood transfusions and blood tests etc. She did, Thank God, recuperate and is now a healthy young woman.

I never found out the source of the contaminated meat and the hospital wouldn't give me the names of the other two children in our city who also got Hamburger disease but there was a big chain restaurant that had just opened and we had eaten hamburgers there. (I won't mention the name, because I am not certain they were the cause) but can say that they grilled their burgers over open flame without the benefit of internal meat temps. McDonalds and many other big chain restaurants do ensure internal temperatures.

So, I will close just by saying that you should test all hamburger patties for NO pink meat and clear liquid fat drippings. Also beware...do not re-use the same plate that you used to carry the raw hamburgers to the BBQ without thoroughly washing it first. Use a new clean plate to take the finished patties to your serving area.

Here is a link for information on Hamburger disease....http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile02.stm

May you never have to go through what our family did....

Habanero Smoker · July 18, 2009, 01:29:04 PM

Slamdunk;

Sorry you had to go through this experience, but glad your daughter made it through this illness. Thanks for the post, I never heard it called Hamburger Disease.

NePas;

What can I say. That's all I can afford in times like this. :)

Gregory · July 21, 2009, 12:37:22 AM

There is a great little BBQ place not far from me that makes a BBQ brisket burger. They grind up some of their BBQ'd brisket and add it to ground beef then grill it normally. It is absolutely the best tasting burger patty I've ever had. I see no reason why you couldn't do this at home.

Greg

Habanero Smoker · July 21, 2009, 01:59:53 AM

Quote from: Gregory on July 21, 2009, 12:37:22 AM
There is a great little BBQ place not far from me that makes a BBQ brisket burger. They grind up some of their BBQ'd brisket and add it to ground beef then grill it normally. It is absolutely the best tasting burger patty I've ever had. I see no reason why you couldn't do this at home.

Greg

Those hamburgers do sound good. That should give it a nice smoke taste, with extra beef flavor. I may experiment with that.

sherlock · July 21, 2009, 04:52:25 AM

That does sound good. Will try that next time

:)

OU812 · July 21, 2009, 06:14:56 AM

Greg that does sound good.

Did a brisket this weekend and will give that a try.

Thanks for the idea.

Caneyscud · July 21, 2009, 12:45:29 PM

Quote from: Gregory on July 21, 2009, 12:37:22 AM
There is a great little BBQ place not far from me that makes a BBQ brisket burger. They grind up some of their BBQ'd brisket and add it to ground beef then grill it normally. It is absolutely the best tasting burger patty I've ever had. I see no reason why you couldn't do this at home.

Greg

HHmmmmm - Too many choices - my head hurts - old school brisket or brisket burger. Or brisket tacos, like I had at lunch - or the brisket tamales I'm envisioning!!!!

KennyD7 · July 22, 2009, 01:31:46 PM

I'm a newbie to this site and the Bradley and look forward to great food and help from you smokies out there. What I'm not a newbie to is cooking a good rare - med rare burger. It is not necessary to cook a burger to death for it to be safe if you're willing to grind your own meat. It's not a big deal if good food is your passion. There is no reason to buy meat that is suspect when it's very simple and safe to do your own. There are many sites out there that tell you how, here's one; http://www.americastestkitchen.com/ibb/posts.aspx?postID=287076

KennyD7