Recipes / Meat
Braai beef burgers
Homemade beef patties with onion, garlic and Worcestershire, kept juicy with milk-soaked bread, cooked over medium-hot coals and topped with cheddar.
- Prep
- 25 min
- On the fire
- 12 min
- Plan ahead
- 20 minutes chilling the patties
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 160°F (71°C)
Ingredients
Patties
To serve
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with the burners on high and the lid closed for 10 minutes, then turn them down to medium so the lid thermometer settles at 175 to 200°C (350 to 400°F). Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Cook with the lid open and use the recipe times as a guide.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Tear the bread into a bowl, pour over the milk and leave for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the extra milk and mash the bread to a paste.
- Add the mince, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands only until it comes together.
- Divide into 4 and shape patties about 2 cm (3/4 inch) thick and a little wider than the buns. Press a shallow dent into the middle of each with your thumb.
- Chill the patties on a tray for 20 minutes so they hold together on the grid.
- Brush the patties and a clean grid with oil. Cook over medium-hot coals for 4 to 5 minutes without moving them.
- Turn once with a spatula and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. Lay the cheese on top for the last 2 minutes.
- Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them on the grid for about 1 minute while the patties rest.
- Build the burgers with mayonnaise, lettuce, patty, tomato, gherkins and chutney.
Done when: the patties are well browned, the juices run clear and a thermometer in the middle reads 71°C (160°F). Unlike a steak, minced beef should not be served pink.
Tips
- Do not press the patties down with the spatula. It squeezes out the juice and causes flare-ups.
- For boerewors burgers, squeeze 600 g (1.3 lb) of boerewors out of its casing, mix in grated cheese and a spoon of chutney, and shape and cook it the same way.
- Caramelised onions are a good topping. Fry 2 sliced onions slowly in butter for 15 minutes, then add 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon brown sugar and cook until sticky.
Homemade burgers are a regular weeknight braai in South Africa, often made by mixing mince with soaked bread, onion and Worcestershire sauce the same way as frikkadels. The bread keeps the patties moist over the coals. Serve them with braaied baby potatoes, or swap the beef for homemade boerewors meat.
Source
Adapted from Homemade hamburger recipe at FinGlobal and Entertain at home: Beef burgers with balsamic onions, mature cheddar and pickles at Brakpan Herald.