Home-Made Burger From Scratch (Grind Your Own Meat)

One day I got a food grinder from KitchenAid. And to be honest, I have never done anything of the sort. I mean, grinding: isn't that a dodgy dance-floor move and not something that belongs in the kitchen? Anyway, I went for it, I unwrapped the thing and stood there, looking at it. Hmm meatballs, sausages, BURGERSSSS... And then it just went even further: energy balls, falafel, fun. (I wasn't gonna grind fun, just have fun grinding random things.)

Because I am a complete noob at grinding things, I decided to go with the least complicated thing. Burgers. Haha "least complicated", wishful thinking. In my naïve state of mind I wandered over to Dierendonck, one of the top butcheries in Brussels and asked for advice. "WHAT do I grind and make it greasy, please." So they nicely offered some lean rump steak and a pot of beef fat. "Don't put the entire pot in, now!" Thank GOODNESS he said that before I left the shop. Because we all know I would have done that. Let's be honest.

So there I was with my rump steak and beef grease.

I had to make the burgers now, didn't I?

I went home. And just did it {insert NIKE gif}:

Here goes, in case you want to try it too:

For about 4-5 burgers

• 600g rump steak

• 2 tbsp beef fat

• 4 buns

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1 tsp smoked paprika powder

• 1 egg

• 2 finely sliced cloves of garlic

• 300g cheese (preferable a kind that melt well like emmental)

Build your burger (per burger)

• 1 fried egg

• 2 slices of tomato

• 2 slices of crispy smoked bacon

• any sauce you might like

Here's how you (just) do it:

Start by grinding your meat. It is the most fun part. I used this metal food grinder attachment* for my KitchenAid stand mixer. I ground it once on the largest size. Have fun with it, put aside when done in a bowl.

Grind your cheese into a bowl. I used the medium size for he cheese and was completely able to do it with my grinder. If you don't want to risk it, just grate it. Old skool. Put aside. Eat some of it because you can.

Marinate your burger meat with the beef fat, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, paprika, egg and garlic. Leave for a while but don't put it in the fridge. Once rested, form patties. I stuffed mine with the cheese for some cheesy goodness when biting into the whole shabang. Just make sure the burgers are sealed well.

Cook the burgers on a high heat in some butter or olive oil, whichever you prefer. I like adding some thyme to the pan to add some extra flavour and fragrance but it is not a must. Flash fry so the outside is nice and caramelised and the inside is still juicy, about 2 minutes per side. To make sure the cheese melts, contain the heat in the pan after taking it off the heat source by putting a lid over it and letting the cheese do it's thing. 

Build your burger with all the trimmins. Make a milkshake. Forget salad. Add some more cheese... you do you ♥️

So, have you ground meat before? What did you make? What should I try doing next with my food grinder?

* DISCLAIMER: I was not sponsored for mentioning this product. I’m just a fan of the brand ;)