Pork Burgers

[nakji]

Mark Bittman's column today in the New York Times Dining and Wine section is on alternatives to burgers made with supermarket ground beef.

We've had discussions on this idea before - our lamb burger topic; our turkey burger topic; our veggie burger topic. We've of course discussed the superiority of grinding your own beef.

But what about pork burgers? I really enjoyed eating bun cha in Vietnam - basically small burgers of pork grilled on an open grill with a fan, then dunked in a sour broth with rice noodles and herbs. I'd love to adapt that to a full burger size, served on a bun, with banh mi pickles and herb garnish.

Does anyone else make pork burgers?

[RobertCollins]

Well, this is an interesting question. I do my own hamburger, almost always from chuck. I am scared of ground beef almost anywhere. In Seattle there is one butcher shop I trust, from them I sometimes buy ground chuck. I did about a month ago. While I was at it I bought an equal amount of his ground pork. I ended up mixing them and making burgers of them. Added some spices and they were better than OK. Were they better than a really good hamburger patty, I don't know but I thought so because of the fat addition.

I have had and made sausage burgers before; I love them.

Pork in this case, I think, lacks the ability to compete with beef for pure strength of flavor without a big addition of spice/herb to make it work. Is not that sausage?.

[Doodad]

FLIP, Blais' restaurant here, had a banh mi burger at one time that was outstanding. Not on the menu now for whatever reason. So yes, ground pork makes sense to me. I always add some to meatloaf to keep it moist.

[Blether]

I had great success making chicken burgers a year or two back - one of those 'I didn't write down what I did' occasions, of course. As I know you know, Nakji, the Japanese 'hambaagu' (hamburger, usually served on a plate with a gravy sauce, rather than in a bun) typically uses 50/50 beef/pork mince, and is Japan's adaptation of the western hamburger (post-war, I think). And as I think you will also know, minced chicken is commonly available here.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Blether (log)

[Peter the eater]

I like pork patties. In the past, when processing our own pigs, I dice up then grind much of the shoulder. What doesn't become a sausage gets frozen into flat disks. Same goes for turkey.

[nakji]

I had great success making chicken burgers a year or two back - one of those 'I didn't write down what I did' occasions, of course. As I know you know, Nakji, the Japanese 'hambaagu' (hamburger, usually served on a plate with a gravy sauce, rather than in a bun) typically uses 50/50 beef/pork mince, and is Japan's adaptation of the western hamburger (post-war, I think). And as I think you will also know, minced chicken is commonly available here.

Japanese hambaagu is a triumph, agreed. I always bought 50/50 mix in Japan even for making regular grilling burgers. I could see adapting a tsukune recipe into chicken burgers with Kewpie mayonnaise and...what, ginger cucumbers or similar for crunch?

Pork in this case, I think, lacks the ability to compete with beef for pure strength of flavor without a big addition of spice/herb to make it work. Is not that sausage?.

This may be true of supermarket pork in North America, but I find Asian pork has a lot of flavour, even standing on its own without herbs. Perhaps because it's not such a lean meat here?

I like pork patties. In the past, when processing our own pigs, I dice up then grind much of the shoulder. What doesn't become a sausage gets frozen into flat disks. Same goes for turkey.

How do you garnish them? Straight up like regular burgers, or with some twist?

[Tri2Cook]

I like pork burgers. I season pork fat with a spice rub, smoke it, chill it and grind it with lean pork. I usually do this in bulk, vac pack the burgers and toss 'em in the freezer. I grill the burgers and serve them on grilled buns topped with bbq sauce, pickles and coleslaw.

[nakji]

I like pork burgers. I season pork fat with a spice rub, smoke it, chill it and grind it with lean pork. I usually do this in bulk, vac pack the burgers and toss 'em in the freezer. I grill the burgers and serve them on grilled buns topped with bbq sauce, pickles and coleslaw.

That sounds...excellent. I'm wondering...would it be crazy to grind up bacon to add to ground pork, if one wasn't able to smoke one's own pork fat?

[Mallet]

Pork is also an excellent addition to ground game (e.g: venison), which lacks the fat to make a truly great burger on its own.

[Dakki]

I like pork burgers. I season pork fat with a spice rub, smoke it, chill it and grind it with lean pork. I usually do this in bulk, vac pack the burgers and toss 'em in the freezer. I grill the burgers and serve them on grilled buns topped with bbq sauce, pickles and coleslaw.

That sounds...excellent. I'm wondering...would it be crazy to grind up bacon to add to ground pork, if one wasn't able to smoke one's own pork fat?

I tried that once. Putting bacon ends in my meat grinder made bacon paste.

Also cleaning the grinder afterward was a real drag. There were tough white threads of something wrapped around everything.

Maybe this won't happen if you freeze it first. I can't remember if I took the bacon from the refrigerator or freezer that time.

[eternal]

The pork burgers from Sunday Suppers at Lucques are delicious. Have had them three times and in my experience, actually taste a little better if you let them sit for a bit after grinding and mixing (maybe a day?). She uses shoulder, chorizo and bacon...

http://books.google.com/books?id=Z7atEFdzMjAC&pg=PT166&lpg=PT166&dq=pork+burger+sunday+suppers+lucques&source=bl&ots=dMKcka--eM&sig=jtnG4xovaJDx1PwtYUNEXIfAmoY&hl=en&ei=KqT9S4PQCZPiNcT-zN4H&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Peter the eater]

I like pork patties. In the past, when processing our own pigs, I dice up then grind much of the shoulder. What doesn't become a sausage gets frozen into flat disks. Same goes for turkey.

How do you garnish them? Straight up like regular burgers, or with some twist?

A thin slice of pineapple with some sweet & sour sauce makes a luscious pork burger.

[Smitty]

I've heard that pork burgers are pretty popular in southern Indiana and Illinois. I was first exposed to them at a tailgate with a friend from Indy. He was using frozen pre-formed patties from a local packer, so there must be a market for them.

My friend used a bbq rub to season and served them with mustard, onions, and pickle. They were quite good.

[nakji]

I bought some pre-ground pork shoulder at the supermarket, and I'm going to try these out on the grill this weekend if it stops raining. I want to go "banh mi" burger style, with some daikon/carrot pickle, sliced red onion, mayo (in place of Laughing Cow cheese), and some shiso/mint/cilantro mix.

[Fat Guy]

Pork in this case, I think, lacks the ability to compete with beef for pure strength of flavor without a big addition of spice/herb to make it work. Is not that sausage?

I'm not sure I agree that pork is less flavorful than beef. But I'm also not sure that comparison can be made in the abstract. Pigs and cows are large animals consisting of very different cuts of meat, and there's a lot of variation from pig to pig and cow to cow. In any event, Bittman does acknowledge that he's advocating for sausage patties, not really burgers. And those can certainly be delicious. But I don't think it's a question of one being better than the other. A minimalist hamburger made from excellent ground-to-order beef seasoned with only salt can be a great thing, as can a heavily seasoned ground-meat patty using a combination of meats. My feeling is that when you have the excellent meat you should cook it without much adornment, whereas if you're limited to meat that doesn't look good naked you should season and manipulate the heck out of it.

[emilyr]

Pork burgers are pretty ubiquitous at homes around here because we have more pig farms than cow farms (I mean cattle producing farms - cow farms sounds weird). One of my best friends growing up lived on a pig farm and I remember her asking why the burgers were a weird color at my 7th or 8th birthday party. She'd never had beef burgers. The really weird thing is that you never really see pork burgers in restaurants and only rarely find ground pork in the grocery store. I usually just end up getting some from friends and co-workers who process their own pigs.

While I usually do them just with standard grilling spices and lots of mustard on top, my favorite recipe is a turkey burger adaptation. I grate onion and apple together and mix them into the ground pork with a little bit of grainy mustard, then grill. Sometimes, if the meat is really lean or the onions and apples are too watery, I add an egg as a binder, but most of the time I don't have to worry about it. They're so good.

[Abra]

I just made pork burgers last night and they were excellent. I ground pork shoulder, tossed a handful of peanuts and a cut up shallot into the grinder. Then I mixed in a splash each of soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha, and sesame oil, plus an egg. The only thing that would have made them more delicious would have been cilantro, but I didn't have any. My husband ate them on a bun with Thai sweet chili sauce, and I had them on a salad. Yum!

[nakji]

I'm assuming that anyone cooking with supermarket ground pork is going to cook through to 70 C/160 F in the middle - but if grinding your own, is anyone going rarer? And would there be an advantage to going rare with pork like there is for beef? I had rare Kurobuta tenderloin several times in Japan and the flavour was excellent. Would it translate to a burger?

[nakji]

I couldn't get the thought of "banh mi" burgers out of my head, so I made these for dinner tonight:

All-pork patty with ground pepper, salt and msg for seasoning.

Topped with a quick pickle of bean sprouts, carrot and red onion.

Dressed with home-made chili sauce (sri racha would work if you have it), hoisin, and Kewpie mayonnaise. Bulk "ranch" dressing would be more streets-of-Hanoi-authentic, but I didn't have any. Cilantro to top. Crusty french roll.

Seriously, seriously good. The only flaw is that my pork was from Australia, and too dry. Next time I'll get some fresh shoulder minced for me at the market. I'll be making these again this summer.

[emilyr]

I don't ever measure the temperature when I'm grilling supermarket pork burgers, but I do cook them so they're just all the way through opaque. No pink, but only just.

[nakji]

I cooked mine all the way through, too, since they were made with supermarket ground pork.

[Doodad]

This thread had me hungry so I made my version last night. We had some homemade pickles and cilantro in the kitchen garden so it made sense. Dang that was good. I have two more patties so lunch tomorrow as well.

[Tri2Cook]

For tonight's burgers, I used some extra filling from making my jerk pork sausages that I had in the freezer to make the patties. Cooked them on the grill and ate them on buns I made using a King's Hawaiian Bread copycat recipe (That is not at all authentic, I don't think the real thing includes pineapple juice, but they worked really well with the pork burger. It was actually the pineapple juice in the recipe that pushed me into trying them for this burger. It seemed like a good fit for the overall theme.) with homemade habanero mayo and tomato slices. Nothing beats a good beef burger... but this was pretty damn good.

[CatPoet]

Tri2cook, it sounds yummy.   I might be odd but when I am hungry for a beef burger I make one and when I want  pork I make that, for me they are two different things and should be treated as that.  There is nothing better then on a cold autumn day to have a   pork burger with fried apples/ onions and   roasted parsnip mash on a rye bun, pure heaven according to me. 

[harrysnapperorgans]

Tri2cook, it sounds yummy.   I might be odd but when I am hungry for a beef burger I make one and when I want  pork I make that, for me they are two different things and should be treated as that.  There is nothing better then on a cold autumn day to have a   pork burger with fried apples/ onions and   roasted parsnip mash on a rye bun, pure heaven according to me. 

 

your pork burger sounds AMAZING