Pan Frying a Burger

[Shel_B]

I made a pan-fried burger for lunch today.  It's something I rarely do, maybe three times a year, although I truly enjoy such a treat. I rarely make such a burger because my apartment gets smokey and smells somewhat greasy afterwards, and the smell lingers for a day or two.

 

Is there any way to minimize or, better yet, eliminate the grease in the air?  I use the vent over the stove but it does a poor job, and I open the windows and the apartment door to get better air flow through the place.  These things help, but the results are only marginally better.

 

Might there be a cut of meat that minimizes smoke and grease?  Cooking at a lower temp (I still would like a nice crust)?

 

 

Edited April 19 by Shel_B (log)

[weinoo]

Often, I'll cover the pan almost fully, and I find this helps. Nothin wrong with medium heat, and leaving it a minute longer on a side.

[Slim W]

 

 

 

Chris Young has some interesting videos about this subject and others.  I have used lower temperatures now successfully on steaks, crispy skinned fish etc. I haven't tried it with burgers, but don't see why the theory would be any different?

 

[&roid]

1 hour ago, Slim W said:

 

 

 

Chris Young has some interesting videos about this subject and others.  I have used lower temperatures now successfully on steaks, crispy skinned fish etc. I haven't tried it with burgers, but don't see why the theory would be any different?

 

I was going to post exactly this. I’ve been amazed with the results of this technique - makes a massive difference to the smoke production. 

[btbyrd]

Get a butane burner and go outside. That’s what I do. The problem isn’t with you or your technique but with the inadequate ventilation in almost all home kitchens. 

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, Slim W said:

Chris Young has some interesting videos about this subject and others.  I have used lower temperatures now successfully on steaks, crispy skinned fish etc. I haven't tried it with burgers, but don't see why the theory would be any different?

 

 

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

Get a butane burner and go outside. That’s what I do. The problem isn’t with you or your technique but with the inadequate ventilation in almost all home kitchens. 

 

I don't know that that's necessary.  I think ripping hot is really great - if I'm on the line in a restaurant; I don't see the need for it as a home cook. Unless, of course, I'm pretending I'm in a restaurant.

[KennethT]

17 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I made a pan-fried burger for lunch today.  It's something I rarely do, maybe three times a year, although I truly enjoy such a treat. I rarely make such a burger because my apartment gets smokey and smells somewhat greasy afterwards, and the smell lingers for a day or two.

 

Is there any way to minimize or, better yet, eliminate the grease in the air?  I use the vent over the stove but it does a poor job, and I open the windows and the apartment door to get better air flow through the place.  These things help, but the results are only marginally better.

 

Might there be a cut of meat that minimizes smoke and grease?  Cooking at a lower temp (I still would like a nice crust)?

 

 

I've added extra grease filtration to my over-burner vent.  Because I live in a relatively small apartment with the kitchen open to the rest of the space, I really wanted to minimize the aerosolized grease that not only smells for days but eventually leaves a sticky residue everywhere.  So first, I upgraded my vent to a 600CFM model which can suck up any smoke faster than it can be made by the food.  It is much stronger than a standard kitchen vent which is usually around 250CMF.  Does it make a lot of noise? Sure it does, but I only turn it up when doing something that would make a lot of smoke like high heat stir frying which doesn't take a lot of time.

 

The next step depends on whether or not your kitchen vent vents outside or is recirculating.  If it vents outside, that's all you need to do - get the air out as fast as possible.  I have no access to an outside vent so mine is recirculating.  So here I've had to take some extra steps.  If you remove the original grease filter from the vent (mine are baffles, but many use the coarse steel wool type) you will see the fan motor inside the vent housing.  I add a couple layers of steel wool grease filter to both intake sides of the fan.  If your fan is a long barrel type rather than a short/squat version, you might only have 1 intake to the fan.  So that's the secondary grease filter.  After months of use, you see plenty of grease buildup on this secondary filter - which would have been in your air and deposited on anything in its path.   Finally, I put a tightly woven cloth bag over the vent exhaust - make sure it fits tightly to the exhaust pipe.  This catches the last little bit.

 

After all this, will you still have the lingering aroma of cooked beef?  Somewhat, as some aroma particles are tiny and fit through the pores of most things.  Sort of like when you presmoke some food and then put in a plastic bag and cook sous vide, the bath water will smell like smoke afterwards as some of the aroma particles are so small they go through the pores of the plastic bag.  But, you won't have to clean grease from your cupboard doors or, in my case, my TV, couch, piano, walls and everywhere else!

[weinoo]

The exhaust here is also recirculating, and at high speed 600 CFM.  What's nice about it is the first level of filtration can be put in the dishwasher; I do this like every 2 weeks.  Inside there's a high-quality charcoal filter, which really works well on keeping the odors down (I change that one like every 6 months).  But I haven't cleaned my top open shelves in a few years, and I can pretty much guarantee they're covered with crud. And just being here in NYC, there's a lot of other stuff the comes in through the windows, and ends up everywhere (to say nothing of the cat hair).

 

[lindag]

Your range looks brand-new!

[Shel_B]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

I've added extra grease filtration to my over-burner vent ... etc

My situation precludes doing what you've done, at least AFAIK. Your setup seems quite nice, though, and it appears that you've given a lot of thought to your situation.  👍

[Shel_B]

8 hours ago, btbyrd said:

Get a butane burner and go outside. That’s what I do. The problem isn’t with you or your technique but with the inadequate ventilation in almost all home kitchens. 

There are a few reasons why that's not a reasonable solution for me, although I have given thought to setting up an outside grill, although that would supplement indoor cooking on the stovetop.

Edited April 20 by Shel_B
Clarity of intent (log)

[TicTac]

Dude....just light a match or two afterwards, open a window - hour later - all gone...

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, lindag said:

Your range looks brand-new!

That's because I took that picture when it was brand new!!!

[Shel_B]

I just enjoyed an almost perfect "smokeless burger" thanks to some of the suggestions in this thread.

 

First, I made some patties using the same ground beef as yesterday. Intent on doing a reverse sear, I heated them in the Breville oven to an internal temperature of 118-degrees.  I heated my cast iron skillet to a medium low temp.  Instead of oiling the pan, I oiled the burgers.  Into the pan they went, and based on the sizzle I think the pan temp was pretty close to ideal. More on that later.

 

I cooked the first side for one minute and 45 seconds, flipped it, added some cheddar, covered the pan, and cooked for another minute and 45 seconds. The cheese was nicely melted.

 

This experiment was proof of concept, and I could see where the process could be improved.  The cast iron skillet had some residual oil in it (avocado oil) and it did smoke a bit, although very little and it did not noticeably smoke up the apartment. I think that more oil in the pan would reduce or eliminate the smoke.  Another thought is to use a non-stick pan.  I know that I can get some browning from it. I will try both of these techniques the next time I decide to make a burger.

 

As it was, browning was pretty good.  The interiors of the patties were nicely pink and they were enjoyably warm.  More experimentation with time and temp is in order. With that in mind, I may get a temperature gun to read the pan temp which would provide more accuracy in determining the cooking times and temp.  I've been thinking of getting one anyway, and this burger experiment is just another reason to open my wallet.

 

So, thanks to all who jumped into this thread and helped out.