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Turkey Burgers


Basilgirl

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I'm making turkey burgers tonight. In the past I've made the Epicurious recipe stuffed with Boursin and the Cook's Illustrated "best" version which I didn't like.

If you make turkey burgers, how do you do it? :blink:

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

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The only reasonably good turkey burgers I've ever made I tossed some ice shavings in the mixture right before forming them and then threw them directly on the grill. The idea being that the ice keeps them from drying out so quickly.

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I don't have a set amount or ratio of spices to add to the ground turkey (mainly go by experience, intuition and smell), but I add in more-or-less descending order of amounts: commercial 'poultry spice', fresh-ground black pepper, garlic powder, crushed red peppers (YMMV on this), and liquid smoke (sometimes, and YMMV again).

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Turkey doesn't have much inherent flavor, so you can take advantage of that and add whatever pleases your palate. It also doesn't have much fat, so I'm often adding olive oil or some soft cheese -- usually ricotta. I've been making more chicken burgers than turkey burgers of late, grinding 2/3 thighs and 1/3 breast in my food processor. Chicken seems fresher to me and it has more flavor.

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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The turkey burgers I made this week had ground, dried chipotle pepper, green onions, pepitas, s & p and olive oil. Even with the olive oil, they were a bit dry despite being careful not to overcook. I had them with avocados, radish sprouts and store-bought hamburger buns.

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I will usually add a beaten egg mixed with a little water to the ground turley, also to keep it from drying out and to help it stick together better.

Any type of barbeque sauce, hot sauce, etc. that you like will help flavor what is generally rather tasteless meat in burger form. Lots of chopped fresh herbs and/or vegetables in tiny dice is always a good addition too.

Katie M. Loeb
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Pick up some of the fattest bacon that you can.

Mince some & add to the ground turkey.

Whilst making the patty, put either a tablespoon of unsalted butter or a couple of tablespoons of a good blue cheese in the center of the patty.

Wrap the burgers as throughly as possible in remaining (non-minced) bacon strips.

Grill.

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MatthewB:

Mmmmmmmm...................................................................

The bacon plus butter or blue cheese, whilst delicious, will probably more than triple the fat content of said turkey burger, thereby rendering the use of turkey vs. cow useless. And that means I can't have my fries. :angry:

Screw it. I'm having them anyway. :smile:

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

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mix salsa in with the turkey. I agree with Varmint, I have found ground chicken tastier than turkey, but then, there's nothing you can do about that right now is there?

Don't add too many breadcrumbs - you will wind up with hockey pucks (that is the voice of experience talking). :blink:

"Never eat more than you can lift" -- Miss Piggy

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Pick up some of the fattest bacon that you can.

Mince some & add to the ground turkey.

Whilst making the patty, put either a tablespoon of unsalted butter or a couple of tablespoons of a good blue cheese in the center of the patty.

Wrap the burgers as throughly as possible in remaining (non-minced) bacon strips.

Grill.

This is what I do, too.

Actually, you can trim off the lean portion of the bacon and reserve it for recipes requiring a more ham-like substance. Then you just have the pure bacon fat to work with, and can control the quantity.

If you grind the turkey yourself, you can grind the bacon into it, for the perfect blend.

Another option is to add bread crumbs, heavy cream, and egg yolks.

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I somehow suspect that the reason for making turkey burgers is to have low-fat burgers... Ofcourse its not that I think a bacon and butter laced bacon wrapped turkey burger wouldn't be low fat.

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I somehow suspect that the reason for making turkey burgers is to have low-fat burgers... Ofcourse its not that I think a bacon and butter laced bacon wrapped turkey burger wouldn't be low fat.

That's exactly what I was thining. Bacon, Cheese, Olive Oil and the like, despite being three of my favorite things in the world, kinda defeat the purpose.

What about herbs, garlic, that sort of thing.

Bill Russell

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I somehow suspect that the reason for making turkey burgers is to have low-fat burgers... Ofcourse its not that I think a bacon and butter laced bacon wrapped turkey burger wouldn't be low fat.

That's exactly what I was thining. Bacon, Cheese, Olive Oil and the like, despite being three of my favorite things in the world, kinda defeat the purpose.

What about herbs, garlic, that sort of thing.

I'd go with caramelized onions, minced garlic, a bunch of herbs, s&p, you'll most likely need an egg to hold the mess together once you start adding dry ingredients. If you want it to taste more like a hamburger, adding steak sauce helps a lot. And again, if you toss some shaved ice in the mix right before you form them and throw them directly on the grill once they are formed they don't end up as dry.

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