Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Belt Busting BBQ Ranch Bacon Burgers

First off, a huge shout out to our guys and gals overseas and at home, serving our country. This country is forever in your debt. 
You might think the grill is typically a man's domain. Not today loveys! This chick was Grill Mistress this memorial day with an old American standby. McDonald's beware. These Belt Busting BBQ Ranch Bacon Burgers are full of flavor and simple enough to manage easily during your grilling season celebrations.
Before we get started, quick note about grills. I have always used charcoal. My dad uses it, my father in law and husband use it, and I use it. It just gives that special smokey flavor you can't get with electric or propane. If you don't have a chimney starter, just stack the charcoal fairly neatly and soak with your choice of charcoal starter for about 10, 15 minutes. Then go ahead, spread them out, and light. Let them burn down to a nice smoulder before cooking so your grill is nice and hot. Always start with a hot surface when cooking with meat, even indoors on a griddle. Everyone has their own methods and such, but this is what I've learned from my grill loving family.
Now, let the dogs or kiddos out, grab some sweet tea, and it's on to the grill!

NON EDIBLES:
Grill and the usual grilling necessities (or you can use a griddle on the stove), spatula, mixing bowl, tin foil (optional), plate.

EDIBLES:
2 lbs of beef
1/2 cup or so of BBQ Sauce
2 tbs of Ranch Dressing
Salt-n-Peppah
Dash of Tony's (yeah, I use it a lot. So what?)
8 strips of Bacon
Buns
Standard Hamburger Topping Goodness

HOW TO:
Easy enough, just mix all the ingredients together- sans the bacon- and mix carefully. You don't want to handle your meat too much (LOL). You can customize the flavor by using which ever BBQ sauce or type of ranch dressing you prefer. This time, I used a new find that's absolutely amazing; Brother's Gold! These people are awesome at what they do and they are all homemade, award winning, true Texas BBQ sauce. I had the pleasure of meeting them at Fresh By Brookshires in Tyler, but if your not in Texas, they have a blogspot, facebook, and website where you can order from.
Okay, ending the product placement, you should now have a bowl of ground beef mixture ready to go. Form into 1/4 patties. If you have trouble with measuring, just think that 2lbs of meat should yield 8 patties. You can make them bigger, but it will extend your cooking time, and if you do go bigger, don't make them too thick, they won't cook evenly. Patties formed, wrap a strip of bacon around each one.
Once you have the patties at the ready, head out to your already heated grill. You can slap the bacon on the grill first for just a few moments to grease up and flavor the grill, but it's not necessary. If you do this, just wrap the bacon around your patties just before they really start cooking.
Now just cook until your desired doneness is reached. Flip occasionally (but not before each side has been allowed to cook a good 4 minutes), and whatever you do, don't press the burgers. This just makes the juices leave the patties and cover your charcoal. If you find your grill isn't cooking quite hot enough after about 45 minutes, you can feel free to finish them in the oven at 350*. Be sure, once they are done, that you allow them to rest just a couple of minutes to let the juices back into the burger.
We all have our favorite toppings. Me, I can't have a hamburger without cheese. My cheese of choice for this burger is pepper jack cheese. It compliments the spicy sweentess of the BBQ sauce nicely. Once your patties are close to ready, slap your cheese on there, allowing it to melt. These were also good with a nice alvacado sauce my Father In Law made, I'll have to get that recipe and post it here.
AND ENJOY!

I hope this grilling season gives you readers lots of fun, lots of extra good food, and family time.

LINKS FOR BROTHER'S SAUCES:
Website: http://brotherssauces.com/index.html
Blogspot: http://brotherssauces.blogspot.com/

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