Sunday Bake of the Week: Beef Burgers and Buns

Okay, so I am probably the worst person in the world for time management. And something that has supposed to have been posted weekly has been more like every 10 days or so. So I am going to be strict with myself, and say that the Bake of the Week is going to be posted every Sunday. It may be at 11 o'clock Sunday night - but it will be done on Sunday!

So my apologies to everyone who thus far was expecting a weekly post; expect it now each Sunday!

Beef Burgers and Home-made Buns

I have been making our hamburgers from scratch for years now, but never actually took the time to measure out what I was adding. I thought it would be fun to see exactly what and how much goes into these delicious burgers. Because of the flavour of the meat itself, we never feel the need to add BBQ sauce when we cook them, but you can experiment with the taste.

As for buns, they had been one of the baked goods I had never tried. I don't know why. I think I had this idea in my mind that they would be terribly difficult to make, which as it turns out was completely untrue. They are no more difficult to make than bread (and actually take much less time!). And unlike the bread with it’s hearty crust, these buns turn out beautifully soft, with a nice golden top.

Both recipes make 12 good sized burgers and buns.

Burger Buns:

In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 cup warm water. Mix in 1 package (2 ¼ tsp) yeast, and let stand 10 minutes. While you’re waiting, combine in a saucepan 1 cup milk, 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar, 1 ½ tsp salt, and 2 tbsp butter. Heat over low heat until the butter is dissolved, and remove from heat.

Once milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add to the yeast. Slowly mix in 3 cups of all-purpose flour, one cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a well-floured surface and continue to slowly add one more cup of flour (or how much is necessary to make the dough no longer stick to your hands), and knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Form dough into a ball and place in a bowl coated lightly with olive oil, turning once to coat the entire ball with oil. Cover, and let stand in a warm, draft-free place for 1 ½ hours.

After dough has risen, punch it down and on a floured surface, roll into a log. Cut the log into 12 pieces, and shape each piece into small ball, stretching and pulling the top of the ball under, so that the top is nice and smooth. Place onto cookie sheets that have been sprinkled with cornmeal, and flatten each ball slightly. Let rise for one more hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F, and while it is preheating, mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tbsp water. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the buns are golden and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to cooling racks, and enjoy!

Unlike hamburger buns from the store, these are also great as a replacement for toast or bagels, and with a bit of melted cheese, work great for snacks too!

 Beef Burgers:

1.25 kg lean ground beef
1 medium sized onion
1 egg (plus the leftover egg white from the buns)
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
½ cup course breadcrumbs (I find sourdough ones the tastiest)
Salt and pepper to taste

Dice onions as fine as possible, and in a large bowl, combine with all ingredients (there does not have to be a specific order to the way ingredients are adding, just throw them all in!). Using your hands (yes, you have to use your hands – using a fork or any type of mixer just doesn’t get it as thoroughly combined) squish the ingredients together – you want everything as mashed as possible!

Divide the mixture into 12 patties, I try to make each patty as flat as possible without breaking as I find once they cook they tend to come together and get higher but not as wide. I’ve never been able to figure out why they do that.

Cook them in a frying pan or on the BBQ, either way works well. I also freeze the patties I will not be using right away; just put wax paper between the patties and store in an airtight container or zip-lock bag.