I have several Cook's Illustrated books and love them.

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Plus, you know, I ground my own meat.

...oh, the jokes to be made here.

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That sounds delicious.

You know, you could always use some really good cheese on top to sort of hold the patty together.

I'm ready for my lunch break now. Somehow, I don't think my lunch will quite compare.

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Another big advantage to grinding your own meat is you can feel safer if you prefer it rare.

Back in the olden days, before the Jack-in-the-Box e-coli scare, my family always ate thick burgers that were pink in the middle. I still tend to eat steak that's almost raw, although I do like the middle to be at least body-temperature.

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It's safer anyway.

It's been a while since I read Fast Food Nation, so I don't remember all the details, but ground beef in the US is pretty scary. As I recall, here are toxins in US ground beef (e.g., shiga toxins) that only come from bacteria in fecal matter.

I'm not saying other meat that you get in the US is necessarily great, but ground beef suffers from "hot dog syndrome" in that it's everything leftover after they've made the good cuts, ground so you can't really tell what it was from. Grinding your own meat is significantly healthier, because you know what you're eating.

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I stopped my subscriptions to all my other cooking magazines after I found Cook's Illustrated. They've never steered me wrong.

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I tried that recipe too! It was teh awsum.

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Grinding your own meat sounds like it belongs in the same list as waxing your cabinet :-)

Go for broke and grind your own meat while waxing your cabinet?

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Gotta say, awesome iconage!

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I wonder how it compared to the last burger I made. Venison ground with bacon to bring the fat content up a little. I think I added a shot of Worchestershire sauce, some minced garlic and some chili powder too. There is definately a feeling of satisfaction knowing exactly where your hamburger comes from.

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mmmmm Bambi burger

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Alton Brown's method involves a combination of ground sirloin and ground chuck, plus exact measurement and cooking times and conditions. But I have to say, it's the best burger I have ever put in my mouth. Well worth the extra effort. As you say, even better than Swenson's.

Oh. I guess I know what's for dinner...

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Cook's Illustrated delights me because I can never quite believe that someone actually went through the effort to make sixty-something different versions of, say, a hamburger to discover the best one. Chris Kimball is totally a hero.
cheers,
Megan

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Homemade hamburgers are a gateway drug. It's only a short step from there to grinding up leg of lamb instead, and mixing in rosemary and garlic when you make the burgers.

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Did you see the Kamikaze Cookery programme I linked to the other day?
http://www.kamikazecookery.com/
Might be up your street :->

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this is so timely, given the recent How I Met Your Mother episode...

will you have a green door and a pink neon sign? :)

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I gave up on ground meat from the grocery a long time ago. For several years now, when I make burgers, I grind them from tritip.

It is so worth it.

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I have never had anything from Cook's Illustrated go wrong. It has got to be my favorite recipe place ever. Try their spaghetti and meatballs!

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Glad to hear this - I'd been eyeing that recipe, trying to decide if it was worth the effort or not. Sounds like it definitely is, so I'll have to put it on the menu one of these evenings.

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When you lived in Anchorage, did you ever go to Club Paris for lunch and order one of their burgers? They're all from steak that didn't get cooked the night before and are absolutely stupid good. Reasonably priced, too, especially for up there.

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don't need to know about u grinding yer own meat...

Seriously, sounds cool, , i think cooking rocks! u ever check out the top chef website for video how tos?

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"this is a family friendly board"

Seriously?

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That is pretty damn cool. I immediately thought of the frozen solid chunk of short ribs I have int eh chest freezer.. then cringed.. what a way to abuse short ribs that could easily find themselves cowering at the bottom of a slow cooker w/home made bar-b-que and a can of coke...

*drool*

Enjoy your burger.

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Grinding your own meat = Good.
Starting your own cookfire with two sticks = Truly Impressive! :)

Congrats, and enjoy!

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I've not yet subscribed to the magazine, but their cookbook "The New Best Recipe" is my favorite cookbook EVAR, and while I've not made nearly enough stuff out of it, I have loved the things that I have made.

I fell in love with it when I opened the book to a random page (chicken pot pie) and read all the "science" they did in coming up with the recipe. Hmmm, wine makes it taste better, chicken broth makes the veggies prettier - hey! Let's use chicken broth and then throw in some sherry at the very end! Brilliant!

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try their apple pie. mega-delish.

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