Food - Drink
Why You Should Try Smoking Burgers
By JESSIE MOLLOY
If you struggle with keeping your burgers juicy on the grill — or you’re just looking for a way to mix things up — you should try smoking your patties instead. Cooking burgers in a smoker ensures juicier meat and allows them to absorb the flavor of the smoking chips or wood, which creates a more complex-tasting final product.
When smoking a hamburger, use ground beef with about 20% fat, which will prevent the burger from drying out too quickly. Any kind of charcoal grill can work, but selecting the smoking wood is important — hickory or mesquite wood imparts strong barbecue flavors, cherrywood is sweeter, and oak is mild and more neutral.
When your smoker (or grill) has reached a temperature of about 225 degrees F, place the raw burgers inside and leave them to smoke for about an hour, only opening it to flip the meat once. After smoking, give the patties a quick sear on each side in a pan to give them a nice crust and then assemble your burgers as you please.