Make Ahead Hamburger Patties
When the crisp days of spring start to morph into the hot days of summer and the school year is ending, I get the urge to break out the grill. One of our favorite grilled meals is hamburgers. I make enough hamburger patties to last us most of the summer. It is so nice to pull the frozen patties from the freezer and throw them straight on the grill for a quick and easy dinner.
Hamburger Patties
2 Pounds Ground Beef
1 Egg
2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Coarse Sea Salt (Use 1 teaspoon if you use table salt.)
Before your start, get out a baking sheet. Take parchment paper or wax paper and cut into squares slightly bigger than the patty size you desire. You will need one sheet for every patty. Place one sheet of parchment on the baking sheet.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Divide the mixture evenly. For 1/4 pound patties, divide into 8, for 1/3 pound patties, divide into 6.
Shape the patties. I like to make mine a little bit thin and flat, because as the meat cooks the proteins will tighten and the patties will puff in the middle and become smaller in diameter. (Have you ever had a hamburger that ends up more like a ball than a patty? Making them wider and thinner helps to keep this from happening.) A good rule of thumb is to make the a little wider than the buns you plan to use.
Once the patty is shaped, place it on the parchment. When you have the first 6 placed, you can put a cut square of parchment on top of the patty and repeat the process. I tend to do at least 10 pounds of beef at a time, so I can have hamburgers in the freezer ready for a quick meal all summer.
When all the patties are shaped, place the baking sheet in the freezer for several hours. Once the patties are solid, you can take them off the sheet and place in zip-close freezer bags, still separated by parchment paper.
To cook the burgers, preheat your grill to high.
Take the patties out of the freezer and use a table knife to break apart the individual burgers. The parchment paper will make this very easy. Peel off the parchment paper and place the frozen burgers on the grill.
Turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 7 minutes, flip the burgers and cook until done, about 5 more minutes.
