Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Well, I have been playing around with the Sous Vide Magic controller (SVM) and making hamburgers. Since there is a strong avoidance syndrome for pink meat in the Philippines, I've been setting the SVM for 64C to 66C which means 147F to 151F for my water filled slow cooker. I vacuum pack the hamburger patties (gently) and then cook for 1 1/2 hours based on Douglas Baldwin's tables and the 30 mm (slightly over 1 inch) thickness of my 6 ounce patties.

Then I deep fry them in 400F canola oil for 35 to 40 seconds. That gives them a nice crisp exterior, while the interior is an acceptable grey, with just a hint of pinkness but still moist and flavorful. My first one, I was a little uncertain about. Not sure if I really liked the crispy, crunchy exterior. But by the second one I was sold. The done-ness of the burgers interior can easily be controlled using the sous vide approach. I go for the border between Medium and Medium Well, so that I don't have any arguments about safety. If I was more confident of my meat sources, I would try the area between Medium Rare and Medium, but that is just outside my comfort zone here.

This weekend I will have friends over for a burger and fries party. I'm going to try making the cheese slices and cheese sauce that Serious Eats has guides too. Add some bacon to the mix for a bacon and cheese burger, fill the empty space on the plates with Belgian style French Fries cooked in coconut oil.

I wanted to make sure the deep fried burgers, initially cooked sous vide, would be fun. The nice thing is they can be held for quite awhile, the deep fry goes quickly, so if providing you have a fast recovery of the oil's temperature. You can turn these puppies out in pretty short order.

The same is true about the french fries double cooked. The second fry is at higher temperature (365F to 375F) and is only for 2 minutes or so maximum. The first fry can be done well ahead of time and the fries stored in a refrigerator until needed.

I don't have photos yet, but I will try to get some on Sunday when have the Burger Party.

Glad to hear it is working out for you! Deep fried burgers really are very delicious.