Burgers falling apart...

I'm thinking the cheese could be the issue.

I agree wit LMAJ. Try it without the cheese and see.

Too much fat, when you mix in the cheese, you are pushing fat content up into the 25% range, meat will not hold a patty at the point.

I worked at a "mom and pop" burger joint when I was a teen. They mixed in ground up Saltines into their patties to help hold them together and extend the meat. When grilled on a flat grill, you could not tell that there was any crackers in the meat. I have done the same in the past when the meat was too lean, and had good results. You might try that also. The cheese is better added after the meat is cooked, and always on the "mustard" side of the burger. (or so my wife thinks. can't tell the difference myself)

Omar

I also agree that it could be the cheese, but another possibility is overworking the meat during the process of mixing in the spices & forming the patties.

try adding an egg or two to keep thing to geather

LMAJ said:

I'm thinking the cheese could be the issue.

Click to expand...

I've had similar issues when making sausage with cheese. While the casings hold it all together, when cut / bitten open, the meat just falls everywhere.

I have Never put cheese in before cooking, that could do it. I usually grind chuck and use bacon for the fat content, I do season "salt, pepper, and a little cyan" on the meat before grinding, and also add green, red, pepper and onion before cooking.
Never had them fall apart,too bad. When making the patties I don't over work them either, measure 6 oz. make em round and smash em flat.

I lied, I season with a lot of cyan pepper.

I grind brisket OFTEN and it does like to fall apart if one of two things aren't done.

1. When making your patties REALLY work the meat. More than you would normally if you bought it from the store.


or

2. Double grind the meat. Extra course at first then your normal grind second. You can then patty them out as you would normally do and they will hold together fine.


I really enjoy the fall apart nature of just grinding the brisket and pressing them on the griddle. But, my wife is apparently incapable of refraining from messing with a burger once it's on the grill/griddle so I had to find another way to do things for when she decides she wants to cook herself. I keep my burger meat separate.:becky:


The main problem isn't so much with your fat content as much as the fibers of the meat are not mingled together as much as they would be on store bought or even other cuts of meat like chuck. The extra kneading or the second grind takes care of that.

But, I WILL say that I recommend the extra kneading over the second grind just because I like the option of having the looser meat for other things(chili, spaghetti).

x2 on the second grind and on the egg. I don't grind myself, but I remember as a kid, when we had burgers, my mom would ask for "double-ground" meat. Now I know why. When I make burgers or HB steaks, I always add an egg and a little oatmeal, just like my meatloaf.

I've had the fall apart on brisket trimmings as well. Just would make tacos from the scrap. Will try the double grind

Yep. If I'm double grinding I start with the coarse and end with a smaller grind. That'll do the trick. The grind I like is 4.5mm(3/16)


But, unless I'm underestimating how coarse you're grinding the burger, working the meat will keep it together. It is a bit labor intensive though if it's really coarse.

You can grind your spices and cheese etc. into the meat as you grind it. No need to rework by hand to blend in your spices and cheese etc. and over work the meat. I have also added any combo,cheese,onion soup mix, BBQ sauce,worchester and always eggs and fine bread crums when making my patties