Chef Paul: Burgers for BBQ
March 28 2011
I picked up our new BBQ on Saturday thanks to a neighbour with a trunk. Despite today’s weather, a balmy high of 1C, BBQ season is just around the corner. For those of you fortunate enough to reside in warmer climes, well…I’m quite jealous.
I love to barbecue. It’s not the primal “man make fire” thing for me, it’s mostly not having as many dishes to wash! Yep, that’s one of the major perks of BBQing… much less cleanup.
We needed a new BBQ because ours was on its last legs…well actually, on its last leg – literally. One legged barbecuing is not for the faint of heart either, so a new BBQ was purchased. Now, I like propane BBQs myself. Though I do love the flavour of charcoal briquettes, the ease and speed of a good gas grill is what we need around our house.
Even though ours is a brand new ‘cue, I will still go through the spring cleaning/maintenance checklist. That means I will be sure to check my gas lines with a soap solution; clean out the burners; scrub down the grill rack and then “season” the grill by heating it up at full heat for at least 20 minutes. If yours is an older BBQ, make sure to check it for any rust spots as well.
Come summer time, we pretty much barbecue EVERYTHING…well everything food that is. So to get ready, I placed an order for 10lbs of lean ground beef from my favourite butcher at the farmer’s market. He’ll have fresh, grass fed ground beef for me next Saturday and then I will make patties which I’ll freeze to use throughout the spring and summer. I usually get about 3 to 4 patties per pound which would mean 35 burgers when all’s said and done. At a cost of $40 for the meat and roughly $5 for the remaining ingredients (mustard, herbs, spices, egg and bread crumbs) that works out to $1.30 per patty. Sure, you can buy the pre-made frozen “convenience pack” of patties for around $20 for 30, or the “gourmet Angus beef” patties for $10 for 8, but I know EXACTLY what I’ll be putting in my burgers. There’ll be no “flavour” as an ingredient (what is that anyhow…shouldn’t all products have flavour?), no endless amount of beef filler or other mystery ingredients. It will take a bit of time to make 35 patties of course but I think my family is worth the extra effort.
Eating healthy and planning meals requires a commitment…you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to make that commitment.
