Online Cooking School Forum
Problems with homemade burgers falling apart
How do you get your homemade burgers not to crumble?
3 Answers
I've recently started adding about 2 Tbl spoons of tomato paste (along with the usual beaten egg and toasted breadcrumbs) and the burgers turn out so tasty and don't fall apart. If you have time, refrigerating them before cooking also helps!
Lisa, try a 50% beef, 50% pork mix with no additional ingredients other than seasoning (Fat content in meat is important, so try not go too lean). Mix the ground meat together and form your patties into balls, using the same portion as you would on a normal patty and place in fridge for 30min to cool. Place on a high heat frying pan as a ball and allow fry for a minute or two until juices have formed around the ball. Using a spatula, press ball down into pan to form your patty. What's great about this technique is that the edges give you a very tasty finish because they are slightly "broken" from being pressed down and create more surface area for crisping. Try it, you won't be sorry.
I find that egg usually sorts the problem out. If they are still crumbling and you've only added one egg, try adding more next time. If that doesn't help, try adding only the yolks.
Answer this question
Items in Your Cart
