26 Hour Monster Burgers

• This is a ridiculous burger which my friend JohnE4 and I make for parties and outdoor cooking of meat in the back yard themed contests!(Please Vote!)

It does take a while to put these together, but most of the time is down time waiting for things to marinade or cook slowly.

Please let us know what you think in the comments!

Step 1: Gather Ingredients

This is what we used, but feel free to substitute for preferences and availability.

5 pounds round steak. We used a really lean meat because we were planning to add bacon to it, and we didn't want it to be too fatty.

1 pound bacon

1 pork shoulder

1 loaf Italian bread

1 bulb garlic

1 sweet onion

2 sticks butter

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Meunster Cheese

Egg(optional)

Step 2: Gather Tools

Grilling Tools

Knife and cutting board

Stick Blender or whisk

Meat grinder(or grinding attachment) We use a KitchenAid with the grinder attachment

Smoker - We use a cheap electric bullet smoker.

Grill - Gas or Charcoal, your choice

Refridgerator

Step 3: Step 1 - Prep the Meat

Coat all the meat (except the bacon) with Triple Spice(equal parts black pepper, salt, and granulated garlic) Spicing the meat before grinding will help distribute the spice.

Place the pork shoulder into a covered bowl or zip top bag, and throw it in the fridge to marinade over night.

Take the bottom round and cut it into strips so it will be easy to put into the grinder.

Cut the bacon in half and keep one part refrigerated, and put the other half with the strips of beef.

Grind the steak a little bit at a time, and mix in a few pieces of bacon every few handfulls of beef so the bacon is distributed throughout.

Once it is ground up, give it a mix to make sure the two meats are evenly mixed, then put in a covered bowl or zip top bag and throw in the fridge to marinade over night.

Step 4: Set Up for Tomorrow

We are going to want dinner around 6 or 7 PM, so my buddy is getting up super early to put the pork shoulder on the smoker. To avoid wasting time in the morning, we set up the smoker the night before, prepping the racks and bowls. Fill the water bowl up, and put some wood chips in a bin to soak. We use some hickory chips, but we have used chunk whiskey barrel wood, mesquite, cherry and apple wood before. Whatever you can get/like its up to you.

We also make sure we have a clean work space in the garage, as we do almost all of our weekend summer cooking outdoors, on either the grill or smoker. We found a bit of marble scrap that fits over his workbench almost perfectly, while we were out dumpster diving one day. Its a really nice durable, easy to clean work surface, and it cost us nothing!

Step 5: Smoke All the Things!

My Buddy put the pork shoulder on the smoker as soon as he woke up,(we made a few to share as well) and threw some wood chips on every hour or so for the next 6 hours. Keep an eye on your water level in the bowl, as it helps regulate the temperature of the smoker's cooking area. If it gets low just add some more.

After about 6 hours take the bulb of garlic and chop off the top to expose the cloves inside. Place it in a small metal bowl or some doubled up tin foil. Put in a stick of butter, and if you have it, a little wine, and place it on the smoker as well. The garlic will slowly roast while adding flavor to the butter, and the smoke will add some nice flavor as well. Let everything cook for another 5 or 6 hours, till the pork shoulder is pull apart with your bare hands tender.

Once the pork is done smoking, put in a covered foil pan, and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before shredding. Take the butter and garlic out as well. Place the garlic aside to cool for a while, and when you can handle it, squeeze out the garlic cloves into the butter. Throw away the garlic husk.

Once the pork has cooled enough that you can handle it without hurting yourself, tear it apart. My buddy has a set of bear claws that we use for the big pieces, but once you get the shoulder broken down a little, its best to glove up and get in there! I like the shred the meat by hand.

Step 6: Prepare the Rest of the Burger Fixin's

We remelted the butter and garlic mix, and added in the second stick of butter(there was some loss on the smoker). Once it was melted, we blended the garlic cloves in the butter until it took on a creamy texture. We used a hand blender, but a whisk is just as good. Once its fairly smooth, cut some pieces of the bread and spread a nice layer of the garlic butter on the bread. Set them to the side.

Grab the other half of the bacon and fry it up. We used a side burner, but you can use a stove or a frying pan on the grill.

Slice your sweet onion into rings and once the bacon is done cooking, throw them in the bacon fat for a minute or two to soften them up and add a little crispiness to the edges. Put them and the bacon on some paper towels to drain.

My buddy also fried an egg for the top of his burger. Because, why not?

Step 7: Make Your Patties

I just used my hands and formed a burger for everyone who wanted one, and set them on a plate. If you want to use a secret ninja technique or a family heirloom burger press, that's on you. :)

I did wear gloves for this but as long as your hands are clean to start, and you wash them before handling anything else, you should be OK to go commando.

Step 8: Grillin'!

There's a bit of technique involved in making a good grilled burger, but I'm sure you have your own methods.

Some people flip often, some people flip only once. Some people put their burgers right on the hottest part of the grill, while others put them over medium indirect heat. I don't judge. Cook them how you like them.

My one caution would be "DON'T SMASH EM!" Just let them cook, don't try and push out all the juices.

After the first side is done and the burgers are flipped for the last time, wait a minute or two and throw on your cheese of choice. We went with three Muenster, and one american, Also, someone wanted no cheese. We teased them horribly. Hopefully they learned their lesson.

Step 9: Get the Rest of the Goodies on the Grill!

Once the burgers are nearing completion, it's time to bring everything else to the grill.

Put your bacon strips on the burgers,

I had the fried sweet onions on mine.

My Buddy went with a fried egg.

We also put the garlic bread on the grill for few minutes to let the butter melt, and get some toastiness as well.

We threw some pulled pork in the frying pan to warm up.

Let the burgers finish cooking.

Pull everything off the grill, and take it to your prep area.

Step 10: Don't Just Make a Burger...Make a Monster!

Don't Hold Back!

I put pulled pork, fried sweet onions, bacon, and Muenster cheese on mine.

My buddy did Bacon, Egg, and Cheese, topped with a generous handful of pulled pork.

Make it yours, go wild.

Step 11: Serve It Up, Bask in the Glory of Your Success!

We plated the burgers without any kind of sauce or garnish, but we had them available for people to use.

I would recommend the following, but as always, go with your preference:

Ketchup

Mustard

BBQ Sauce

Steak Sauce

Lettuce

Sliced Avocado

Sliced tomato

Raw Sweet Onion

Pickle Slices

Sweet Relish

So that's it, please let us know what you think and what your favorite burger is, down in the comments below

Comments

[LucasGilbert]

Oh, man... I'm trying to eat healthy, please don't xD Seriously, this looks yummy

[bigdaddycole]

Thanks for checking out my 'ible! With great food comes terrible temptation...I am sorry. :)

[LucasGilbert]

Maybe you'll think of a "healthy" version of it? Just a thought :)) Cheers

[ThePaulHammer]

I need this in my life

[bigdaddycole]

Perfect excuse to throw a BBQ, my friend! I hope you get to try one! Thanks for checking out the 'ible!

[Nelly43]

BombBAY! I haven't used pulled pork, but I've made stacked burgers for a while now, I like using a slice of ham in between the beef and second round of cheese, after the onion and before the bacon. Will def be smoking a pork shoulder for our next cookout.

[bigdaddycole]

Thanks for checking out the 'ible! I would love to see a picture of your burger! Sounds awesome!

[kainxavier]

Shouldn't salt a burger in that method:

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/12/the-burger-lab-salting-ground-beef.html

[bigdaddycole]

Thanks for the link, the article was very cool. I'm not sure if it matters for these burgers though, as there is also a lot of salt in the bacon we add, so we might be at an impasse here, The texture of the meat is still really tender, maybe because it is a mix of two different meats. I will try it the other way next time and let you know.

[thesnowtheriver]

OMg i've been on a diet for 40 years, but i may break it for this glorious creation! thank you for sharing. : )

[bigdaddycole]

I am sorry to have tempted you so badly... If you really must eat one, share it with a friend!

We make a home made apple jicama slaw to go along with these that you can fill up on after eating some of the burger.

1 Jicama peeled and julienned

2-3 apples cored and julienned

1 bag of carrot shreds

1/2 head of purple cabbage shreded

10-12 fresh mint leaves chiffonaded

for the dressing mix in a separate bowl and pour over the top of the slaw before mixing all the veggies together. (Sorry there are no measures, I usually just add stuff in till it looks and tastes right)

olive oil

cider vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

salt

pepper

Italian seasoning blend

Hope that helps you from going off your diet too badly!

[Straklin]

Wow. Nice instructible. I hope to see more of your backyard creations. B-)

[JohnE4]

This is the same burger except no onions with a Bacon fat Fried Egg.

[Hevnlyhans]

My mouth is watering!