Smoked Cheeseburgers

To do this recipe properly, you’ll need a smoker. I use a Junior Traeger which has plenty of grill surface area. I make a homemade Thousand Island-like sauce which gives the cheeseburgers an extra pop. I’ve renamed it Epic Sauce, since it’s more like a remoulade. Typically, I don’t serve these with any side dishes because the burgers are large – about 1/2 lb each. If you want to complement with a small side dish, my favorite choice is salt and pepper Kettle potato chips.

Servings: 5

Cooking Time: 3 Hours (that includes 1 hour for the ground beef to come to room temperature before cooking)

Ingredients (for cheeseburgers):

  • 2.5 lbs ground beef (80/20 mixture)
  • 1/4 lb cheese (blue or sharp cheddar – I love Rogue Creamery blue cheese)
  • 5 Brioche buns
  • 1 tomato, sliced
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (ideally with a mandoline)
  • 1 small bunch or package of arugula or butterleaf lettuce
  • 5 thick-cut bacon slices
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 avocado, sliced (optional)

Ingredients (for Epic Sauce):

  • 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise (I use an immersion blender and follow basic online recipes – substituting avocado oil for seed oils)
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 small pickle, minced
  • 3 small anchovy fillets, mashed
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 Tbsp Italian parsley, minced (optional)
  • 1 tsp white pepper, cracked

Directions:

Meat: Take the ground beef out of the fridge an hour before you smoke to let it come to room temperature. Form the beef into 1/2 lb patties and season with rock salt (my favorite is Redmond Real Salt). About 20 minutes before you want to start smoking, heat up the smoker to 200 degrees. Place patties on the grill and smoke for one hour, or when the meat reaches desired wellness (I like medium-rare, so about 145 degrees internally). You can add the cheese on top of the meat about 10 minutes before you are ready to remove the patties from the grill.

Epic Sauce: Once you’ve started to smoke the patties, you have time to make the Epic Sauce. Using an immersion blender, make the homemade mayonnaise. Once finished, mix in all of the remaining ingredients in a small serving bowl. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve with the cheeseburgers.

Accessories: I like to add up to three special toppings: bacon, pickled onions, and a fried egg. These are optional enhancements to the cheeseburgers that you can prepare once the Epic Sauce is finished. First, prepare one slice of bacon per cheeseburger. The easiest way is to place the bacon on a small, foil-lined baking pan. Cook the bacon in a toaster oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Set aside. Next, I like to flash pickle my onions. To do this, fill a mason jar 3/4 full with a fifty-fifty mix of cider vinegar and water. Pour the vinegar-water into a small pot over high heat. Add a Tbsp of salt, 2 cloves, 1 garlic clove, and a small pinch of sugar (optional). Once the brine reaches a boil, pour back into the mason jar and add the raw sliced onions. Let sit in the counter or in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the cheeseburgers. Another accessory to the cheeseburgers is a fried egg. Just prior to serving, fry one egg in a small amount of butter and olive oil using a ceramic fry pan (my favorite brand is Green Pan). Final word: It’s nice to toast the buns just before serving. Keep in mind that there will be a lot of activity at this phase, so you need to time it all carefully. Top both sides of the toasted buns with Epic Sauce and stack your greens (i.e. arugula, lettuce) on the bottom bun so that it holds the patty without falling apart. Then, stack your patty, tomato, bacon, and fried egg on top. Serve with potato chips or whatever other side you choose.