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!

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)

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 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.

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.