Crack Burgers

Yield: 20 patties / 10 servings (doubles)

Ingredients

Meat blend (5 lbs total)

• 2.5 lbs ground beef (80/20)
• 1.5 lbs ground pork
• 1 lb ground venison (deer)

Note: I sometimes just do 2/2/1 to make it easy.

Mix-ins

• 5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 15 tablespoons sour cream (just under 1 cup)
• 10 tablespoons Ranch dressing mix (~2½ packets)
• 5 tablespoons house seasoning
• 1¼ cups cooked and crumbled bacon

Other

• 20 burger buns, toasted
• Additional house seasoning for surface

Instructions

Preparation

1. Cook bacon. Cook bacon until crisp, crumble, and set aside to cool before mixing.
2. Combine meat and mix-ins. In a large bowl, combine all three ground meats, cheddar, sour cream, Ranch mix, house seasoning, and crumbled bacon. Mix thoroughly by hand until fully incorporated. Do not overwork.
3. Form patties. Divide mixture into equal portions (~5 oz each). Press into uniform patties. Lightly season the outside of each patty.

Griddle

1. Preheat griddle. Set griddle or cast iron skillet to 350°F / medium heat. Lightly oil/lard/tallow the cooking surface.
2. Cook patties. Place patties on the griddle and cook until edges begin to brown, about 3–4 minutes. Flip and cook to desired doneness — 130–135°F internal for medium rare. Add a slice of cheese on top for the last 1–2 minutes if desired.

Smoker

1. Preheat smoker. Set to 225–250°F.
2. Cook patties. Place on racks. These will cook faster than normal smoked meats.
3. BBQ Baste. To help with flavor and keeping the patties together as the internal cheese melts, take your favorite BBQ sauce. You can dilute it a bit with water or ACV. Then brush it onto the burgers every few minutes (maybe every 5-10 minutes) until the burgers hit your desired internal temperature.

Assembly

1. Build burgers. Place patties on toasted buns and add your preferred condiments. For doubles, stack two patties per bun.

Notes

Based on the Meat Church recipe by Matt Pittman and NFL QB Jarrett Stidham.

Note: Differences of these approaches are preference. If you like the more charred/crispy style do a the griddle/grill. If you like a more smokey/bbq flavor and don’t mind that it’s missing that flame/griddle kissed crisp then smoker is great.

• Why this meat blend: Venison is very lean — the 80/20 beef and ground pork supply the fat needed to keep the patties moist and flavorful. Keep venison at or under 20% of the blend. The sour cream mixed into the meat also adds significant moisture, which helps compensate for the lean game meat.
• Don't smash these. The mix-ins make these thicker stuffed-style patties, not smash burgers. Let them cook through without pressing down.
• Original recipe: Serves 3-4 from 1 lb beef, scaled 5x here for 10 with above-average appetites.

Variations

• Single patties: Scale back to 10 patties at ~8 oz each for a large single burger per person.
• Straight beef: Replace the full 5 lbs with 80/20 ground chuck if no game meat available.
• Extra cheese on top: Pepper jack or smoked gouda work great as a topper in addition to the cheddar mixed in.