Make these bourbon burgers with bacon for a savory and juicy burger with lots of hearty flavor!
Prep Time15minutes mins
Cook Time30minutes mins
Total Time45minutes mins
Servings6
Calories734
Equipment
- ▢1 Digital meat
- ▢1 Burger press
Ingredients 1x2x3x
Burger Onions
- ▢1 tablespoon oil or bacon fat from the cooking the bacon
- ▢1 large sweet onion approximately 12 oz after slicing, peeled, cut in half then julienned in slices
- ▢½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ▢¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ▢1 tablespoon sugar
- ▢1 tablespoon butter
- ▢2 oz bourbon
Burger Patty
- ▢2 pounds ground beef 80/20 is good but you can use leaner meat if you want
- ▢2 oz Bourbon Buffalo Trace is a good option or your favorite
- ▢1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
- ▢1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ▢1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ▢½ teaspoon black pepper
- ▢Additional ingredients:
- ▢12 slices thick cut bacon cooked
- ▢12 slices cheddar cheese you can use a different cheese of your liking
- ▢6 Brioche hamburger buns
Instructions
- Make the onions: In a nonstick skillet, heat the oil or bacon grease over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the sweet sliced onions and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Once they start to soften, add the salt, black pepper, sugar and butter. Cook for about 15-20 minutes over medium heat until the onions begin to become golden and caramelize. Add the bourbon and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove the cooked onions from heat and make the burgers.
- Pre-heat the grill to medium high heat about 375-400 degrees F.
- Make and press the burgers: In a large mixing bowl add the ground beef, bourbon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix until completely combined, with your hands or with a heavy duty spatula.
- Divide the meat mixture into 6 even portions (about 5-6 oz each) on a working surface/tray. Form each portion into a patty about 5” round and 1½” thick. You can also use a burger press to accomplish a round pressed patty. Using your thumb, press a small impression into the center of each patty to help prevent the meat from shrinking when grilling.
- Place the patties on the grill, close the grill cover and cook for 3 minutes. Flip the burgers, close the grill cover and cook for another 3 minutes. This time should provide a medium temperature burger, or you can use a digital thermometer and remove the cooked burgers when the internal temperature reaches 120. (The burger temperature will continue to rise when you add the cheddar cheese, reaching 130 for medium.)
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cheese to each burger, close the grill cover and cook for about 1 minute longer to melt the cheese.
- Remove the burgers to a new tray and let them rest for about 3 minutes.
- Build your burger: Starting with the bottom of a brioche bun, top that with the cooked cheeseburger, then top with two folded slices of cooked bacon, then add 1-2 tablespoons of the caramelized bourbon onions. Finish with the brioche top and enjoy!
Notes
- If you prefer to make this without any alcohol, simply omit the bourbon in the onions and in the burger patty mix.
- Adjust the temperature down as the onions start to caramelize so all the pieces cook at the same time. Low and slow is better than fast and burnt.
- Use caution when adding the bourbon to the hot onions- it will steam and bubble violently!
- The onions will reduce down during cooking by half; so if you start with 12 oz of raw sliced julienned onions, the yield of bourbon onions after cooking is around 6 oz, which will provide about 1 oz or 1 tablespoon of onions per burger. If you like a lot of onions, double the recipe to have extr
Nutrition
Serving: 1burgerCalories: 734kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 47gFat: 76gSaturated Fat: 29gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 31gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 194mgSodium: 1210mgPotassium: 640mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 427IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 336mgIron: 5mg