I’ve been trying to branch out and soak new proteins in my SousVide Supreme. Today, I experimented with making lamb burgers in my water oven. Why? Well, my go-to guy for all things sous vide, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats’ Food Lab, has some compelling reasons why you should sous vide your burgers. What really sold me was his drool-worthy description of sous vide burgers:
We’re talking burgers that oozed juices for nearly a minute after biting into them. Burgers that were thick, juicy, and perfectly medium rare from edge to edge with crisp brown crusts. We’re talking nearly perfect burgers here.
Dude! I want to eat one!
Here’s what I gathered to make four ¼-pound lamb burgers:
- 1 pound ground lamb
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 heaping teaspoon Tabil seasoning
Here’s how I made them:
I preheated my SousVide Supreme to 137 F (J. Kenji suggests 130 F for medium rare, 140 F for medium) and generously seasoned the ground lamb with salt and pepper. Then, I added the Tabil seasoning and gently mixed the meat to distribute the seasoning.
I divided the meat into 4 patties…
…and then froze them for two hours so my sucky-ass FoodSaver wouldn’t squash the patties too much when it was time to vacuum seal them.
After the patties solidified, I vacuum sealed them, two per bag.
I dunked them in the SousVide Supreme for about 2 hours (you can keep them submerged for 45 minutes up to 12 hours). Then, I took the patties out and dried them with paper towels.
After arranging the patties on a baking rack on top of a foil-lined tray, I busted out my kitchen torch.
According to Douglas Baldwin, you should aim your torch 4-6 inches away from your target and make small circular motions with your flame until you get a nice even char. I think I just like setting things on fire.
Voila!
The burgers were pretty tasty, but not quite “perfect” because I like them closer to medium rare. Looks like I now have an excuse to try this again!
Next time, I’m gonna use a temp closer to 130 F and char the bleep out of them.
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