Blue Gartr Meal Time: Bacon optional? Bacon required.

[Tokitoki]

While that is true in some cases, good toppings on a good burger only enhance the overall effect.

[dasva]

I'm pretty big on not too many tops lol. Granted part of that is small kitchen and prepping too much really increases workload exponentially. Also a fan of all that cheese and meat. Maybe some sautéed mushrooms/onions. Tomato if I can get some garden fresh ones. Some ketchup

I'm still a fan of sous vide then cast iron with a little butter. Like mixing some thyme in with cheddar for my cheese. Or sometimes mix fresh grated parm into the patty itself usually some amount of spice with that like cayenne or chili powder.

Also like to deglaze the pan after with some balsamic, cool it a little then mix it with some ketchup to make a beefy balsamic ketchup. Pairs particularly well with spicy burgers as the sweet/sour really compliment the spice

[Tokitoki]

I like your style with the thyme butter or balsamic reduction, but that can be a decent amount of work as well. Mushrooms and onions are easy if you throw them in a pan or on the grill. They're generally done at the same time as the burger. Basting or making a reduction takes a little more focus.

[dasva]

Yeah main problem right now is super small stove with only one big burner and actually using it with any not small burner pan interferes with using the others so doing multiple things on the stove can be problematic. Also they have to be some of the lowest power electric I've ever used so maintaining consistent heat can be hard while cooking and everything ends up taking longer. Part of why I love using the cast iron. Once it gets hot shit stays hot. Though sous vide lets me do things like shrooms while that's going. Also lack of counter space means I also tend to favor things that let me use the same pan for multiple things

[dasva]

Speaking of mushrooms what do you guys do? I mean sautéing mushrooms itself is quite a variety. Normally I do Giorgio canned ones from Costco with some butter but also been doing some crimini that I've sun dried first with some avocado oil to start then butter which works good. Also didn't have butter once and used some heavy cream which worked out much better than expected. Almost always use some garlic and garlic salt too. Sometimes some thyme or onions if I'm saying fuck it to carbs lol.

Haven't really branched out though too much to other shrooms, fats, spices/add ins and was kind of curious. Kind of scared to experiment since I actually hated mushrooms for most my life lol

[Zetanio]

I just buy fresh mushrooms, slice em small, toss em in a pan with a little oil, garlic, few drops of stock. They cook super fast.

[Tokitoki]

I usually just do olive oil, salt, and pepper unless I'm making a mushroom sauce or something.

[Kalmado]

I just do oil and the shrooms. Let them cook. Same with onions. Occasionally I'll cook them in lemon butter as a throwback to my time cooking at Lone Star Steakhouse.

[dasva]

I'm making a mushroom sauce or something.

God I love making mushroom sauces super on diet. Only bad part is while it's quite amazing at start after cooling/reheating the fats really start to separate and it's hard fix without a bunch of carbs

whelp guess I'll have to experiment on different things to sautee and see how it works out lol. Actually tried some bacon grease once. As much as I like cooking with bacon grease it definitely didn't really work out

[Tokitoki]

Yeah a cream sauce like that never reheats. It's something you make/order when you want to be a total fat ass and eat all/most of it in one sitting.

[Kalmado]

So first smoking experience we're doing will be tomorrow. 1 rack each of baby and spare, a whole chicken, and possibly pork shoulder. I'll try and get pics with my potato phone. May try to mix in some veggies too.

[Tokitoki]

That's a lot of stuff. You may want to limit it a bit. Don't know how big the smoker is, but you don't want to overcrowd it. Also, if anything goes wrong you won't waste as much food.

[Kalmado]

It's a good size. Here is a short video where you can see how much room is left with 2 racks of ribs.

[Boyiee]

Burgers I do 4oz because I usually buy the meat in 1lb or 2lb packs so it divides up easily. Salt pepper onion powder sometimes garlic powder. I pan fry mostly but grill when I can.

Mushrooms I get baby bellas almost exclusively, butter and olive oil (butter is a must). Salt pepper and thyme in a pan till soft. Always fresh mushrooms. Sometimes towards the end I'll add beef or chicken stock depending what they are served with, a little wine, heavy cream to make a sauce. Or I'll add spinach and use the mushrooms to top my sous vide egg bites.

[Kalmado]

If anyone is interested, they can search for the smoker we got to see if it's on clearance in their area here: https://brickseek.com/walmart-invent.../?sku=54189385

I've searched lower central to east Michigan and our Walmart was the only one that had it at the price of $175. Looks like we got super lucky. For reference, our zip is 49203 to show the price.

[dasva]

Yeah a cream sauce like that never reheats. It's something you make/order when you want to be a total fat ass and eat all/most of it in one sitting.

Well I do it for my normal eating so time is limited and doing it every night and figuring nutrional info for a few days is annoying. Been having some luck with concentrated emulsifiers but most are kind of expensivish for normal day to day eating. Most cream cheese have a decent amount so thinking that might help and probably why I see it in a lot of cheese sauces

[Zetanio]

I never use butter or creams anymore at home. I cut them out awhile ago and I don't miss them.

[Tokitoki]

I use butter for baking or for making a roux.

[dasva]

I love my delicious fats lol

[Salodin]

I never use butter or creams anymore at home. I cut them out awhile ago and I don't miss them.

You're not using butter on your steaks, occasionally?