Hamburgers with Breadcrumbs??

I've seen a few recipes lately that call for bread crumbs in hamburgers (and sometimes an egg). I've never even considered this, but the recipes I have seen suggest that just a little bread in the mixture helps keep them moist by absorbing the fat, and helps them to keep from separating when cooking. The first time I saw this method, I laughed it off as grilled meatloaf, but I've seen a few more recipes since. Any thoughts on these additions to your burger? (and I'm talking beef burgers, and I usually use chuck, 80/20).

hi kim, that's the way i've been making my hamburgers for 34 years. we italians use progresso bread crumbs, and eggs, it keeps the burgers moist, and very flavorful. try it i think you will enjoy them. i also have added lipton onion soup mix to the ground beef mixture.

Thank you, AnneMarie!! I am planning on grilling some tonight as a last minute thought (because it's not raining!!!!). I was hoping someone would chime in - how much bread crumb do you add to say, a pound of ground beef? (I'm sorry, do you go by Annie, Anne Marie, or???)

A friend of mine swears by her recipe for peanut butter burgers, using peanut butter for moisture and as a binder. I have GOT to get around to trying those - the only problem is, whenever I get a hankering to try it, I read the recipe and you have to let the mixture sit overnight. I'm not very good at waiting.

A friend of mine swears by her recipe for peanut butter burgers, using peanut butter for moisture and as a binder. I have GOT to get around to trying those - the only problem is, whenever I get a hankering to try it, I read the recipe and you have to let the mixture sit overnight. I'm not very good at waiting.

I might try that sometime, but I have to admit, it sounds a bit strange. But some of the best recipes do. I hope that's not the case w/the breadcrumbs (sitting overnight), cuz I have to have me a burger tonight, and hubby is on his way w/the chuck! <resisting inserting bad joke here>

Here's the recipe, for future reference. Interestingly, it specifically says DON'T use breadcrumbs in this version:

1-1/2 lb lean hamburger or ground sirloin
1/4 c smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic
2 T butter, very soft


Combine all ingredients and shape into patties. Refrigerate patties
for at least two hours. (Chilling the patties helps hold thier shape
while broiling).

Grill on BBQ.

This recipe is very flexible. Almost any spice or seasoning works well
with it. DO NOT add bread crumbs to this though. The peanut butter and
the chilling, will hold them together just fine

edited to credit my buddy, Marlene Newell - she's from Canada!

Cool - thanks for sharing, Marsha! The flavor combo makes me very curious. I'll probably try this next time I make burgers!

Funny that you would post this, I was reading something about burger by Bobby Flay, and he said that if you add breadcrumbs and eggs you are having a meatloaf burger. I have never tried it, but I was going to just to see how it works out.

Let us know how they came out please. I am kicking myself for not bbqing today......ggrrrrr

Ive gone the breadcrumb route many times and just dont care for it. I feel it adds a meatloaf quality to the burger I just cant get around. As far as Lynch talking peanut butter....I guess I can see that...its the binder in alot of eggrolls around this fair land.

A friend of mine swears by her recipe for peanut butter burgers, using peanut butter for moisture and as a binder. I have GOT to get around to trying those - the only problem is, whenever I get a hankering to try it, I read the recipe and you have to let the mixture sit overnight. I'm not very good at waiting.

My family has laughed for 20 years about the time I made this very recipe. My brother brought it up just last month. I thought it was tasty- but they didn't see it that way.

I thoroughly enjoy the James beard recipe

2# chopped round or chuck
2-3 tbsp of grated onion
1 tbsp of heavy cream
tt- fresh ground blk pepper

form into 6 or 8 ounce patties and get a cast iron skillet smokin hot(combo of butter and oil) sear, about 4-5 min. per side, that will give you a fairly rare burger. If it's good enough for James Beard it's good enough for me.

Please excuse this being a bit off topic but I seem to remember one of the TV cooking hosts in the 80s recommending using Wonderbread as a binder in crab cakes. After the crab cakes were cooked there was no trace of the bread left at all and they held together beautifully. I guess it has something to do with the starch content? Maybe?

For the best burgers you will ever eat, add a little dried parsley, a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and some grated onion (to your taste) to a pound or two of ground beef (or ground turkey). Mix it up, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Form into patties, and grill. For some reason, these burgers come out really juicy, and just perfect every time!

[Robin Garr]

In Italian cookery - or Northeastern Italian, anyway - bread and milk are used as a filler in polpette (meatballs), especially with ground veal, and it makes them incredibly light.

Here's an article I wrote a while back, inspired by the polpette at then-new Primo. Although I formed them as tiny meatballs and used them in a mushroom-cream sauce for papardelle, I've used the same recipe up to the baking stage but then fashioned the meat as patties and cooked them like burgers in a skillet to make a fair match for the Primo/Allo Spiedo Allo Burger. (Oh, Primo, why did you have to leave us? <sob!>)

http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvis ... 1020.phtml

i have always added very finely chopped onions.......and my family loves them.....never thought to grate it....DUH!

Thanks to everyone for the posts and suggestions! I grew up with a Mom who did the grilling, and she was pretty good at it. But our hamburgers were simply meat, with seasoning on the outside, and grilled, usually to a medium rare. I changed the seasoning, but pretty much stuck with the same principle - burgers are BURGERS.

Lots of folks have suggested adding grated onions, etc., to the mix, which all sound wonderful, and I bet it helps add to the moisture of the burgers. I'll probably try some of these suggestions as the season progresses.

Posting my burger-bread crumb results shortly.... (assuming inet and ELECTRICITY hold out!!!!)