Cedar Plank Grilled BBQ Hamburgers Video
(Closed captioning available on this video)
- MACARONI SALAD
- ½ pound macaroni
- 1 ounce pimento
- 2½ ounces olives, sliced
- 1 tablespoon mustard, as needed
- 5 sweet pickles, finely chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- SPICY STEAK FRIES
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 russet potatoes, cut into wedges
- Creole seasoning, to taste
- BBQ HAMBURGERS
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) onions, fried
- 2 hamburger buns
- Barbecue rub, to taste
- Preheat the grill to 325° - 350°F.
- Soak the cedar planks for an hour in water and heat in the grill with cooking side down.
- For the macaroni salad, cook macaroni according to package directions.
- Once done, drain them completely.
- In a large bowl, combine celery, red onions, drained macaroni, olives, pimento, pickles, mustard, mayonnaise and mix well for the ingredients to blend.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Refrigerate until serving.
- For steak fries, put together potato wedges, olive oil and creole seasoning in a ziplock bag and shake well.
- Brush the heated cedar plank’s cooking side with canola oil (after taking out of grill).
- Arrange the wedges on the greased plank as shown in the video and place the plank on the grill rack.
- Grill for 35-40 minutes in low heat setting.
- For hamburgers, divide the meat to equal parts (1/2 pound each) and make patties.
- Sprinkle desired quantity of bbq rub over the patties and rub for coating well.
- Brush the heated cedar plank’s cooking side with canola oil (after taking out of grill) and place the patties over it.
- Place the planks over grill and cook until internal temperature reaches 150∞.
- Meanwhile toast the hamburger buns over the grill.
- Layer the patties on the top of toasted bun and top with bbq sauce and fried onions.
- Cover with other half of the bun.
- Assemble as shown in the video.
Video Transcript:
Presenter:
Hey, everyone, welcome to the Cooking Everything Outdoors show.
Today, we’re celebrating Memorial Day.
We’re cooking three of my favorite things: barbecued hamburgers, spicy steak fries and macaroni salad.
And we’ve got a hot cup of Joe going here.
So stick with me, we’re going to have some fun.
Announcer:
Gary House with the outdoor cook Cooking Everything Outdoors show, I hope you try this at home.
Presenter:
Okay, first thing we’re going to do is get our mac going.
Using the Camp Chef Big Gas Grill 3 that received from www.OutdoorCooking.com and we’re going to be using one of the side burners which is a 30,000 BTU burner.
So it’s not going to take long to get this water going.
Simply matter of turning on the propane, turning on the burner, turning on the igniter and, boom, I’ve got flame.
So I’m going to crank that all the way up.
So I have about a 1/2 a pound of mac in my pot boiling right now, just about done.
So I’m going to get the rest of the ingredients going.
And what’s going to go in that?
Well, a little salt and pepper, about an ounce of pimento, about 2 and 1/2 ounces of sliced olives, mustard.
I’m just going to add that as I deem necessary.
About 5 sweet pickles.
3 stalks of celery.
You’re probably going to put in about a 1/2 a red onion, and, of course, mayo.
So let’s get all this prepped up real quick.
That’s just a matter of some slicing and dicing.
You know, macaroni salad, mac salad, everybody’s got their own flavor, their own style.
And this is just something that, you know, I put together.
I really got this recipe many, many years ago and I doubt very much it is the same as when I received it.
But I really like it.
It’s a great treat to have, one of my favorites.
You know, anytime I get some macaroni salad on my plate, I’m a happy camper.
Right up there with my potato salad that I love so much.
And we’re just going to, of course, you know, fairly chunky because I hate little bites of anything.
And not to cut my fingers in half.
I’ve got an extra big piece there.
That’s looking pretty good, about what I like.
Put that in our mixing bowl.
And let’s get this onion going.
Going to need about 1/2 of this.
Red onion has a nice sweet flavor that I like, but if you get too much in there, I think it could be somewhat overpowering.
And right about there.
Let’s get this peeled off, not going to need that nasty outside skin going on there.
And just about like that.
You may want to mince yours up, but then again it’s all a personal preference on how you want to do this.
I’ve come across so many flavor, you know, vinegar, sugar, various different additives to put to it.
I get my sweetness from the sweet pickles.
That’s what I happen to like in mine.
Let’s check that mac real quick.
Mm, perfect.
I’m going to drain this.
We’re going to start mixing up the rest of it.
So we’ve got our mac out.
It’s draining a little bit.
I don’t want to lose all of that moisture, but I definitely want some of that to stay in there and that is just heaven in a pot.
Get every little bit out of this thing.
Nice thing about mac salad, you can make it the day before, couple days before.
It’s all really good.
So we have our olives, just sliced and add those in there.
My pimentos with a little bit of oil, add those in there.
And then I’m going to chop up our sweet pickles, nothing fancy here.
Again, I like mine chunky.
And I really like a good dab of sweetness in my mac.
I don’t know what you prefer.
But whatever mom or grandma’s recipe handed down to you, I’m sure this is absolutely perfect.
Nice healthy bits of everything.
One last one here.
Now, as far as moisture goes, that in itself is entirely optional also, as you know.
I had mac that is mayo mac.
That’s not what I like although I do obviously add macaroni to my mayonnaise– no, I actually add mayonnaise to my macaroni salad but it’s not a real wet mix.
Now, let’s get some mustard in here.
Now, this is probably going to be, to start with, I’m probably going to go for about a tablespoon just to get things going there.
And then my mayonnaise.
Just a regular mayonnaise.
It’s not the light or Miracle Whip or anything like that.
Though I know some people like Miracle Whip in their mac salad.
Let’s just get in there, better spoon I’m thinking.
And probably, I’m going to say that’s about 6 tablespoons, right now.
Let’s give this all a good blend.
See how we’re coming along there.
Once I get this all mixed up, I’m going to add my salt and pepper to it, at that point.
That’s actually as moist as I want it.
No more, almost too much for me but that’s going to absorb and solidify a little bit as it cooks.
So we need to take a taste test here.
Plenty of mustard, plenty of everything else.
We need to kick it up a bit with some salt and pepper.
And let’s see how this goes.
Yeah, that’s looking good.
Let’s give this a shot here and– good.
Okay, I’m happy with this.
We’re going to roll it.
We’re going to cool it off and see what happens.
Okay, I think you missed, I missed the overhead.
No, I got the overhead shot but I didn’t get the straight on shot.
My beautiful bowl of mac salad but it’s really cool.
I apologize about that.
So we’ll see.
I’m going to go get this in to fridge.
I’m going to cool it down.
I’m going to start putting together my spicy steak fries and my barbecued hamburger.
Spicy steak fries, I’m looking to offset the sweetness of the barbecue burger and the little bit of sweetness in the mac.
So what I’m going to be using is Creole seasoning.
It’s got some heat, got a lot of flavor to it.
I’m going to use a little bit of olive oil.
Just some regular russet potatoes, but cooking them on a cedar plank.
So it’s going to add a little bit of a unique smokiness to it.
You’ve seen me use these before and basically you just take a plank.
These are beautiful cedar planks from my friends at the Grilling Plank SuperStore.
And I soaked it for about an hour, just regular old plain water.
And then, now what I’m going to do is I’m going to heat up my cooking side.
And what the cooking side is, is obviously the side that I’m going to place my potatoes on.
So this is going to go into my Camp Chef grill box.
And let me preheat that and I’ll show you what to do.
Got my grill box preheating right now and it’s going to start smoking quite a bit because there’s last night’s meal still on there.
So what I’m going to do and it’s really, really simple and really fast, great for camping, great for, you know, being out there at a picnic, is we’re just going to take the potatoes and I’m going to wedge them because they’re going to be large steak fries.
Now, you can do, you know, any different shape and configuration that you want.
No great rule about this, but I want a fairly large, kind of the concept is almost like a potato skin.
You know how you scoop that up and fill it with a bunch of goodies.
So that I have a really large steak fry here and that’s what I’m looking for.
You can see that right there.
It’s pretty, pretty simple.
So 1/2 and then 1/2 again, just like that.
Let me get these sliced up, show you what to do next.
Hey, I have my steak fries potato wedges in the bag.
We’re going to add a little bit of olive oil, just to coat, not a lot, maybe 2 tablespoons, a little bit.
There we go.
Let’s get these nice and mixed up.
You know, the real reason I like this recipe, super easy, really fast.
I just love that.
3 ingredients: potatoes, olive oil, some Cajun seasoning.
Don’t go overboard with the seasoning.
I’ve done that before, ‘Oh, a little bit more, a little bit more.’
That’s not always a good thing.
Okay.
So just make sure everything’s coated really well.
You’re going to end up having a lot left on the bag so just double check it.
Okay, bada boom, that’s ready.
How simple is that?
So what I need to do is I’m going to preheat my plank, right?
Now, when plank cooking, it’s absolutely critical that you have a bottle of water handy and available.
So let me get this on the grill box.
Show you how you do it.
Our grill box is cranking hot right now, so I’m definitely going to turn it down.
I’m going to have my settings just below medium.
I’m going to get that down to about 325, 350 degrees.
Now, while it’s this hot, it’s a great time to clean it a little bit because you can some of the residue that’s still in there.
And I get a grill brush here and we’ll clean this up just a little bit here.
Now, here’s a big tip for you.
Don’t stand in front of your grill or your grill box and clean towards you because it’s going to get all over you, been there, done that.
Trust me, do it to the side.
Okay, good to go there.
So let’s get our plank on there.
Now, cooking side goes down first because what I want to do is I want to start burning this.
So let’s get this on here.
Close this up.
In a minute or 2, we’re going to start smelling it and then you’re going to hear some crackling and popping and you can almost hear it right now, it’s starting to do that.
So it’s only going to take a couple of minutes to get that surface hot.
I can really smell the cedar now.
So let’s take a look at this and see how it’s going.
Remember it’s going to be really hot, so be careful.
Okay, that’s what we’re looking for right there, that burn mark.
And you hear that popping.
I’m going to go for a minute more.
I got to get some oil and I’ll show you what to do next.
Let’s pull our plank.
Show you what to do next.
Okay, you can see there, we got a nice little burn going.
It’s exactly what we want.
And then, what I’m going to do now is I’m going to apply some basic canola oil.
Vegetable oil will work fine, something with a fairly high flash point.
And that’s just to really keep the food from sticking to the board.
Not a lot, just enough to coat it lightly.
Simple as that.
Now, let’s get our spuds on there.
I’m going to have more potatoes than I have plank room for, but that’s okay.
Get as many on here as we possibly can.
They can overhang the plank a little bit, not a big deal.
And that’s that.
That’s a beautiful thing.
So we need to get this back on our grill box.
Grill box is hot, a little hotter than it needs to be.
I’ve turned the burners down too low on both of them.
We’re going to drop the cedar plank inside now and cook this way.
I suspect these are going to take about 35 minutes, maybe 40.
Want them soft but a little bit of crunch on the outside.
A lot of the cedar aromatics are going to be going through these potatoes with a bite of the Cajun seasoning.
So I think it’s just going to be dynamite.
One of the nice things about the grill box here for the big gas grill is that the flames are not direct contact with the grate, so it’s very unlikely I’m going to have any flare-ups which you will very possibly if you put this on a regular barbecue but we never know.
So that’s why I have my water bottle handy to put out those.
Maybe put out those fires, those flare-ups.
Always make sure your bottle works.
Well, there we go.
Yeah, cooking outdoors.
Alright, let’s fire this up.
Perfect fit.
Barbecue, hamburgers, Memorial Day, perfect fit.
I’m doing mine a little different.
Big surprise there, right?
We’re not going to really grill them but we’re going to plank them and it’s more of a roasting or baking.
I’d rather prefer to think of it as a roasting technique.
And these are hamburger planks and they’re perfect size for about 1/2 a pound of hamburger.
Let’s get these on the grill box.
Keep adjusting your heat.
Keep that around 350.
And let’s talk about hamburgers, for a minute.
I am under the convention that less is more or less is better.
I always try to buy really good quality beef as few additives or no additives is even better.
Grass-fed is even better.
I love buffalo, but with as little bit to it as possible.
Also, I’m going to be adding absolutely nothing to the hamburger mix itself.
What I’m looking for is a crispy coating, a bark almost, if you will, and just the pure taste of the beef on the inside.
And then we’ll be adding a few goodies on the top of this to round this out.
So what kind of beef mixture should you use?
Pretty much, everybody says 80/20.
That’s 80% beef, 20% fat.
I just don’t like it.
It’s just too much juice, too much grease for me.
I really prefer more of a 85/15, sometimes I’ll even go with a 90/10 depending on whether I’m going to add a bunch of moisture content to it.
I know it’s controversial to everybody out there, but this is just the way I do it and it’s what I like.
So I’ve got a wonderful 85/15 mix of beef right here.
And we’re going to mix that out.
And all I’m going to do is put a rub on the outside, so.
Don’t tell my wife, but I’m taking the ring off because I’m going to get a little gooey.
And this is 1 pound of hamburger beef, right here.
And I’m going to make some giant 1/2 pound patties.
So getting equal quantities.
The other secret to hamburgers is to handle it as little as possible.
And really all I want to do is to form this.
You can spank it if you want.
You can press it down if you want.
But these are monster burgers.
And then I want you to indent it just a wee bit there.
So what’s going to happen is this burger as it cooks on the plank, it’s going to swell.
And as it swells a burger, typically you get this crown or this dome on there and that’s not what we want.
It’s really hard to put anything on the top of that.
It’s even harder to put the bun on there.
It all falls off and falls apart.
So we’re looking at 2 massive 1/2 pound burgers.
I actually think these are a little over 1/2 pound.
But just a lightly packing them together, pressing them out just to keep the form.
Have to refit a little bit.
And these are just barely going to fit on these planks.
That’s okay.
I bet they won’t even fit on the buns that I got.
So I’ve got them indented and seriously, these are huge.
And then pick a barbecue rub of your preference.
It doesn’t have to be anything that I recommend.
But find something that you like and this is one.
And I just want to get a good coating around there.
This has got a lot of good flavor to it and saltiness.
And this is going to help add some crunch to the outside.
So let’s get these flipped real carefully.
Add some more.
If you like your burgers really heavily seasoned, then put a little more on.
Get them seasoned up how you like it.
And that’s what I’m talking about.
So these planks are ready.
We’re going to plank our burgers.
See you in a sec.
Ahh, perfect.
That’s what we’re looking for.
Okay, get a little bit of oil brushed on these.
Maybe a little too much there.
So now, I’m going to get my monster burgers on the planks.
Let’s see here.
Okay, see what we got going there.
Now, I will tell you that the beef was brought up to room temperature before I started mixing it and preparing it.
I like doing it that way.
Just like steak it’ll comes up to temperature quicker with beef typically when you do that.
So now, these are going into the Camp Chef Big Gas Grill Box.
That’s a lot to spew out.
I’m not going to flip them.
I’m not going to touch them.
I’m going to roast them.
They’re basically just going to cook like that on the plank.
Time to get the burgers on.
Temperature’s at 350.
Fry’s been cooking for maybe 15 minutes.
So we still got a ways to go with that.
Let’s get these planks on there and start this process.
You can already see some nice color on the Spicy Steak Fries there.
And these bad boys are ready to go.
That’s all there is.
To maintain 350, cook it until it’s done, going to do a temperature check here in a little while.
Looking about 155, 150 around there.
I like mine medium, just a little over medium.
My burger, my way.
See you in a bit.
Let’s see where we’re at.
Oh, yeah, that is beautiful.
Quick temp, we’re at 150.
Oh, a little hot there 160.
Just juices are just oozing out of this.
Fries have crisped up really well.
I’m thinking it’s time to plate.
I’m going to turn this bad boy off.
We’ll plate it up, show you how it ends.
It’s time to plate it up.
I can tell you, it’s empty here from the belly to spine there’s a big gap and I’m looking forward to filling this.
But first thing, I want to toast up the hamburger bun a little bit because that’s the way I like mine.
So I got a nice, the biggest one I could find, sesame bun here.
And we’ll just get this right in the middle, toast up a little bit.
And we’re going to plate everything up here and see how it looks.
Let’s start with the fries and we’ll get some of those scooped out.
Look at those.
Now, of course, at this point you could add, obviously, more spice.
But I’m liking that.
Scoop up some mac.
Fight the flies.
You know what it’s like here in the central valley of California.
It’s beautiful macaroni and cheese.
Macaroni and cheese, wow, maybe that’s what I’m thinking about.
Macaroni salad, lot of color, lot of flavor.
I need 2 scoops, I’m starving.
Let’s grab a burger and a bun and show you how I’m going to finish this off if I can get this wrap to stay.
Let’s do it this way.
1 burger, nicely toasted.
And the smallest one of the batch right there, oh.
If you like your hamburgers big, this is the way to go.
Okay, we’ll barbecue sauce.
Use your favorite.
Slather that on there.
French fried onions, going to get pile that on the top.
Get our last piece and that my friends is my Memorial Day triage.
My 3 favorites: barbecued hamburgers on a cedar plank, steak fries, spicy on a cedar plank, macaroni salad, not on a cedar plank but definitely one of my favorites.
Hey, I need everybody to take a minute and go out and thank my sponsors, www.OutdoorCooking.com, www.CampChef.com, and www.IslandGrillstone.com.
They make all this happen.
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I’m just having fun and thank you for having fun with me.
This is Gary House, Cooking Everything Outdoors.
Happy Memorial Day!
The master at work Gary. Thank you for sharing a delicious meal plan with us. You really are the best!
So glad you added this video. I was drooling of the eye-candy post.
Oh, boy, looks delicious, Gary! Hamburgers are one of my all-time favorites, but have never tried them on a cedar plank. Definitely on the to-do list. Steak fries as well–I’ve cooked them on the grill, but not on a cedar plank. Will have to try that too.