Camp Griddle Burgers
Ground chuck, a spice rub mixed at home, and a hot grate. Car camping food, not pack food.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground chuck | 2 lb | 80/20; leaner meat dries out over a fire |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 2 tsp | |
| Ground black pepper | 2 tsp | |
| Paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Light brown sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1 tsp | |
| Cayenne pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Hamburger buns | 6 | |
| American cheese | 6 slices | |
| Lettuce leaves | 6 | |
| Beefsteak tomato | 1 | sliced thick |
| Red or white onion | 1 | sliced thin |
| Pickle slices | 1/2 cup | |
| Ketchup and mustard | to taste | squeeze bottles, not glass |
Method
- Mix the salt, pepper, paprika, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne at home. One small jar.
- Split the chuck into six portions and shape half-inch patties a little wider than the buns. Handle the meat as little as you can. Press a dent in the middle of each so they do not dome up.
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals, or run the grate over a gas burner. You want the grate hot enough that a drop of water skips.
- Season the patties right before they go on, dent side up. Four minutes without touching them, until juice beads on top.
- Flip once. Another four minutes. Lay a slice of cheese on each during the last minute and let the lid or a foil tent melt it.
- Pull them off and let them sit five minutes while you toast the buns cut side down on the grate. Build and eat.
This is a cooler recipe, not a pack recipe. Two pounds of raw beef needs ice, so it belongs at a car campsite or a basecamp with a hard cooler and a short drive behind it. Nothing here works out of a pack.
The spice mix is premixed at home for a reason: measuring seven things onto a picnic table in wind is how you end up with half of it on the ground. Season the patties at the last second, since salt sitting on raw meat pulls water out and firms up the surface. The thumb dent matters more over a fire than over a stove, because uneven coals make patties swell in the middle and slide off the bun.
Packing
Patties go in the cooler stacked with parchment between them, in a sealed container so meat juice does not get into anything else. Spice jar, buns, and condiments ride in the dry bin. Slice the tomato and onion at camp; they turn to mush if you cut them the day before.
Variations
- Onions sliced thick and cooked on the grate alongside the patties give you a second topping for no extra gear.
- Bacon cooked first in a skillet leaves fat behind; cook the patties in it instead of on the grate.
- Swap the buns for a bowl of shredded lettuce if you are avoiding wheat.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/hamburger-recipe