Hamburger Patty Maker

We love homemade hamburgers! I'll admit I used to buy into the convenience of preformed hamburger patties. That is, until prices started rising and the grass-fed brand I was buying decided to keep their prices generally the same (at that time) but offer packages that have one less patty.

If I still want the preformed patties, I have to buy two packages to get the 4 patties I need. Which means I am required to pay double the price and that doesn't set well with me. So, I've settled for buying a one pound package of hamburger, dividing it into fourths, and forming the patties myself.

The challenge was forming the patties in a consistent shape. The search ensued for something that would aid in that endeavor. I experimented with a couple of options, which didn't work all that well. But then I had an idea, "Bet the inner ring of an embroidery hoop would work." It had to be a plastic hoop, it couldn't be wooden. Remembering I had a collection of different-sized plastic hoops somewhere in storage, I dug them out, found the size I wanted (a 6 inch inner hoop ring. The patties shrink when being grilled so they will end up being smaller than that), washed it thoroughly, and it worked!

To grill the patties, I pull out a length of parchment paper, fold it in half, and form the patties on one half of the paper (the parchment paper is seen in the photos). The next step is to salt and pepper both sides of the patty, first the side of patty facing up and then flipping the paper over and salt and peppering the other side. I then fold in the sides of the parchment paper so the juices don't drip out of the sides and the patty is ready to be grilled on our George Foreman grill.

Every hamburger patty is now consistently formed in a circular shape and they fit perfectly on the hamburger buns. And the clean up is minimal.