Egg Stuffed Burger
When you put an egg in the freezer the water molecules actually form little ice crystals and permanently change the consistency of the yolk. I found this out when I was researching this egg stuffed burger idea to see if I could pull it off. I went for it anyways, and actually discovered that the jammy texture of the frozen yolk was a good thing because it meant that I didn’t have to cook the burgers to death to get a solid egg white and a nice creamy yolk. In the end, the fact is that these are a lot of extra work to get a similar flavor to just putting an egg on top of a burger, but I think the novelty of having the yolk explode out of the cooked burgers makes these worth trying out for the egg topped burger fanatics out there.
The eggs go into ramekins and are frozen until solid.
Take the eggs out and let them sit for about 15 minutes on the counter. It doesn’t take long for them to thaw a little bit on the edges so you can take them out of the cups. Flatten some ground beef on parchment paper and add the frozen egg to the center. Wrap the meat around the egg to form the burger, making sure to seal to so that the egg doesn’t leak out when it thaws. Let these burgers rest in the fridge for 1 hour so the egg can thaw the rest of the way.
Cook the burgers about 8 minutes per side on high heat. Cover them for about half the cooking time either by closing the lid to the grill or putting a pan cover over them as they cook. Don’t worry if a little bit leaks out. These burgers are very fragile at first (due to the liquid center) but firm up pretty quickly as you cook them. I took them off the grill when they pretty much stopped jiggling when I touched them. I suggest cooking them a little more than you think because having raw egg whites isn’t very appetizing.
One of the burgers started exploding egg yolk while it was sitting there waiting to be photographed.
The perfect cross section.
The creamy egg yolk worked so well as a sauce for the burger and matched well as always with the salty bacon and sharp cheddar.
Egg Stuffed Burger
Burger patties are stuffed with whole frozen eggs and cooked until the whites are set and the yolk is creamy. Topped with bacon and sharp cheddar.
Servings: 4 burgers
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1.25 pounds ground beef
- 8 strips bacon cooked
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 4 burger buns
Instructions
- Grease 4 2.5 inch ramekins. Crack the eggs into the ramekins and freeze for 3 hours.
- Remove from the freezer and allow to sit out for about 10 or 15 minutes so the edges start to thaw and you can remove them from the ramekins.
- Flatten out about 5 ounces of ground beef onto a peice of parchment paper. Add the egg to the center. Season the egg with salt and pepper. Wrap the beef around the egg and seal as best as you can. Allow to sit in the fridge for 1 hour so the egg can thaw.
- Cook the burgers about 8 minutes per side on high heat, adding the cheese after you flip them. Cover them for about half the cooking time either by closing the lid to the grill or putting a pan cover over them as they cook. Don’t worry if a little bit leaks out. These burgers are very fragile at first (due to the liquid center) but firm up pretty quickly as you cook them. I took them off the grill when they pretty much stopped jiggling when I touched them. I suggest cooking them a little more than you think because having raw egg whites isn’t very appetizing.
- Build the burgers starting with the bun, then the burger, then the bacon. Serve.
Was there a considerable taste difference between this or just topping it with an egg? seems like a bit more work for something that may not make that much difference?
I mentioned in the opening that it isn’t really much different and only worth doing it you are big on putting eggs on your burger but want to try something fun and different. The yolk texture is unique, and the novelty of it exploding out of the burger is pretty cool.