Question:
Tamara writes:
Hello. I am having a graduation party for my son this Friday. The graduation is at 7:00PM and our party will be at our home immediately following the commencements with about 20 guests. My son wants grilled hamburgers for the main dish. My question is, what is the best way to pre-cook, keep warm and serve the burgers so that they are hot, fresh and juicy? I’d like to be able to serve dinner when the guests arrive instead of waiting for the burgers. HELP!!
Answer:
Hi, Tamara,
Congratulations on your son’s graduation!
It’s kind of tricky since you’ll probably be gone a while for the graduation ceremony and then come right back for dinner. I would say that you could just grill the burgers, then put them in the oven on the warm setting and hold them. But I would be nervous about leaving the house with the oven on. Maybe if you have someone to check on them, you could do it this way.
You could also try keeping them warm by wrapping them in aluminum foil or an aluminum tray, and putting them into a cooler lined with towels. The drawback here is that it might not keep things warm for more than an hour. You might be able to extend this by also putting a water bath into the cooler. So fill a large aluminum tray with hot water, and put it in the cooler. Then put the burgers into a closed container taller than the water level (something like a dutch oven), and place it in the water bath.
Another idea is pre-cook the burgers slightly rarer than you like, then place them in a roasting pan and put them in the fridge while you’re at the graduation ceremony. The moment you get home from graduation, turn on your broiler, and pop the pan full of burgers into the oven until they are hot and sizzling. Your guests may have to wait a little bit, but it usually takes them 15 minutes to settle down and get a drink anyhow. I think this method will yield the best burger.
I hope this helps. If anyone else has any ideas, drop a comment!
Tamara - I belong to our Chamber of Commerce and find myself working in many food booths for the various fundraisers we do. We use roasters quite a bit to keep the food that has been grilled warm and “servable”. Since you will have a bit of time from grilling to serving, I agree that you should slightly undercook your burgers then put them in your roaster at a lower temperature. They will keep cooking in there just like in an oven but because of the design of the roaster oven itself, they will remain juicy.
We have used the coolers lined with aluminum foil method for transporting food from one location to another, but it will not keep the food warm for more than an hour.
Congratulations to your son on his graduation, and next time may I suggest pork loin?
Comment by Sally — May 22, 2006 @ 11:53 am
Just a few months ago, I had taken a trip from San Francisco to Atlanta to visit my sister and her family. During my visit there, I had expected to eat lots of fried chicken, yams, greens… and tons of peach cobbler. My last weekend there in the city, my sister and I had run across a popular chef in the city by the name of Eric “The Ace of Taste” Campbell. He gave my sister a recipe for this dish, and it was fantastic. For the remainder of my stay, there was no fried chicken, yams or greens… just lots of Keema, and, of course, peach cobbler!
Someone please tell me, what is the origin of this dish? I have heard that it is Jamiacan; some say Indian? Which is it?
Thank you,
T. Simms
San Francisco, CA.
Comment by Toni — November 12, 2006 @ 6:16 pm
According to wikipedia
Keema (Punjabi: ਕੀਮਾ, kīmā), is a traditional home cooked dish in northern India and Pakistan. It is minced lamb curry served with peas or potatoes.
HTH
Comment by K — December 1, 2006 @ 9:46 pm
Tamera,
I am having a tour at our Armored Car facility, we are expecting 100 guests, we are planning on having BBq Hamburgers, my though is to sear the premade patties ahead of time to begin the cooking process and put in a foil pan that consists of a mixture of Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Liquid Smoke.
Do you this the semi pre cooked patties will absorb to much liquid and become soggy, or do you think that my best bet would be to pre cook sseason and put in the foil pan, upon guests arriving put again on the grill to finish cooking and add cheese?
Please inform me of your thoughts.
Best Regards,
Tom
Comment by Tom — August 1, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Hi, Tom,
For marinading the meat, I would tend to mix in the soy sauce, worcestershire, and smoke into the meat itself before cooking. If it’s too liquidy, my guess is that there might be too much sauce anyway.
If you go this way, I think either scenario (just searing off or completely pre-cooking) would work out alright. It probably depends on your resources during grill-time. If you’ve got a big grill and can dedicate someone to cooking the burgers to order, I think that will get the best results. But if your time is limited or the grill is on the small side, it’s probably better to cook your burgers close to done and just warm them as guests request them; otherwise they might spend a lot of time waiting for their burgers.
Hope this helps!
Howie
Comment by howie — August 1, 2007 @ 9:36 pm
Is it ok to put cooked hamburgers in a nesco with beer and brats? Or what are some thoughts or suggestions you might have?
Comment by craig — May 2, 2008 @ 11:14 am
Hi, Craig,
If you are talking about the Nesco convection roaster (not the dehydrators or deep fryers I hope!), I think leaving fully-cooked burgers in there for an extended amount of time might dry them out.
Maybe if you follow Sally’s suggestion about cooking the burgers rare, and then putting them in the roaster, you will get a better result, but that depends on whether you’re planning on serving them later. If you’re planning on serving them right away during a short period of time, it’s probably better to just cook them through and keep them warm in foil.
Comment by howie — May 5, 2008 @ 10:35 am
I want to know how to keep burgers juicy in a chafing dish?
Comment by Denise — March 12, 2009 @ 8:02 am
I too am planning a graduation party. Expecting about 50 people. My son would like brats, hotdogs, and grilled butterflied pork chop sandwiches (my husband and I want these for our adult friends). How do we grill these and then keep them warm until serving time without drying out???
I have a roaster oven. What works??
Thanks
Comment by Paula — April 24, 2009 @ 5:07 am
your not thinking right when answering this question. what the writer wants is to know, say, how to keep them moist after cooking. say in a tin foil pain (large roaster) with, idk, beef broth and maybe worcester sauce or liquid smoke to just cover them. something like that. i think thats what she is asking. i only stumbled on this as i am looking for the same solution. people are talking about how to cook moist burgers or just how to keep them warm…not the problem. moist burgers is what she wants to offer the guests (as do i) hours after cooking them
Comment by don wise — August 13, 2009 @ 8:46 am
I have the same scenario….needing to pre-cook a bunch of burgers/dogs/brats and they will sit for probably 2 hours. For the burgers (about 60) - I am thinking of getting two large foil pans - cooking the burgers to medium and putting them in the foil pans…..in the foil pans, I was thinking of having one with bbq sauce/water mix…and the other pan having it be a beef bullion/water. My question/thought is that do I have to have the burgers submerged in the sauce, and then cover — or can there just be a shallow amount of the sauce and then cover. Also - will this process keep them moist/safe?
For the dogs/brats - I think that should be fairly easy to boil and wrap in foil (about 10 per foil wrap). Not sure about boiling the brats - never done that before.
Comment by Jim — August 27, 2009 @ 8:22 am
Just wondering if you tried the precooked burgers and put them in the oven with beef bullion. I also need to cook for about 70 and don’t know how much liquid to put in the pan and what temperature to keep them at. Thank you!
Comment by kstirek — August 27, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
I just did this tonight for a potluck at work tomorrow.
I used frozen, 1/4 pound, 27% patties.
The fatty patties are key. They keep things moist. For home I use leaner, but the fat works for this double cooking.
I get the gas grill very hot (700) and get a sear going. Once the temp hits 500, they have cooked enough for flipping.
Then S&P and cook a little longer, taking them off before they are fully cooked. Allow to cool.
Hold in a covered double heavy foil pan in the fridge.
Tomorrow I’ll just heat them through on the grill, using the bottom pan to hold the hot ones. Once they are all cooked, the cold pan will go under the hot pan for extra strength.
Comment by WillyCzonka — September 2, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
I buy the inexpensive chafing dishes at a party store. Cook the hamburgers fully and put them in the chafing dishes. Cook some Lipton Onion Soup and pour over top. Keeps them warm and moist for a few hours.
Comment by Suzie — September 4, 2009 @ 10:21 am