"JRStern" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:42:23 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>>Just curious how you make yours. I made some yesterday that were a bit of
>>a
>>fail for two reasons. One, the patties didn't stay together and two, the
>>taste was off. I used sort of a compilation of recipes and added a little
>>bit of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. I think those two things were a
>>mistake! I also added bread crumbs to the meat and that may have
>>contributed to them not staying together. I made with with brown gravy
>>(from scratch) and a lot of onions. Only other things that I added were
>>salt, pepper, parsley and some dried onions to the meat. No cream soup or
>>egg. Would have been a really good meal had it not been for the slightly
>>off flavor.
>
> As others have said, for me a "hamburger" is just ground beef, perhaps
> sprinkled with a little salt and pepper and maybe some modest other
> spices if you must, but generally you're going to slather stuff on top
> of it later so it's just meat.
>
> Then there is that school lunch special, "Salisbury Steak" apparently
> aka "Hamburger Steak", which allows other meatloaf-style ingredients
> and drowning in brown sauce. Meatloaf is a black art and one I've
> small experience cooking, though some eating.
>
> Where you go with it depends on where you start, with good meat or
> cheap. Meatloaf can have just about anything in the world thrown in,
> based on a good recipe.

My meatloaf has a ton of ketchup, more seasonings, tomato juice or V8 and a
ton of vegetables.
>
> Ketchup in the hamburger then covered by brown sauce, was probably a
> mistake.

That was how some of the recipes went.
>
> And if it didn't even hold together then you used way too many bread
> crumbs (or didn't mix them, or used dry croutons instead of smaller,
> softer crumbs?), or possibly way too lean meat! Most burgers taste
> better when made with higher-fat meat and adding bread crumbs is made
> to keep more of the fat in place instead of running it off, so be sure
> that's what you want to do.

Oh. I only use very lean meat. That could have been the problem.
>
> J.
>