Smoking Hot This Year: Beer-Can Burgers

Photo by Rob Baas.

"Every few years, a dish or two comes along that captures the fancy and taste of a generation. Typically, it's a dish that most people had never heard of one year, then couldn't seem to live without the next." I wrote these words in the preface to Beer-Can Chicken (Workman, 2002), and they still hold true today.

The Bacon Explosion, which went viral in December 2013, is a great example.

This year, the nominees are Onion Bombs and an even newer kid on the block, Beer-Can Burgers. Until a few months ago, we here at Steven Raichlen, Inc., had never heard of the latter. But as bona fide evangelists for the beer can genre of barbecue, we feel obligated to spread the gospel.

Beer-Can Burgers start with a baseball-size orb of ground meat--1/2 pound or more. A chilled, unopened beer is pressed into the meat, forming a cup the same diameter as the can and about 1-1/2 inches deep. Strips of bacon--c'mon, you knew bacon would be involved--are wrapped around the outside of each burger before the can is eased out of the meat. (No beers are harmed in the preparation of this recipe.) Then the burgers are stuffed with cheese and/or other ingredients before being indirect grilled over medium heat.

When served on buns, these bad boys are jaw-stretchers. But there's no shame in eating them with a knife and fork with your favorite condiments.

Intrigued? Here are a few tips to get you started:

• While we typically recommend a lean to fat ratio of 80/20 for burgers, leaner mixtures work, too. Grass-fed beef (always my preference) is naturally lean, or look for a ratio of 85/15 or even 90/10.

For more tips plus a master recipe for Beer Can Burgers along with three globally inspired variations, visit BarbecueBible.com.

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Steven Raichlen is the author of the Barbecue! Bible cookbook series and the host of Project Smoke on public television. His web site is BarbecueBible.com.