Breakfast Sausage Patties

As I mentioned in my Quarter Pound Burger post, I bought a patty press to make breakfast sausage patties. I love breakfast sausage, but, stuffing and linking can be a pain with the smaller casings so I prefer to press them. It also allows me to make english muffin sandwiches out of them, a guilty pleasure.

I use a recipe from Len Poli which is supposed to be a Jimmy Dean sausage clone. Whatever it is supposed to replicate, I love it. I am linking you to his WEBSITE for the recipe as I have not gotten permission to use it here. It's in the Breakfast Sausage section, entitled Jimmy "Deen" commercial sausage clone. I don't use the MSG or the citric acid, just my preference.

I tend to buy ground pork when I see it has a decent fat content, you need fat in sausage in order for it to have a proper texture and mouth feel, if it's too lean it will be dry and crumbly. I used to grind my own pork butts for sausage but it took me forever to bone, cube and grind them when excellent ground pork can be found at my local butcher for around $2 per pound.

Like my burger pressing technique, I use deli film, place a sheet on my digital scale, weigh out a 2.5 ounce meatball, fold the film over the top and press. I freeze the patties in my Dollar Store cylindrical storage containers and use as needed.

I preheat my pan over medium heat and then sear the patties, if you start in a cold pan the patties will dry out before they get a good sear.

Here's a shot of my last attempt alongside some hash browns made from leftover russett potatoes I baked the night before. Ok, I lied, I also use processed cheese in my sausage muffin sandwiches. Sue me.

Quarter Pound Burgers

A couple of years ago I bought a patty press to make breakfast sausage patties (a guilty pleasure of mine is a sausage patty on an english muffin sold at a famous fast food restaurant). I used the press pretty much exclusively for that until recently, when I starting pressing my own quarter pound hamburger patties.

I prefer a simple burger, meat, seasoned as I throw it in a cast iron pan or on the grill, so my burger recipe is simply:

Ground beef
salt
pepper

I have a meat grinder and have experimented in the past making my own sirloin patties out of sirloin roasts but they were too lean for my tastes. I have wanted to experiment with adding some brisket/chuck/short rib to the mix but have been too lazy recently and I've been making them from lean ground beef. My supplier of ground beef has just the right amount of fat in it and the price is right, so, I go with it.

I have a gram/ounce digital scale, which takes any guess work out of the assembly. I use deli film, I place a sheet on the scale, weigh out a 4 ounce meatball, fold the film over the meat and then press. 
I can whip off 25 patties in about 20 minutes, I stack them in a cylindrical storage container I got at the Dollar Store which is the perfect size for the patties, freeze them and have them ready for when the burger mood strikes.

I prepare the grill by cranking it as hot as it will go, I then place the patties on the grill, season them, and then sear them until juice appears on the top of the patties. I then flip and wait for the juice to appear on the second side.

I usually add american cheese to my burger patties while they are on the grill (one of two times I prefer to use cheese slices, the other being grilled cheese) to get a good melt.

I prefer to keep the buns simple as well, a soft white roll, untoasted. I will on occasion butter and griddle the middle sides of the bun if I have time. My choice of toppings is usually lettuce, onion, pickle and mayo, that's it.