Ground Pork Burgers - Yum

While at Dittmer's the other day picking up the baby back ribs I noticed that they offered fresh ground pork. So I decided to pick up about 1.5 lbs with the idea of making some burgers out of it.

Based on a bit of internet research, some people think that ground pork needs a binding agent (bread crumbs) and others do not. I tend to be 'anti-binding', so I just mixed in a teaspoon or two of ground salt and black pepper, and formed the patties.

After preheating the grill with all burners on high and lighly oiling the grate, I cooked the patties covered on 'High' (in order to sear the exterior) for 5 minutes on each side. I measured the temp at the 10 minute mark, and it was only at about 125 degrees.

So I turned the burners down to medium, and let them cook for another 5 minutes. When I retested the internal temp, they were just under 150, which is perfect for pork. I took them off the gril and let them sit for a few minutes.

Young and I tried a few different kinds of burger toppings:

- Plain: The burgers were quite flavorful. Even plain they were quite good. Nice and juicy.
- Mustard, mayo, cheese and tomato: Just like a regular burger, and it worked quite well.
- Carolina-style BBQ sauce: The sweetness/tanginess goes very well with pork burgers.
- Texas-style BBQ sauce: Again, the combination of sweet and spicy goes very well with pork burgers.

This dinner will definitely be added to the standard rotation.