Meatball Style Smoked Jalapeño Burgers

These burgers are packed with flavor: juiciness of a meatball, smoke from a pellet grill, and a little bit of jalapeño. This recipe will make 5-6 hamburgers.

Grill - Pellet Grill (any smoker will work)

Video - https://www.instagram.com/p/CMXXKsohSan/

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of ground beef

• 3 slices of white bread

• 1/2 cup of milk

• 1 tbsp pepper

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 jalapeño

• 9 strips of bacon

• Parmesan ciabatta bread cut for hamburger buns - 6 buns

• Sliced sharp cheddar

Instructions

1. Remove crust from white bread slices. Tear each slice into small pieces and place pieces in a large bowl

2. Add 1/2 cup of milk to the bread pieces and let sit for 5 minutes

3. Wring out as much milk as possible from the bread into the sink. Leave the bread in the bowl

4. Add ground beef to the bowl

5. Season beef with pepper and garlic powder

6. Remove seeds from jalapeño, and finely chop. Add chopped jalapeño to the bowl

7. Mix all of these ingredients together with your hands, making sure you get good distribution of bread and jalapeño throughout the beef

8. Form the beef into large balls, about 3-3.5 inches in diameter. May need to adjust to fit your hamburger bun size - note they will shrink in the grill. With 2 lbs of beef you can usually get 5-6 balls.

9. Press each ball into a patty and flatten the center of each patty a little more ensure each burger maintains its shape. I try and get the center about a 1/2 inch thick

1. Set pellet grill for 275°

2. Once grill reaches temp, place the burgers directly on the grates and smoke for 20 minutes

3. At this time, cook the bacon on a baking sheet in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes

4. After the burgers have smoked for 20 minutes, flip them over and let them smoke for another 10 minutes

5. After 10 minutes, start monitoring the internal temperature with a probe. You're looking for an internal temp of 140°

6. Once internal temp hits 140°, remove them from the grill. Usually takes about 40 minutes of total cook time to hit this temperature, but its important to start monitoring temp early just in case

7. Place patties in the Parmesan ciabatta buns and top with cheese and bacon

These are usually the only ingredients I use and these patties pack a ton of flavor, but you can always add your preferred toppings; might come out even better.