This particular week, I was jonesin’ for a burger. I had a pound of bacon in the fridge that needed used up, so bacon burgers was my obvious choice. Let’s run out to the grocery and pick up some LTO. And apparently burgers.

Ironically enough, ForensicBBQ’s first post was actually a frozen patty on the RecTeq – Anyone remember the Meat District post? While a lot has changed since then, sometimes we go back to an old familiar. When I went out buying the veggie, I came across a pre-form patty I haven’t seen.. not that I look all that often, but this week, we’re trying Schweid & Sons!

This won’t be a “4N6BBQ Presents…” post – but I let them know via Instagram I was going to feature their burger out of courtesy. There’s some more blends besides the one I tried, maybe that’ll be my next “Presents…” post.

Before we get into it, these Presents post are a pain! Food reviews are always palate specific, so there’s an added pressure on the view of “honesty”. I’ll always give you my honest opinion, but hell.. any mustards are getting zero ratings from me, doesn’t mean it’s a bad mustard. It’s all relative. If I ask to feature your product – you can tell me to pound sand, ain’t no hard feelings. But I’ll always let you know ahead of time. ANYWAY…

Recipe

Update 27 October 2022: So I went back out to the store today to look for another variation of the Schweid & Sons and they were long gone. Completely sold out. Dammit, I was hoping to give a secondary review. On the fly, I bought a competitor to really put it to the test. Brought home that company’s product and opened the package and they were far beyond spoiled. The smell filled the kitchen, the bottom patties of the 4 pack were disgusting. It totally could be the grocer’s fault in their caring for their product so I won’t name them. (However, a third-party confirmed a similar experience.. so maybe it is them? Anyway, I went all Dropkick Murphy’s and shipped them back to Boston via a local return)

I “settled” for a known-good – my friends over at “Force of Nature” with their frozen Bison patty – but can’t compare to the freshness I received from Schweid & Sons on this one. Read along, my friends – it was fun!

The Prep Table

Custom Blend Chuck Brisket? Okay, I’m in. Right away, I’m liking the fact it’s burger – it’s not an overly seasoned product and we’re gonna let the meat write the story. (Don’t worry about the use-by date, these weren’t made when this post goes live). We’re going to thin slice the onion and tomato. We’re going to neatly trim some Bibb lettuce, melt some Tillamook cheese over the patty and, of course, smoke that bacon.

I cooked up this week of burgers right after we got back from our second northern vacation of the year. Not one of our vacation days involved a hamburger, so I was going to take these 4 burgers and eat ’em over 4 days. (I took pictures of three of those days with their own little style).

The Process

First up, let’s get that bacon cooked up. I went with a local store’s Peppered variety – and cooked her for about 2 hours at 225F, flipping halfway through – like I always do. Cooked ’em all up and just re-heated throughout the week. I’ll say the re-heat result in some burnt ass bacon on some occasions, but it’s bacon.

Show some love for that Schweid & Sons patty. It’s beef and fat. Not a shred of pre-seasoning on it.

On that first day, I thinly sliced the onion and tomato. I’d rather a pile of thin onion than a monster slice. Same for tomatoes.. It seems like most gourmet burgers I get, it’s always a wild, thick, beefsteak tomato slice on there. That’s not my style. Thin for the win. The lettuce is more for color and appearance. I don’t order a burger and hope the lettuce is on point. I went with a soft buttery leaf for this one, but not a whole lot of it. To top off my burger, some Tillamook Colby to melt over the top of that burger and of course, some pickles and/or jalapenos.

You’ll see I did add some sauce to my burgers, and I’m actually coming around to a mayo-based spread on the patty. This is part of my culinary palate expanding.. I’m still not 100% on board, but I’m getting there.

Mustard can still f$*! off – I can’t get around to this condiment yet.

After that bacon’s done and I pulled a piece to make absolutely sure it was done. Pulled a second to complete and verify my scientific findings. It was delicious. I fired up the RecTeq to 500F and let them GrillGrates get hot.

First flames that I remember from the RecTeq!

Popped the lid and I had my first (observed) grease fire. No doubt – in my reckless pellet grill experience this has happened before, but never have I seen the flames. That sudden rush of oxygen was too much for my grill. She was snuffed out pretty quick, but hot damn.. play with fire, going to get burned. Had to perform a heavy scrape down the next day, but live and learn. Please, don’t go high temp after dripping bacon grease everywhere. (Spoiler alert: I did it again, and I’ll probably do it many times after – but for those fire shy..or just competent.. DON’T DO IT)

After crisis was averted, we threw that Schweid and Sons burger on there and hit it with a little bit of Meat Church “Holy Gospel”. Unpopular opinion: Meat Church seasonings are too salty for me. Doesn’t mean I won’t use them.. but there’s a reason I keep them in the garage and not in my cupboard. I also cook my burgers to at least medium-well. You won’t see it since I blanket it with the cheese, but that’s my preference.

The Result

I broke a piece off of the burger to taste it in the raw, and it was a damn good burger. Well done Schweid & Sons! It was a nice fatty, creamy burger if I could describe it that way. We (Wife facilitated, I’m eating) ordered up some local 90/10 home grown ground beef. ForensicBBQ in college didn’t care too much about the ratio. Now I buy, try, evaluate – I love this part of cooking. I like a fatty burger. I REALLY like a really fatty smash burger. I like a super lean taco meat. Can’t wait to get a grinder and do it my way.

The Day 1 Burger had the addition of my homemade everyday BBQ sauce. After the buns were done, I put a light layer on the top bun. Let it soak in and when the rest of the burger is dressed up and done, I hit it with a fresh layer and stack it up. It was damn good.

Day two didn’t have any sauce on it. I had a side of fries and mixed up a batch of my fry sauce (mayo, ketchup, worcestershire, garlic powder, paprika). This was enough sauce to complete the meal, so I didn’t need anything additional. Excellent day.

I ate like a damn fool for this last meal. Seasoned the burger with some Holy Voodoo and topped the bun with The Spicy Gnome’s BBQer’s Valhalla. This sauce was MUCH hotter than I remember, but also much tastier. (Stay tuned for our 4N6BBQ Presents post featuring “The Spicy Gnome”!) In lieu of the fries, I had soaked a couple corns and dressed mine with some of that Holy Voodoo as well. MrsForensicBBQ also made her Roasted Potatoes w/ Hazelnut Rosemary Pesto on this day, and I had to try it. It was absolutely delicious. WAY too much food here, damn shame I had to eat it all.

Bought 4 patties, 4 buns – ate ’em over 4 days this week. May be a burger overload for some, but it was a great week. Especially when day 3 had those MrsForensicBBQ potatoes.

Schweid & Sons gets two thumbs up from me for a store-bought, commercial pre-form patty. Thank you for letting the meat speak for itself and not over-seasoning/over-salting. I really did enjoy this burger and look forward to buying their other blends.. Check them out!

The Recipe