I mentioned last week that I had to scrub the pellet grill. This wasn’t an option after this cook. I didn’t intend on using the RecTeq like a Blackstone, but when you’re mid cook and you run out of propane, you can’t just put it all on hold. Especially when I got a pound of wagyu ready to roll. This is a fun one, although frustrating during the cook.
The Prep Table
No recipe today.. because I’ve showcased a good amount of sliders on here already. Head over to the Burgers section, use our search feature and you’ll find a good amount of ’em. The only difference today – besides the cook – is my first ground wagyu experience.
The Process
Things were going well. Had the RecTeq out to make the sweet potato fries and was going to muddy up the Blackstone with that wagyu fatty meat. As soon as I saw the onions were not cooking at all.. I knew it happened again. I ran out of propane. Burgers were portioned in their little meaty balls, but my fuel source gave me a middle finger with it’s last breath. Time for the GrillGrates.
For you GrillGraters, you know. For those that do not know, you can put these things together and cook on the underside. Was my only option today, so that’s exactly what we’re doing. The only thing I did differently here that I wouldn’t have done on the griddle is to pre-smash before laying them out. You can see the holes in the grates, had bad news written all over it. Pre-smash, spatula onto the surface and just as good.
Wagyu is fatty. Fatty likes like to ooze onto the drip pan. Drip pan drains into the bucket. We had a LOT of drippage into the bucket. These things were smoking like crazy, and it was (oddly) exactly what I was hoping for. Because we’re still dealing with the pellet smoker, I did my best to keep the lid closed, but griddling small ass smash burgers while also trying to cook frozen fries was going to be a journey.
The shrinkage on these burgers were incredible. Sure, the pre-smash spatula transfer didn’t always work as planned. The onions were cooked beautifully (some burnt, but I do like burnt). I put cheese on some, left some nude. Just a salt/pepper added to the meat and always add the cheapo pickles.
The Result
So after the initial Blackstone panic, I just went into auto-pilot and cooked. Just go, ain’t got time for bitchin. I really didn’t care if the frozen fries turned out so long as the burger was good. And everything was so damn good. I know the typical slider joint will do a fatty blend, but the wagyu was awesome. It had that smash burger feel, but also was buttery and kind of melted.. hard to explain. But it worked, so well.
I don’t recommend using the pellet smoker/grillgrate combo, especially if you have a blackstone. But in this journey, I did it and it was delicious.
Thanks