I was really having a hankering for the incredible Smokehouse Burger from my favorite BBQ joint in the whole world, Tejas BBQ & Chocolate. But it was only Monday and Tejas was going to be shut down on the Wednesday when they typically serve them. So I had to take matters into my own hands.

I started with lean grass-fed organic 90/10 ground beef. Since it was so lean I mixed it with chopped-up uncured nitrite-free bacon to get some additional fat and of course the accompanying flavor boost, into the patties. Both the ground beef and the chopped-up bacon went into the freezer for about 30 minutes to get the meat as cold as possible before creating the patties. When it was time, I pulled them out of the freezer and worked the mix together as lightly as possible so as to keep the fat from smearing and rendering too quickly once on the pit. I formed 5-6 oz patties that were about a half inch thick. And then I seasoned them with my brisket rub (1:1 ratio of 16-mesh black pepper and coarse sea salt).

Once the patties were ready, they went on my Traeger Texas Elite 34 pellet grill, which was set to 250°F burning 100% hickory pellets from CookinPellets. At 60 minutes, the internal temperature for the burgers was 140°F. Then almost on cue, at 90 minutes they hit 155°F internal temp, which was just what I was shooting for. So I pulled them, covered them with foil, and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

I could eat smoked burgers all day long. Next time I think I’ll cook as many as I can fit on the cooking grid and then just wrap and freeze the extras because they taste so delicious!