Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Bun question: can these be made in a bread machine? If so, how do they need to be adapted?

I've never tried any recipes other than the ones in the bread machine instruction book.

I just had a Bacon Cheeseburger with bulgur instead of TVP. With mustard and barbecue sauce. Meatiest burgers ever! And so flavorful. I've had some very hearty veggie burgers. I didn't think it was possible to out-portion, out-meat the burgers at the Chicago Diner. This one could put a KFC Double Down to shame, in a good way. I think I overbaked them a bit (I baked in the oven, then heated them up on a cast iron when I got home). Even though they were a bit on the dry side, they were so rich and hearty. Took me back to the many cheeseburger-induced long-distance car trip comas I entered as a fast-food loving child. Will definitely make again. Make these for the Homer Simpson of your life. Chris could trick Rob Swanson with these suckers on Parks and Rec.

On substituting bulgur for TVP - I think bulgur is a bit denser than TVP and adds more "meat" to the burger and may take away some of the moisture. So I think slightly reducing the amount of bulgur if substituting may be a good idea. But I didn't have a problem getting the bulgur soft using the boiling veggie broth method from the book.

Cast iron question- I'm new to cast iron skillet cooking, mainly of fear of maintenance. I brushed a little oil on the skillet, heated it on my gas stove, and threw the burger on. The center of the burger burned and turned black very quickly, even though the rest of the burger wasn't heated through. Did I have the heat on too high? Not enough seasoning/oil?

Noochy burgers next!

I've noticed that most of the recipes call for quite a large amount of oil. My stomach doesn't like oil, could I just back on it or should I replace it with something else?

I've made the garlicky ranch potato burgers twice. The recipe calls for 1/3c oil and I've used about 2tbsp each time. I'm sure you could do the same with the others and just add a little extra liquid somewhere else.

this book is now in my amazon cart!

Hmm... I've made 2 of the burgers and they only called for minimal amounts of oil. I don't fry the burgers though, I bake them.

I'll just try cutting back on the oil then. And bake the burgers.

I made the Tofu Egg Salad Sammy yesterday - soooo good! I have never seen a vegan recipe for it that has you saute the tofu. It gives it the best texture! I didn't have dill, so I just left that out. This is my absolute favorite recipe for eggless salad, and I have tried quite a few!

Oh, but the book says it will make 8 sandwiches and there's just no way that is right. I don't put a lot on a sandwich, so it's not a portion-control thing. I can see maybe 6 sandwiches.

I got this cookbook Tuesday afternoon -- I haven't made anything yet, but it is one of the most exciting and original cookbooks I've seen. I can't wait to make burgers this weekend!

I made the Potato Samosa Burgers last night. I've never made a real samosa, so I can't compare it to that, but the burger was really easy to make and super delicious. Next time, and there will definitely be a next time, I'll probably double the seasonings.

One thing that has been bothering me about this book is that some of the measurements are in weight, such as the potatoes in the samosa burger and a few others I've looked at. It hasn't really been a problem as far as cooking, but I'd like an estimate as far as cup measurement because I don't have a food scale. Maybe it's something easy that I don't know about??

I noticed the weight thing on recipes I haven't made yet. I am particularly concerned about the yeast for the bun recipes.

I'm actually really glad the weights are in there. I found there can be huge discrepancies with some ingredients if you don't weigh them, which can be a particular problem when you're salting bread dough (one teaspoon of the salt I was using ended up weighing half of what it ought to in one instance).

This sounds like a great idea! I don't care much for TVP, and have some bulgur on hand. Now I just need Joni's burger book!

I couldn't wait, so I downloaded the book to my Kindle. I also archived a copy on my computer so I can see the pictures. The recipes look great!

I want to try the bacon cheeseburgers, but am out of peanut butter. Has anyone tried subbing another nut or seed butter in this? I have almond butter and tahini.

Another nut butter should be fine.

I was going to make Seitanic Stuffer with smokey tempeh but I ran out of liquid smoke. I'll go to the store today and grab some.

I usually just google the specific measurements and can often find something. I don't think there's really an easy way for anything besides liquids with the approximate consistency of water (a pint's a pound the world around-thanks Alton Brown!) but 8 oz of peanut butter is going to be drastically different than 8 oz of flour in terms of weight vs. volume.

I finally gave in a few weeks back and got a cheap scale because it seems that several of my cookbooks randomly use weight for items with no alternate measurement given. For what it's worth, I've really loved the scale and it makes some other recipes I've found online accessible.

masuphl, .25 oz yeast = one packet = approx 2.25 tsp.

Thanks!! I can't wait to make some of these bun recipes!!

Scales are great and open up a whole world of European cookbooks (where nearly everything is measured by weight). I got by with a cheapo one for a while but eventually wanted something that could measure more precisely than within 1/4 oz, and while it's a little spendy I can't say enough good things about this one: http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/e608/ If you care about nutritional info it's great on that as well with tons of built-in food.

I had a batch of seitan to use up, so I decided to make the chicken fried steak burgers. The burgers turned out a little soft inside because I didn't add enough flour to the dough, but were still tasty! 4 tablespoons of oil for the dough seemed like too much, so I reduced it to 1. Maybe the oil serves a purpose, but that much seemed unnecessary since the burgers are pan fried.

I ate the burger on a wheat bun with vegenaise, lettuce, & onion. It sort of reminded me of the chicken fried steak sandwiches I used to get at Sonic in my omni days. I don't know if they even have those anymore.

I made the curried split pea burgers and they are good. I left the mix in the fridge this week and just pulled some out, formed a patty and fried them up for meals. I will have the last for dinner tonight.

I am making the seitanic stuffers today and I was amazed at the amount of braggs the recipe calls for so I cut it down quite a bit. As I thought the dough was done, I tasted it and it was horribly "this needs to go into the trash" salty. I ended up using the last of my VWG to make another batch with no braggs in it and it seems like it'll be ok. I also cut down on the miso in the stuffing as well to counteract the overuse of salt. I've been cutting down all the spices in the book but wow this one was amazing.

I just made the meatloaf burgers, adding a bit of vegan worcestershire sauce. So good.

holy yum, the bacon cheeseburger is fantastic! I changed the recipe a little and used 1/2 cup bulgur and 1/2 cup TVP, instead of 1 cup TVP. The burgers hold together well and taste out of this world. I pan fried one tonight in a cast iron skillet, but I think I'm going to grill the rest of batch.

The recipe makes a lot of dough, I divided it into 5 patties and they were still big. Next time I think I'll make 6 smaller burgers. Oh and I used almond butter in place of peanut butter, since that was what I had on hand.

My copy has finally arrived, and I'm just in awe of how beautiful it is! All of the breakfast burgers sound great, espcially the Log Cabin Burger! I can't wait to dive in, mouth first, this week.

I've made 2 burgers in 2 days - the pinto rice burger yesterday and the super quinoa burgers tonight. Both excellent. I doubted that either of them would stay together at first but they both did!