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[Brushpopper]

There's a place in San Antonio called Big Lou's that has a 12 lb burger.  I remember seeing a story on the news about it a few years ago.  My wife said they have a video of one on Facebook but I don't have an account to post a link.  Those of y'all with Facebook might be able to see it.

[BigDave83]

Here is the Big Lou burger


https://youtu.be/yYqvW_TC5bg?si=MOV6Cvto6jFBhx3m


Here is a different video from a guy and his daughter.

https://youtu.be/zi1MMXCuQLQ?si=WAcP8Ute0TbQM5Rb

[Brushpopper]

Thanks Dave!  I didn't think to look on YouTube.  DOH!!  That's what I remember seeing on KSAT.

[pmillen]

I don't get it.  Not that I care very much, but the burger in the first video starts out with a 6-pound patty.  They may sell a 12-pound burger, but they didn't make one in that video.

Tell me what I'm missing.

[Brushpopper]

If I remember correctly they did the mixing of spices in two batches and then combined the mixed meat.  It seems like what I saw was longer than the YouTube video but it was four or five years ago.

[Bentley]

No 12 pounder, you are correct.  Someone screwed up the title.  That burger looked good for 20 minutes on the griddle.  Just never been the kind of person that wants a "slice" of a cheeseburger!

[jdmessner]

Getting ready for the test run on the burger this Sunday. I think I have most of the details worked out. The place where I am getting the pizza is excited about the project. They are donating a 20 inch pizza pan for me to cook the burger on. Their pizzas includes up to three toppings for no extra charge. The top bun will be a BLT pizza. They are going to slice, rather than dice the tomatoes. I am thinking mushrooms, onions and green peppers for.the bottom one. They suggested pickles and assured me it was appropriate for pizza. I am still skeptical. Any thoughts on other topping combinations?

The last major logistical concern I had was how to flip a 20" pizza, without creating a huge mess. The pizza folks helped me brainstorm some ideas. I think we came up with a solution.

1. Remove the lid from the pizza bun that will be on top.
2. Slide burger onto the top pizza.
3. Take the bottom pizza bun and place it on the cutting board/serving tray.
4. Place the pizza pan on the burger in the box.
5. Have one person on each side of the top pizza in the box with the burger and pan on top.
6. This is the moment of truth. The four people in unison, flip the burger onto the pizza pan.
7. Slide the burger and top bun onto the bottom pizza bun.
8. Cut the burger in squares and serve.

[BigDave83]

Picturing your execution of your plan, I am not understanding it, but as long as you do you are good. Hope you get some people videoing this.

For myself, I would put the bottom bun on the board, open the box of the top bun and put my burger on it leaving the pan on top. Then flip on to the counter,  and find 3 or 4 spatulas/turners and have someone help slide them under the burger and lift it off the pan and set it on the bottom bun.

No matter what, people re going to love the effort and end result.

[jdmessner]

Picturing your execution of your plan, I am not understanding it, but as long as you do you are good. Hope you get some people videoing this.

For myself, I would put the bottom bun on the board, open the box of the top bun and put my burger on it leaving the pan on top. Then flip on to the counter,  and find 3 or 4 spatulas/turners and have someone help slide them under the burger and lift it off the pan and set it on the bottom bun.

No matter what, people re going to love the effort and end result.

I think we are on the same page. I probably spelled it out in more detail than necessary. The bottom line is it will be entertaining no matter what happens. I have always taken to heart the immortal words of Happy Kyne: "It's not food it's fun!"

Bonus points for anyone that gets the Happy Kyne reference!

[jdmessner]

The game is afoot. I formed the patty this afternoon and will put it in the refridge overnight. It has 10 lbs beef, 6 eggs, and seasoning salt, with a little salt and pepper on top. The patty is about 1 inch thick and about 18 inches in diameter.

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[jdmessner]

We completed the trial run yesterday. Things did not go according to plan. As much as I wanted to use the smoker for the burger, logistically I thought it would be easier to do it on-sight in the oven. There was just one problem. When I checked to see if the pan would fit in the oven, I didn't slide it in all the way. When I saw the width was good, I assumed the rest of the pan would fit. I was wrong, the oven door would not close. I was not there when the error of my ways was discovered.  Fortunately, my wife was able to call the pizza place and they were willing to cook the burger for us. This really saved the day.

I learned a lot, but there were still some unanswered questions. The biggest one is how long will it take to cook in an oven or a smoker, rather than a 550° pizza oven. Also, I realized all my elaborate plans on how to flip the burger and buns went out the windows. Using a peel at the pizza place made life much easier.

With someone else cooking the burger, I had no control of the cooking time. The restaurant got slammed with a brunch crowd before I got there, so I have no complaints. I was very grateful for their help. It was a little over cooked for my liking,  but not bad. It was very juicy. There were some pieces with a little pink in the middle. Nobody complained. It tasted great.  I really liked the seasoning salt we used. The local grocery store is known for their various rubs and spice blends. They did not disappoint.

All in all it was a good day. I was able to get 36 servings from the burger, which weighed 18.2 pounds fully assembled. I think we had 32 people, so it worked out well.

Here is a video of the assembly. More pictures to follow.

https://youtu.be/8VWPh6HMIhU?si=EUxeUngHizhVtR-T

[BigDave83]

That looks great. Now you just need a smaller pan and a peel.

[jdmessner]

That looks great. Now you just need a smaller pan and a peel.

Can't go smaller, I just need to figure out a better way to go bigger!  My grill will hold the burger just fine. I was hoping to avoid transportation issues. It is a little over an hour travel time to the party. I think I can work that out.

Here are a few more pictures
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[urnmor]

That looks fantastic and I know it has taken a lot of effort.  Just a thought on flipping the burger.  Maybe you could purchase one peel and borrow a peel from your pizza friend.  Slip one on the bottom and one on the top one time to flip.  You could also keep warm if you had one of those containers they use to bring hot foods to deliver pizzas etc.

[jdmessner]

That looks fantastic and I know it has taken a lot of effort.  Just a thought on flipping the burger.  Maybe you could purchase one peel and borrow a peel from your pizza friend.  Slip one on the bottom and one on the top one time to flip.  You could also keep warm if you had one of those containers they use to bring hot foods to deliver pizzas etc.

Thanks for the comments! As you suggested, I now have a 22x22x8 pizza warming bag and a peel in my Amazon shopping cart. It wasn't easy to see in the video, but we ended up flipping the top pizza with a peel in an unfolded pizza box. This gave us a lot of control and it worked well. I feel good about how the assembly will come together.

I will probably have twice the people to serve, so I will need to do two burgers. This time the goal is to do a takeoff on a Big Mac, with a few extra goodies. I will cook the burgers in my grill at home, where I know there will be plenty of room. I can transport the burgers in the pizza warming bag and the temp should hold. 

I don't know exactly which toppings to use, but I am starting to kick around a few ideas. There is around 5 lbs of bacon in my freezer that is leftover from the bacon taco shells. That seems like a no brainer to use. I am also going to try and melt down some bricks of cheese, to see if I can create two huge cheese slices for each burger. For the buns/pizza toppings, I am thinking pickles and onion for the bottom bun, and maybe pepperoni for the top. Throw in a little lettuce and spacial sauce and we should be in business.