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My wife is having pregnancy cravings for (homemade) hamburgers, but has developed a prenatal allergy / intolerance to egg.

What is a possible replacement for egg to stop a hamburger pattie from collapsing into mince during cooking?

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I never use egg in my burgers, just beef and pepper. Salt added to the outside immediately before cooking. – ElendilTheTall Oct 28 '11 at 16:19

8 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

A bit of corn starch would help if you cannot add egg at all.

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An interesting though, I'll give it a try – johnc Oct 27 '11 at 23:44
Worked a charm! Thanks – johnc Oct 28 '11 at 8:23
2  
Great :) Just to add, in Asian cuisine, corn starch is used a lot to make food "stick" together. – K2so Oct 28 '11 at 19:57
up vote 6 down vote

Have you tried not adding egg? In my experiments, egg is needed when you add breadcrumbs, but if you just form some ground beef into a patty and fry it, it doesn't fall apart. Hm, let me clarify that. If you take a single blob of ground beef straight from the styrofoam and press it in a patty press, it doesn't fall apart. If you take two pieces and put them next to each other in the patty press, it does fall apart as you cook it. So when I need to add an extra bit, I add it on top. That works. So there is at least one way you can make a hamburger without adding egg. Now, if you wanted to mix spices into the beef, then you might have a problem. I'll admit that. Better than nothing, though.

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Thx, we do tend to add onion and breadcrumbs – johnc Oct 27 '11 at 23:44
up vote 4 down vote

I've never used anything other than beef, dry spices, and sometimes garlic to make my hamburgers. Truthfully, I much prefer the taste of a burger with no binders. We buy our beef by the half cow, and make plenty of burgers. Freezer -> defrost -> Mix beef with spices -> Form burgers while still cold (I make a round ball with the meat, them compress it) -> straight to grill. We've never had any issues.

I will also say, that my wife is much better at making evenly sized, well formed burgers, that hold together really well..

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up vote 3 down vote

There are two things you need to do to make perfect hamburgers without egg or other binder.

First knead the meat balls so that the meat binds together. Kneading give you a better bind you will get. Press the meat firmly into your mould before popping out.

Second, after forming into shape, refrigerate the meat pats.

This process first stretches the proteins in the meat. When chilled, the proteins contract again but now they are twisted together in a bond. When cooking, the pat will hold together just a well as any that you buy in a shop.

If find that this works even when I add liquids to the meat. I often season my meat with Worcester sauce mixed in. Even with this extra liquid the meat will hold together just fine. No egg required.

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The more you knead, the more the fat melts in the burger before you've even cooked it and the drier your burger is after cooking... – ElendilTheTall Oct 28 '11 at 16:18
Beef fat melts at hand temperature??? Secondly if you that stressed, need with a tool not your hand. The above works. It's used commercially. Rather than knocking it, why don't you try it. – Rincewind42 Oct 28 '11 at 16:24
Been there, tried various methods, found kneading for long periods is not good. Different strokes etc. I guess. Agree totally with refrigeration however. – ElendilTheTall Oct 28 '11 at 16:53
Personally, I've never managed to over knead, but I've adjusted my wording above to prevent misinterpretation. I still hold that more action is required than simply forming a round shape. Pressing and folding several times does distinctly improve the stability of the shaped pat prior to refrigerating. – Rincewind42 Oct 28 '11 at 17:09
Oh, you've got to pack it a bit for sure. I usually pack until a coherent ball can be formed, then flatten to a disk. – ElendilTheTall Oct 28 '11 at 17:16
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up vote 1 down vote

It helps to keep the meat cold.

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A bit of a problem during the cooking process ;) – johnc Oct 28 '11 at 4:04
:-) Cold during shaping. – soegaard Oct 28 '11 at 10:42
up vote 1 down vote

You can use what is called a flax egg, it is 1:3::milled flax seed: water (4Tbsp is about 1 egg in terms of binding strength). Not only is flax the secret glue in many vegan recipes, but it might be a good additive for your wife's diet.

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up vote 1 down vote

Time for some molecular gastronomy. Transglutaminase ("meat glue") should work perfectly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglutaminase

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up vote 1 down vote

You can fry it without an egg at all.

I just form a patties, leave them on the table or in the fridge for a hour or so and then fry it.

Nothing fall apart, everything is fine.

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