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I've been following a recipe for meatballs but they are far too loose for putting on the bbq. I thought I could maybe put them in the fridge before cooking them, or brown them in a pan before putting them on the bbq - I was wondering, does anyone have any idea of how to make them a bit more solid? or any better way of making meatballs / keftedes?
The recipe is here : http://www.meatwave.com/blog/keftedes-grilled-greek-meatballs-recipe
a few tips here
I noticed that the beef was "80% lean", try to go with little bit fatter beef like "60% lean". This sounds strange, but I would try to beat up (or stir) the minced beef before mixing with other ingredients. When you beat or stir the beef, you will notice the fat will create a gel texture that helps to stick the beef better.
I would also separate the egg yolks and egg white. I would put the egg yolk in 1st with all the ingredients and put the egg white last. Egg White on its own will also help you to stick the minced beef better.
Lastly, if it still doesn't work, try to lightly apply flour on each meat balls before cooking. The flour will help sealing the juice inside the meat balls, which the meat balls will stick together better
I'm using a very similar recipe, and usually when they're too soft, it's because the soaked bread still had too much liquid in it. Step 1 of the recipe says:
...squeeze the excess liquid out.
I've found this to be a vitally important step.
If it still doesn't work, try adding one or two tablespoons of breadcrumbs.
I don't think you need to add anything more to the recipe if you manipulate each meatball more. You're probably not giving the proteins in the muscle fibers the opportunity to be introduced to and bond with one another.
Also, you can cook the meatballs in a pan made for a grill -- there are several models, with wild price variations, that have holes throughout. These are generally intended for grilling vegetables, but can obviously be adapted for other uses.
I add ground pork (around 30%) to my meatballs to create a more solid meatball. And don't over add bread crumbs, too much of a good thing can make it fall apart. Sometimes, I add Italian sausage in place of straight pork.
