We love burgers. Ken wants them at least once a week in different ways. Patti wanted something different and not on a plain old burger bun and sourdough bread is one of our favorites. Adding grilled onions and Swiss cheese grilled all together with the burger made it just what we wanted.
Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on our Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme. Wood burning stove, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…
Patti’s Patty Melts
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 min. smoke @ 150 degrees (66c), 25 min. @ 350 degrees (177c)
Grill: Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker
Pellets: Lumberjack Sweet Wood Blend
Ingredients: Patti’s Patty Melts
- 1 ½ lbs. ground beef 80/20
- 3 teaspoons Green Mountain Grills Beef Seasoning Blend
- 1 teaspoon fresh black pepper, coarse grind
- 8 slices sourdough bread, thick slices
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 teaspoon butter, melted
- 1 small sweet onion, sliced
- Mayo
- Thousand Island salad dressing
Directions: Patti’s Patty Melts
In medium bowl mix the ground beef with seasonings. Form into four big patties. Sauté the onions in melted butter. Smoke and then grill burgers until desired doneness. U.S.D.A. says 165 degrees (69c) for safe grilling temperature. On both sides of sourdough bread spread lightly with mayo and place on your Green Mountain grill. Brown both sides of the bread. Top the burgers with Swiss cheese, grill until cheese is melted. Place burger on one bread slice top with grilled onions and top with second bread slice. Serve with Thousand Island dressing.
Form into Four Big Patties
In the Smoke on the Grill Grates. See Their New Griddle
Grill Burgers on the Grill Grates
Onions in a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
Toast Bread and Melt the Cheese on Grill Grates Griddle
Build your Patty Melts
Cooking Directions: Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker
To prepare the grill for cooking, check your pellet supply – top off or change flavors as needed. Scrape grill grates off. Set the temperature to 450 degrees and press the “Start” button. Give the grill about 15 minutes to reach temperature and the grates to burn clean.
Note: You can set the start temperature anywhere you want. I do 450 (230c) for a quick cleaning burn.
I like to smoke everything for at least 30 minutes with an hour being even better. After all the Green Mountain wood pellet grill is a awesome smoker so use it for all the wood smoke flavor it will add to your food.
So, after the grill comes up to temp and burns clean turn it back down to 150 degrees (66c). Place everything directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy for 30 minutes or so. This is referred to as “Smoking” or “Hot Smoking”, the temperature is 150 degrees (66c). 30 minutes of smoking is not enough to have any cooking effect on your meat but it is enough to open the pores so that the meat can pick up all the flavor of the smoke.
After 30 minutes, turn the (Temperature Control) up to 350 degrees (177c) and pull the meat off the grill. When the grill comes up to temperature put your meat back onto the grill. I did this for 5 minutes per side with a quarter turn at the halfway point. Perfect. (we like ours a little on the rare side)
When the meat reaches an internal temp around 160 degrees (72c) pull it off, cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 5 to 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temps.
Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.
Ready to Plate
Let’s Eat!!!
About our Recipes
The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.
Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….
