Let's talk turkey about turkey burgers for a minute. They can be mediocre. As a burger, it lacks the fatty unctuousness of a decent ground beef patty. Too often it's dry and it's bland. Does anyone choose a turkey burger over a beef burger without having reasons? It doesn't seem likely. I hate to say it, but we all have a reason. Beef is among the most resource intensive types of animal protein and the carbon emissions are through the roof. Sure, there are ways of raising beef more sustainably, but those tend to be more expensive and less available to people. So if we start doing it right—or until lab grown meats hit the market—that probably means fewer hamburgers. Which brings us back to turkey burgers. If we're sacrificing our hamburgers to Mother Earth (so to speak), we'll need some some worthy substitutes.
Here at the uBu Test Kitchen we had an hypothesis. Could the humble ground turkey patty be made delicious with the addition of our Hiker's Hummus? Linda designed an experiment. First, there was the control patty. Then we tested all four flavors of uBu Hiker's Hummus: Cilantro Lime, Roasted Garlic, Thai Basil, and Chipotle. Finally, we had dinner. Afterwards, we compared results. All four members of the sample group (aka our family) felt that:
- The addition of Hiker's Hummus improved the texture and retention of juiciness of the burger.
- Roasted Garlic and Chipotle were the two flavors that best complemented the turkey burger, the flavor of which over powered the subtlety of Cilantro Lime and Thai Basil.
- Five sliders on a plate is too many for a single meal.
So, without further ado, here is our original contribution to making Turkey Burgers more delicious.