Canning Jar Burgers

Okay, so the title of the post is a bit of a lie.   This isn't about canning jar burgers, it's about canning ring burgers.  Either way, we think this idea is pretty cute.

N-son had a stroke in utero, and so some kinds of physical activities are still oddly difficult for him -- especially things that require fine motor skills with two hands.  Making hamburger patties, curiously enough, is one of those tricky things.

So last week when it was his night to cook, he asked for help forming the hamburger patties.  And being the kind of mom who wants my kids to grow the heck up so they can fend for themselves in a few years, I decided to try to find a way that allowed N-son to make patties all by himself.  And the answer to this burning question (or, at least, to this grilling question) is canning jar lids.

Because, as it turns out, the ring for a wide-mouth canning jar is perfect for holding a quarter-pound of hamburger.  We had a 2-lb pack that we sliced into 8 equal blobs of hamburger.  Each blob went into its own canning ring, arranged neatly on a cookie sheet.  (The dog, in the background, is intensely curious about this process.)

 To get beautiful round hamburger shapes, just pat the meat down into the mold.  Super easy: it can be done with just one hand -- in this case, the non-stroke-affected left hand!   You can see that the middle canning ring hasn't yet been patted down, but the close ones have.  The burgers get nice and round and have an even thickness.

 Use the tray to carry everything over to the grill.  The burgers slip right out of the rings.

 See how nice and even these shapes come out?

And here, of course, is what Miser Dog has been waiting for:  clean-up time!  He likes to help pre-rinse our dirty dishes before the go into the dishwasher.  Everyone in our family has a job to do.

I didn't take a picture of the finished burgers because by the time they were ready, I was ravenous.  But they came out great.  Good job, N-son!  Bon appetit!