best burger in atlanta?

And  we're back... Yeah it's been way too long, but what can I say. I got busy. Going to make an effort to post somewhat regularly again, so we'll see how it goes. So what finally prompted me to post again? A new toy for my kitchen of course!

This little stove-top smoker allows you to smoke food, and not your house/apartment. Clever huh? It works with just a small amount (~1tbs) of very small wood chips that smoke super easily (and no soaking necessary). Since the size of the smoker is small, you don't need much smoke to fill it and flavor your food, and so even though the smoke eventually releases into your kitchen, it's barely noticeable. Definitely less smoke than a fireplace would generate (and certainly less than properly searing a burger!) Not sure how well it'll work with a large shoulder of pork, but for smaller items, it works like a charm.

Over the weekend I tried it out with some shrimp and 1tbs of Alder wood chips. Result was fantastic. In just 15 minutes, the shrimp were perfectly cooked and deliciously smokey. Tonight, I decided to try it out on a burger - basically recreating that summertime grilled burger flavor...

Of course I love grilled burgers, but getting a nice sear on a burger really makes a huge difference, and you just don't get that on a grill - even with charcoal. A smoking hot skillet or griddle is really the best way to go, and how any good restaurant cooks your burger. Using butter to sear it doesn't hurt either :)

Once the burger was nicely seared on each side but completely raw in the middle, I popped it into the smoker with hickory wood chips for 15 minutes. The smoker is kept over medium heat on the stove, which according to the manual keeps the inside of the smoker around 375-400 degrees. After 15 minutes, I had a perfectly cooked burger with amazing smokehouse flavor. Seriously, did I mention the flavor? Honestly, no regular charcoal grill comes close.

Toppings make a burger, and eggs are the new bacon (I guarantee eggs will be on everything at TGIF in 1 year). In the meantime, a fried egg, a bun toasted in butter, a young melted Parmesan, Heinz ketchup, lettuce and tomato. Not the worst burger I've ever had :)

And to top it all off - Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter. Seemed like a perfect match... and it was.