Geez..I had an outdoor party this weekend and to my embarrassment my turkey burgers just wouldn't stay in place!!! Crisis! My immediate reaction was to make an emergency call to my mom and ask her just how to keep turkey burgers from falling apart??!!  Of course I had to redo my turkey meat mixture but luckily my mom’s tips worked!!! Here is how I kept my turkey burgers and my dignity as a hostess from falling apart this weekend!!

The first thing my mom asked me was if I had used a good filler. “Filler???...hmm…what do you mean?”, was my reply!! For those of you who would  just like to get to the point, a filler is anything that helps to hold the turkey burger together without bringing about too much  of  a flavor difference in the burger. 

You can  use rice or cracker crumbs as a filler. 1 or 2 egg or/and bread crumbs is another popular filler combination. Wheaties, cornflakes, oats and even olive or canola oil can also be used as fillers. If you want to use seasoned filler then try flavored rice like fried rice.

Here are a few fillers and the exact measurements to be used per pound of turkey.

• \A 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or crushed crackers can be used for each pound of ground turkey in your recipe.
• When using egg add one egg for every pound of ground Turkey. When using bread crumbs along with an egg, you should add half a cup of crumbs with an egg for every pound of ground turkey meat. You can also replace the ½ cup of crumbs with the same quantity of oats. If you want to go healthy and don’t want to use the egg yolks, then add one egg or two ounces of egg whites along with a quarter cup of breadcrumbs or oatmeal per pound of turkey meat.
• When using Olive or Cannola oil just add a tablespoon of either of these fillers for every one pound of ground turkey.
• Another suggestion is to mix a little real beef such that there is a mix of light and dark meat. This mixture cooks well, doesn’t dry out and also helps to keep the burger together.
• You can also use quarter or half cup of wheaties or crackers for every pound of turkey meat but I prefer the wheaties as they give a better flavor.

Combine the filler and meat with your hands. Remove a chunk of the meat and shape into a burger. Cook or grill the burgers and there, you are one step closer to your perfect and scrumptious turkey burgers.

I went for the egg and bread crumbs combination and saved my party…thanks to my mom!! To make your turkey burgers even better here are a few turkey burger recipes for you to try. Also, here are a few tips for you to make moist flavorful turkey burgers. Hope these hints and links will help you someday.

Tips

Ensure that you wash your hands well with soap and water after making the burgers such that there is no raw meat under your fingernails.

Also don’t freeze your turkey burgers and then cook it in the hope that they will keep together. Mostly always, they break up when defrosted or after cooking the inner most portions of the turkey burger remains cold!

You can also use rice or flavored rice as fillers, but remember that rice as against cracker or oats bring to the burger a different texture. Use rice if you don't have a problem with a sticky, stuffy texture.

Image Credits
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