What’s this? A box addressed to The Ranting Chef??

The Burger Buddy? It sounds very intriguing.

Inside was the Burger Buddy (two pieces) and the directions.

The first piece has an inner ring, and outer ring (with drain holes) and two arms that allow it to sit across a saucepan.

The other piece is the press. The bottom of it fits the inner ring and has a decent handle on it.

This gives you an idea of the size. Made for any decent sized burger. The Burger Buddy is designed to reduce the amount of fat from your burger to make it a healthier meal option. Here is how it works:

Cook your burger through your normal method. I decided to use the Foreman grill. I used pre-made patties of 85% beef, 15% fat. While some fat drains off, the Burger Buddy promises to eliminate even more.

Heat water to at least 170 degrees.

Place the Burger Buddy over a pot and fill the center ring with hot water.

Place a patty in the center ring and take the press and push down on the patty. Use two hands (I needed one for the camera) and gently rock back and forth.

The fat will separate from the burger and end up in the water. Pour more water in to cause the water (and fat) to overflow into the outer ring where it will drain into the pot below. Remove the burger and eat.

Does it remove any fat?

Yes! This water was clear just a minute ago. Three quarter pound burgers later, you can’t see through it.

In case you thought I was kidding. While this is mostly water, there is a lot of fat in there.

How does it taste? Isn’t the fat important to the flavor of the burger? Abernathy Enterprises, maker of the Burger Buddy, has quite a bit of text on this, but I figured I’d run a taste test of my own. My wife, two teenage boys and myself were the taste testers. Only I knew which patties went through the Burger Buddy and which did not.

I made six burgers on the foreman. Three went through the Burger Buddy and three did not. One patty of each was cut into quarters and each of us tasted the burger with no bun and no condiments. I could not really tell much of a difference in taste. My wife and one son preferred the taste of the burger from the Burger Buddy. The other son, preferred the standard burger.

Next, we each received two half patties to dress anyway we wanted. I did not offer cheese or bacon (keeping the fat low) but condiments, lettuce, tomato and onion were in play. After individually dressing our burgers, we conducted another taste test. Once again, I could not tell the difference. My wife continued to prefer the taste of the Burger Buddy patty and my eldest continued to prefer the standard burger. My youngest, flipped and preferred the taste of the standard burger once dressed.

MY TAKE: There is no question that it works to remove copious amounts of fat from freshly cooked burgers. It could quickly be a money saver by being able to purchase less expensive ground meat and press out the fat versus buying ultra lean ground meat to start with that is much more expensive. The taste test was inconclusive. That is a good thing. It removes fat but does not seem to have any negative impact on the taste. For those who would like to reduce the fat in their diet but still want a burger, the Burger Buddy is a good answer.

You can purchase the Burger Buddy by clicking on the name.

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