Chicken burger sandwich with crispy fried bacon

IN ADVANCE

1. For the chicken burger, peel and chop the shallot. Peel the garlic and chop finely. Finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes.
2. Mix the minced meat with the remaining ingredients for the chicken burger, except the olive oil. Divide the mince into 4 equal portions and form them into burgers. Cover with cling film and place them in the fridge for at least 60 minutes.

METHOD

1. Light the charcoal in the Big Green Egg. In the convEGGtor Basket, place a Half convEGGtor Stone on one side on the bottom ring and a Stainless Steel Half Grid with a Half convEGGtor Stone on top. On the other side, place a Stainless Steel Half Grid or Cast Iron Half Grid on the bottom ring (the type of half grid does not matter, as this grid is purely to fill up the bottom ring) and a Cast Iron Half Grid on the top ring. In this way, you can cook indirectly and grill directly at the same time. Place the convEGGtor Basket in the EGG and bring the temperature to 180 °C. In the meantime, cut 2 pieces of baking paper that are slightly smaller in size than the Half convEGGtor Stone.
2. For the garnish, place the Coppa di Parma or breakfast bacon between the sheets of baking paper and place on the Half convEGGtor Stone. Place a Drip Pan (round) or baking dish on top of this, so that the Coppa di Parma or bacon is under pressure and will flatten nicely. Close the lid of the EGG and fry the bacon for 8-10 minutes until crispy.
3. Meanwhile, brush the chicken burgers with the olive oil. Place them on the Cast Iron and grill for about 3 minutes. Turn the burgers ninety degrees and grill for another 3 minutes to create a nice grill pattern. Flip the chicken burgers and grill the other side for 2 x 3 minutes as well.
4. While frying the Coppa di Parma or bacon and grilling the burgers, peel the onion and cut it into slices about 1.5 centimetres thick. Coat them with the olive oil. Place the onion slices on the Cast Iron Grid and grill for about 2 minutes. Turn the onion a quarter turn and grill for another 2 minutes for a nice grill pattern. Flip the onion slices and grill this side as well for 2 times 2 minutes.
5. Remove the onion slices from the EGG and set aside. Around about now, you can also remove the crispy fried Coppa di Parma or bacon from the EGG and let it cool. Use the Instant Read Digital Thermometer to check whether the burgers have a core temperature of at least 70°C. If the temperature is lower, remove the Half convEGGtor Stone lying on the grill and allow the burgers to cook on the Stainless Steel Half Grid until this core temperature is reached. As the burgers cook through indirectly this way, they will not burn and the burgers will stay nice and juicy.
6. Halve the hamburger buns. Place both halves of the hamburger buns on the grid, cut side down, and close the lid of the EGG. Slice the gherkins lengthwise. Remove the buns from the EGG.
7. Place two frisée lettuce leaves on the bottom of each sandwich. Spread the gherkin slices over this and top with a burger. Top with the cheddar and a slice of grilled onion. Squirt or spoon the BBQ sauce and mayonnaise on top. Crumble the crispy fried Coppa di Parma or breakfast bacon on top and cover with the top of the bun.

TIP

Even if you don’t have the convEGGtor Basket and other accessories, you can still make this delicious chicken burger sandwich. It just takes a little longer, because you cannot fry indirectly and grill directly at the same time. In that case, place the convEGGtor first, then the Cast Iron Grid and place a Baking Stone on top. You then fry the Coppa di Parma or bacon crispy first and can then grill the chicken burgers and onions.