Best ways to cook Angel Bay - Part III

In Part 1 of the "Best Way to Cook Angel Bay Products" series, various cooking methods were explored for Angel Bay products. 

  • • Char grill: Ideal for busy establishments, it creates a caramelised crust and locks in beef juices.
  • • Combi oven: Known for its thermal efficiency and even cooking, suitable for various batch sizes.
  • • Air fryer: Versatile for smaller portions but may lack moisture control.

In Part 2 of the series, the focus extended to additional Angel Bay products, such as Sliders, Bites, Meatballs, and Veggie patties. 

  • • Bites and Meatballs were challenging to cook on the grill due to thickness; the Combi oven performed best for them.
  • • Sliders slightly favored the grill but might not make a significant difference in the final burger.
  • • The Combi oven excelled with Veggie patties, offering ease and quality.
  • • The Air fryer produced results on par with the oven but was less scalable.

Guest Written byChef Liam

To wrap up this 3 Part series, I wanted to explore some of the best ways to prepare Angel Bay Beef Burger Patties and Rissoles. Looking at some of the better-known methods such as a Flat grill, full tray Combi oven as well as some of the lesser used methods such as Air fryers.

Different Cooking Method Points to Consider

  • The char grill is a classic method that allows the chef or cook to prepare the patty whist keeping an eye on other ingredient preparations around the grill (bacon, eggs, buns, steaks, you name it’s a busy station!) The char grill also delivers what some would believe as a superior burger patty, creating a caramelised crust whilst locking in all those tasty beef juices. It’s an ideal approach for burger shops, pub/clubs, restaurants and large café complexes.
  • Alternative approaches now seeing great results through the combi-oven. These days ovens are incredibly thermally efficient and also accurate in controlling not just the heat but the humidity and air flow. This allows for a smarter, more efficient, large, medium and small batch cooking approach whilst still handling all the trimmings for any restaurant, pub or function venue.
  • There seems to be no bounds to what an air fryer can do these days and it comes as no surprise that they now be considered a necessary commercial cooking tool. Catering to smaller batch portion cooking is ideal for cafes, mobile catering and pop-ups, utilising intense heat cooking for short periods making air fryers suitable for many small and medium portioned foods, ensuring a good crust and locking in moisture.

For this article we focused on the 120-gram Angel Bay Beef Patties, Beef Rissoles(and Lamb Rissoles!) and Beef Sausage Burger Patties. Each product varied significantly in thickness and size, creating quite a conundrum when looking for the best cooking outcome.

Results?

  • The air fryer like so many innovative tools today did a fantastic job at mimicking the oven cooking process, but lacked a little moisture control. Therefore the protein didn’t feel as juicy, especially in the thinner patties with less meatiness to protect them.
  • I was really amazed by how closely the oven cooked Angel Bay patties resembled their grilled equivalent and would have found it hard to pick the difference without the direct comparison! Plus, this is the true Pub Test for you, without all the trimmings, sauces, breads and alike.
  • In the end it's hard to beat the grill for that textural crunch and savoured beef juices for an outright win.
  • Finally! I will note that all cooking methods delivered a near identical cook time, leaving the final conclusion really up to you and your own varying contexts. 

What’s your favourite cooking method or tip to producing the best patty? We’d love to hear what your experience is.

Share your Thoughts on Cooking Methods HERE