Venison ‘White Castle’ Burgers in a CanCooker Recipe

You know those irresistible little burgers from White Castle with the mini onions? With this recipe and a CanCooker, you can make your own venison version at home!

Just like White Castle’s legendary sliders, the venison burgers in this recipe are steamed over a bed of onions. I used a CanCooker to steam the burgers and it worked out perfectly!

Never had a burger from the restaurant White Castle? I could tell you how amazing and addicting their sliders are, but I think the Burger Shack employee in the movie “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” described them best:

“… those tender little White Castle burgers, with those little itty-bitty grilled onions that just explode in your mouth like flavor crystals every time you bite into one …”

Basically, White Castle burgers are known for their delicious onion flavor – and this recipe delivers just that.

Yield: 16 venison sliders
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground venison burger
• ½ pound ground beef chuck (80/20)
• ⅓ cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 1 ½ tablespoons CanCooker Onion Pepper Seasoning
• 1 small white or yellow onion, finely diced
• 16 small dinner rolls, each sliced in half
• American cheese slices (optional)
• Sliced dill pickles (optional)

Special Equipment:

• CanCooker Original or CanCooker Jr.
• CanCooker Rack
• 2 mini loaf pans
• Straw or chopstick to poke holes

Directions:

1. 1. In a large bowl, combine ground venison, beef, bread crumbs, egg, 2 tablespoons of water and Onion Pepper seasoning. Set venison burger mixture aside.

1. 1. Spray the inside of two mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Add the finely diced onion to the bottom of each mini loaf pan, distributing the onion so there is a thin, even layer in both pans.

1. 1. Divide the venison burger mixture evenly into the mini loaf pans, directly on top of the onions.
   2. Use a straw or chopstick to poke 9 holes in each venison loaf. Spread the holes out evenly across the meat and push all the way down, through to the bottom. The holes will allow the flavor and moisture of the onions to vent through the venison burger.

1. 1. Place the CanCooker Rack inside the bottom of the CanCooker. Add 2 cups of water to the CanCooker. The water will sit just below the rack.

1. 1. Place both filled mini loaf pans, side by side and uncovered, on the rack inside of the CanCooker. Latch lid on CanCooker and place over medium-low heat.

1. 1. Once the CanCooker begins to vent steam through the hole in its lid (after about 15-20 minutes), cook venison burgers for 30 minutes.
   2. Wear oven mitts to remove CanCooker from heat source. Be careful – the CanCooker and its handles will be hot! Let it cool 5-10 minutes before opening the lid.
   3. Unlatch lid and use tongs to carefully remove mini loaf pans from CanCooker. Flip each pan upside down onto a cutting board and remove the venison loaves. Cut loaves into slices (these will be the burger patties). I cut each loaf into 8 even slices to make a total of 16 Venison “White Castle” Burgers.

1. To assemble each Venison “White Castle” Burger: Place a slice of burger on the bottom half of a roll. Add a piece of American cheese (I used half a slice of cheese for each slider) and two pickles, if desired. Finish it off with the top half of the bun. Enjoy!