Smoked Burger w/ a BBQ aioli

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Head Country Bar-B-Q, but all words and opinions are my own.

I love a good chargrilled burger. The extra depth of flavor makes the trouble worth it. My new favorite thing is smoked burgers. The additional time in the smoker imparts a deeper smoke to it than your average grilled burger. Finishing it off with a sear on each side to give it a nice crust is the cherry on top. With the Super Bowl right around the corner, I thought making some smoked burger would be fun to serve at your game day parties. They are easy to make and do not require a lot of prep or ingredients. It takes about 45 minutes to smoke.

Ingredients:
Head Country Championship Seasoning, Original
1/4 cup of Head Country Bar-B-Q Sauce, Original
1 pound of 80/20 ground chuck
1/3 cup of mayo
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

Optional ingredients:
Burger bun
Cheese of your choice
Any other burger toppings would like

Instructions:
1. Preheat your smoker to your desire temperature. Anywhere between 225-275F should be fine.

2. Form burger patties. You can also buy fresh preformed patties. Anywhere from 1/3 -1/2 pound in size each would be good.

3. Sprinkle the Head Country rub and black pepper on to the patties. Do not be shy with the seasoning.

4. Put them in the smoker.

5. Mix the BBQ sauce, mayo, and garlic powder together.

6. Once the internal meat temperature is about 5-10 degrees short of your desire finishing temperature (I pulled them at 130), remove the patties.

7. Sear the burger patties for about 2 minutes on each side. I put an oiled cast iron pan in the firebox. You can sear them over coals directly if you have a 2-zone grilling setup. If you must, searing it on the stove top would also work. Once you flip it over once, throw some cheese on it if you like.

8. Build your burger.

9. Enjoy.

Until next time, happy smoking...