Got 1.5LB of 80/20 that was on sale, nothing special.  Made into four 6oz Patties and sprinkled with SPG... slightly bigger than 1/3LB.  All formed and setting in the fridge now.  Planning on starting 1/2 a chimney of charcoal and using one coal basket off to the side with a chunk of hickory on top.  Going to try and hold 225F until burger temps hit 130F.   I'm thinking it will take maybe 45min.  Then I'll rest for a few minutes while I add a handful of fresh lump and get it as hot as possible to sear the burgers on each side real quick for a bit of char.  Move off to the side and add cheese to melt.

I think I'll cut an onion up in 1/2" slices, brush with EVOO and salt and smoke/sear those too along side the burgers.

Not sure if I should chill the burgers in the freezer beforehand or not. (?) colder start = more time getting smokey.

How's this sound?  

Is it safe to medium-rare on a smoked burger?  It's a pretty slow cook compared to grilling up a normal med-rare patty in like 10min over fire.

Update...  came out pretty darn good, I think.  My wife didn't really

I ended up using 1/2 chimney chimney of lump charcoal in 1 weber basket all the off to one side and two pieces of hickory on top the coals. It was probably a bit too much as heat was hard to keep under 250F.  I had to almost close the bottom vent and keep the top vent mostly open to vent the heat.  Briquettes probably would have been better for lower/slower portion of the cook.


Took right about 50min to hit 125F and I opened up the vents and let the coals flare up.  Charred up the onions and the burgers a bit  two at a time and then moved them back to the cold side and put the lid back down to let the cheese melt.  My wife likes hers well done, so I just cooked hers longer over the fire at the end.  

Got some really bold smokey flavors.  It was definitely different than a smash burger or a plain grilled burger.  Almost baconish.  In hindsight I think different cheese than american is needed ... it wasn't bad but it even two slices barely peaked through.   A bolder cheese like an aged or sharp cheddar, a swiss/guyere, or a bleu cheese would have been better to counter the bold smoke.  Yeah, a reverse seared smoked burger with bleu cheese crumbles in the mix and topped with some balsamic-tossed greens would be great.

We have a little smoke box we fill with flavored chip and set on the burners in our gas grill for the smoke flavor . I'll have to try this with burgers next time and see how it taste .
Life it too busy for us right now to mess with charcoal as much as we like that way of cooking better.

Sounds good to me, when should I come over.