Here are a couple festive and fun recipes for the Fourth of July holiday on your Kuma grill. Spicy and tender Firecracker Burgers that grill up quickly and beautifully. (And they really do have fire and crackers!) and Kaboom Kebabs!  A fun spin on kebabs that are reminiscent of a Fourth of July night sky!

Here’s what you will need for the Firecracker burgers:

*1 lb. extra lean ground beef

*1 egg

*1 sleeve Ritz crackers, finely crushed

*½ cup minced onion

*2 or 3 large jalapenos, or 2 or 3 habaneros, minced (just use what you like for your flavor/heat preferences.  We had trouble getting them spicy enough with just jalapenos.  On our most recent cook we used 1 jalapeno (seeds removed) and 2 habaneros (with seeds).  Finally got it to where the kids were wishing they’d gone with the hot dog option!)

Mix everything together and shape into 5 or 6 patties.  The mixture is pretty soft, so here’s a tip:  Form the patties and place on waxed paper on a cookie sheet.  Pop them into the freezer for 30-45 minutes while you assemble your kebabs.  This makes the patties super easy to transfer to the grill when it’s cook time and they cook up really nice!

To assemble the kebabs to look like fireworks, we just used half of a small red potato as a “hub” for our 5 pointed star.  Snap wooden kebab skewers in half, or leave them full length if you want a really big star!  Just insert your skewers into the potato, and thread on oiled and seasoned veggies of your choice!  Make it colorful!

Cook your Kaboom Kebabs on the upper rack of your Kuma grill at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, until veggies are done to your liking.  Open the flame zone for a couple minutes at the end so the grids can start to heat up for the burger cook.

This is actually 2 of our star kebabs stacked one on top of the other.  It’s like the grand finale Kaboom!...

Grill the Firecracker Burgers over the open grill zone for 3-4 minutes per side.  These cook up tender and moist, even with the extra lean ground beef, because of the veggies and crackers in the mix. It’s a win-win, ‘cause you get lower saturated fat, but not at the cost of having to eat a dry, tough burger.

Just add your favorite burger toppings and enjoy!  Have a happy and safe Independence Day!