Better Heat Management for Better Grilled Patties

There is no end to the number of scrumptious burgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and short article belong to, our series on kitchen principles.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I've invested the last 2 decades of my career rigorously looking into and checking dishes, techniques and commonly accepted kitchen knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run several burger joints and even wrote a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Burger Laboratory, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a burger.

Here are the most crucial pointers I have actually found for optimizing your burger experience, whether in the yard or the cooking area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a great thing, but with burgers, overhandling can develop an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra seasoning, like onions and herbs, also forces you to overwork the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to connect up more quickly. This is an advantage in sausages, which should have a firm texture, but with burgers, you desire looseness. A hamburger needs to hurt, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a griddle, browning is flavor, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait till your pan or grill is hot before adding the patties, and prepare them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes flavor while keeping juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had a chance to leak out.

Smash BurgersCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Diner BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Thick Backyard BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Follow,,, and.

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Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually always been a hamburger lover. If there were any little melty American cheese leavings stuck on the wrapper, I 'd drag my french fries through them (I still do this).

Catch me on the ideal day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. In fact, I might say that on a lot of days. And you might state the same. But even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the same concept of what makes the perfect hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to end the ones I know people like however I just. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Maybe we have various taste. Perhaps I haven't tried your favorite burger yet. Perhaps I'm out to get you (just kidding).

Let me share with you what makes the ideal hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty.

When I bite in, I require to see a little shimmer, some sparkling from the beef and perhaps a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be burnt to assist secure the juices, but not too crusty.