Better Burgers

If I’m being honest with you, I don’t like burgers.

They’ve never done much for me. They tend to be dense, lacking flavor, and overwhelmed by boring raw onions and stale white bread.

Problem is…my wife loves burgers. So in order to save my marriage and not be un-American on the 4th of July, I decided to dive into learning how to make one darn good burger.

Here are the tips I’ve picked up:

Salt on, not in, your burger

Kenji Lopez-Alt falsified my instincts to treat a burger patty like a meatball...

After an experiment where he dropped pans on burger patties (probably as fun as it sounds), he learned it’s better to salt your patties after they have been formed. 🤯

If you salt ground beef beforehand, the salt will break down proteins that make the meat stick together. This results in a denser burger. And burgers should be tender, not bouncy like a sausage.

Long story short, add salt on top of your patty, not in it.

To press or not to press?

Press. Wahhhh?!

Contrary to what I’ve always heard, pressing your burger down while it is cooking isn’t the sin it’s made out to be. In fact, I believe it’s exactly what we should be doing.

More insight from our friend Kenji…

You’ve heard me say it before. Browning is beautiful. Due to the Maillard reaction, food develops tantalizing aromas and flavors when browned on a hot surface.

Burgers are no different.

Pressing your burger down creates more surface area for your patty to be in contact with the hot pan. This means more browning! 🙌

But what about the juices?

True to popular belief, pressing down on your burger can release some of those juices 😞. But don’t fret over them too much. Not overcooking your burger is more important in making sure it stays juicy. And here’s the trick. Only press down on the burger when you first add it to the heat. When the meat is cold, the fat is solid so the juices won’t release. Nifty right?

Skip the grill

But grilling is so quintessentially burger…

I hear ya. But to get that beautiful, browned, flavorful crust on the outside of the burger, maximize the contact between the patty and your blazing hot surface. Think a night at the club, not a middle school dance. 💃🕺

Grills aren’t optimized to help you take advantage of the Maillard reaction. Because of the grill grates, you will always have pieces of your meat that won’t be in contact with high heat. That means less browning. And less flavor.

There’s a reason you don’t see grills in restaurants.

So what do you use instead? Try a blazing hot cast iron pan. Ultimately, you don’t want a non-stick pan here because sticking will help ensure browning.

Last quickfire tips:

• 80/20 Meat to Fat Ratio: You need fat in your ground beef! You want the fat to render after you’ve developed a nice crust. This will leave your burgers nice and juicy. 😋  
• Freeze Your Beef Before Forming Patties: Yes it sounds weird. But bear with me. Chilling your meat will reduce how “sticky” your beef is. Remember, why we put salt on versus in the patty? Freezing your beef for ~20 minutes before patty formation prevents those same proteins from sticking together that early salting encourages. Science! 🧪 Once formed, let the patties sit for a bit until the meat is no longer frozen.
• Add Flavor. Everywhere! From toasting the bun to mixing herbs into your mayo to caramelizing your onions, take the time to layer in flavor to every component you put on your burger.
• Don’t go overboard: This one is always a challenge for me. But try to not add too many vegetables, condiments, and flavor boosters. You want to have a few bold ingredients. Too many and all the flavors crowd each other out.

Where I learned this: The Burger Lab Series by J. Kenji López-Alt and Dan Souza over at America’s Test Kitchen.