Making Grilled Burgers Without Overcooking Them

I was worried that making grilled burgers without spending like a reasonable amount of time on the grill would be unnecessary, but I didn't see why not. What's the best way to make grilled burgers that won't dry out or get too charred? To achieve this, it's essential to have a medium heat and ensure you have some fat in the mixture. The burger will continue to cook even after it's flipped, so it's crucial to flip it at the right time.

To get the perfect grill marks without overcooking the burgers, you want to use a cast iron pan on the grill. This way, the burgers can crisp up in their own fat while still getting that nice smoke wafting off the grill. If you have a gas grill and don't benefit from the smoke, simply place a Lodge griddle, like a pancake griddle, directly on the grill and cook the burger straight on it.

Cooking Burgers: Grill or Fry?

I'm Team fry when it comes to burgers – I love the idea of a smash burger that's technically a fried burger. However, I also appreciate a well-grilled burger. While grilling can add great marks to the patty, I don't think it's necessary for a burger. A flat top or a pan allows for direct contact with the heat source and gives you a nice crust on the burger.

The Best Method of Topping a Burger

When it comes to topping a burger, it's essential to consider how the toppings will interact with each other. Too much moisture can cause the burger to slide out of the bun. To avoid this issue, don't overdo it with wet and slippery toppings like lettuce or onions.

A simple solution is to use a bread that complements the burger, such as a brioche or pretzel bun. If you need to keep the burger in the bun, consider adding a small skewer or wooden pick to hold it together. It's also essential to balance toppings so they don't cause the burger to become too wet.

Adding Cheese to the Patty

When it comes to adding cheese to the patty, timing is crucial. For smash burgers, add the cheese right when you flip the patty, as it won't spend much time on the grill. If you're cooking a thicker burger, cook it for a few more minutes before adding the cheese.

The ideal temperature for cooking burgers depends on the size of the patty and personal preference. Cooking at too high a temperature can cause the burger to become overcooked or dry. Be reasonable when adding cheese to avoid overwhelming the burger with too much melted goodness.

Vegetarian Burgers

While opinions may vary, two vegetarian burger recipes stand out: Brooks Headley's Superior Burger Recipe and Chris Morocco's recipe from Bon Appetit. Both are exceptional and worth trying. Whether you're a fan of classic veggie burgers or more adventurous options, there's a perfect burger out there for everyone.

Summer Burgers

Burgers are an excellent summer food – juicy, flavorful, and easy to enjoy outdoors. While some people may opt to eat fewer burgers during the warmer months, others see it as the perfect excuse to indulge in their favorite summertime foods. I spent two years working at Shake Shack and often found myself covered in airborne beef fat after a long night of work, so I have to be in the right mood when enjoying my summer burger.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enquestions are yours answers are out you got the burgers we got the answers today we're in the VA Test Kitchen and we had any no questions about burgers I love burgers burgers part of this what is the best fat percentage in a burger mixture 80/20 I think 80/20 80/20 80/20 80/20 is just the percentage so it's like 80% meat protein 20% fat that just like enough fat to keep the burger really really juicy but not so much fat that it's like I think I'm an 80/20 person 80/20 is pretty standard you see ground chuck that's normally I have had burgers that we're pushing at 70/30 too much shrinkage too much bad code in your mouth it does not feel right 80/20 ninety ten is Julian 90 10 honestly like don't don't bonito burger if you can find 25 75 well it's special oh yeah you can't find it very easily but if you're very lucky 75 25 is very village its custom deluxe you just want something some kind of fats are the burger to cook it like just sort of cook itself in and give for right and it keeps it you know fat is gives a lot of flavor and when it's just if it was just 99% lean beef I mean it'd be like why is there such an emphasis on overworking the meat what will happen if I mix it's much too much and it'll just become tough it all just kind of like becomes like a little bit like - like pasty and kind of uniform yeah it gets like a little bit more to that like bouncy bologna territory we don't want bouncy Bologna and you don't have to stress out about it just know that like don't sit there like needing it and like trying to override the adult regular shape we are very kind of gentle with our coach it's a gathering more gathering so we like buff Patty's we don't like Tom Patty's bestest seasoned burger before or after grilling I do it before dancers both you always want to cook your meat with a little salt I mean it season it before you grow it and then after you cook it I like to just a little bit i season it in my hand boom girl season the other side you wouldn't want to do it after because it just spent all that time cooking without any seasoning you're not drawing out any flavor yeah what are your go-to burger toppings and condiments I mean I needed the very least mayonnaise and ketchup super super super super thinly sliced white onion onions that are diced not cut into rounds I don't know why cuz they slide out we slide up I need special sauce like if I go to the somebody else's barbecue and there's no special sauce for the burgers you make your own yeah and a little bit of mustard on the side just like to where you just put it this I swipe of mustard I like it all I like I'm you know lettuce onions I love cheddar cheese like good sharp cheddar definitely not red Leicester no never Mayo most are Swiss cheese bread butter because lettuce is it it's highly personal very personal tear us apart I like kimchi and I like Mayo that's all I like onions of the patty yes or no I would say in the burger but not in the patty no no nothing in the patty onions on top of the patty what is the best way to green a homemade burger without it falling apart put a little oil on the grill grates first and if it's stuck to the grill and it doesn't want to come off just wait a little bit you just kind of have to leave it alone until that like that understand sets when things are cooked though properly they'll want to release themselves you take your cast iron out and I will use a cast iron on the green you can use a cast iron on a grill I mean it's a good little like insurance policy I have no desire for my patty to touch the grates of them know what's the best cut of beef for a burger you can get fancy with other cuts of meat but at the end of the day I feel like Chuck's the most bang for your buck most flavor best fat percentage 80/20 chuck yeah I like the brown beef isn't that cheap and it's comparable to like a boneless short rib almost really I say brisket see the best cut of beef is when you grind your own how do you prevent funds from getting soggy well whose bothers bones are not shot oh you mean like why in the composed burger me Oh in the burger burger should be made put in a bun handed to a person eaten it should never get to the point where you have the opportunity to SOG out you gotta just eat them it's a quick thing when they're done it's go time if you poke holes in the meat does it cook evenly or faster there's so much misinformation on the internet it's just terrible no no coals in that no no well I do my big I can't even say I think why are you making flat burgers I don't like why do my big flat burgers shrink up into small patties when I cook them really as you cook it the fat melts which means there's just left there in the end right first of all make them bigger and flatter than you think you want them to be because they're gonna shrink up and then make a little like well in the middle and then they won't form this like puck can you sous-vide a burger and then quickly sear the outside before serving what are these Nokia's oh we can just keep these questions I mean it's probably not bad I don't see why not yeah people don't do it though but why why why why don't we do what with it along that travel it's hard to get out of a color on a burger without spending like a reasonable amount of time like on the grill I was worried that it would kind of overcook right it just seems unnecessary but I don't see why not what's the best way to make grilled burgers that won't dry out or get too charred so you want like a medium heat and you want to make sure you have some fat like we mentioned before in the mixture the burger kind of like keeps cooking when you like I used to do it you usually do it a little bit under because I feel like people always over yeah a smash burger on the grill put your cast iron on the grill so that they're basically crisping up in their own fat but you're still getting the smoke that's wafting off the grill if you have a gas grill and you're not really benefiting from any of that smoke anyways just put a like one of those like Lodge griddles like pancake griddles right on the gas grill and just cook straight on that catch Mona burger yes or no if it's what you like what's the best way to cook a burger grill or fry why you know what you're after yeah I mean I mean I love I love a smash burger that's technically a fried burger but I also love a grilled burger you know I mean I'm I'm on Team fry I don't think that a burger benefits from the grill all that much I don't need the great marks or on a girl I'll even if I'm on picking over charcoal I like it kind of just I'd like a flat poncho kind of steel you get real direct contact and you get that a little bit of crust I really like that I agree what's the best method of topping a burger so it doesn't slide out of the fun I think this question is about the toppings themselves sliding out on the ice is that an issue Oh in terms of like when you pick it up and it kind of wants to fall out the back I didn't really have a problem I guess don't overdo it you can get a little slippy with the lettuce some chopped up onions on the yellow grabbers in there was all kind of culture actually yeah it creates them try like that builds interaction if your burger is like these you wanna have a bread that is at least the same side waist or elite will be here if you have to have like a spike through it you know like a metal skewer or wooden skewer yeah you know if that's what it's gonna take to keep that burger in the bun like I say a fair play okay I think you need to think about not putting too wet slippery things next to each other I want to put special sauce on there and Dumbo just get in size I do and like some of that is gonna come out with that part of the joy are you eating a burger next best time to add cheese to the patty after the first flip like once you figure patty is if you're a smash burger you're gonna add the cheese right when it flips because it's not gonna spend that much longer on the grill if you're doing a thick burger I cooked my thick burgers by flipping them pretty constantly interesting so then I wouldn't add the cheese until a minute or so before they're finished yeah or if you're cooking on a flat or a poncho or something you cover a little little Bowl but before you do a little splash of water real quick little steam mo melt Oh get it out of here but somebody if you make this Center thinner or not I guess I don't usually do that don't overthink it if you're doing bigger burgers I think it does start to make a difference cuz nobody really wants a burger that like you know it starts like this and then it shrinks like that and then all of a sudden it's that thick stuff burger with cheese how do I get it on the burger not in a burger yeah I think you just have to be reasonable in terms of how much cheese are getting inside that thing it's gonna melt it's gonna be there it's gonna be awesome so don't try to get like four slices in there my only thing with this is like cooking temperature-wise hey you're putting you know we're not gonna pay the price all right what is your favorite vegetarian burger uh Brooks Headley superiority burger recipe it's really hard but the payoff is worth it or the one that Chris Morocco has in bone Appetit is it fantastic totally we can all agree on that I hope that was helpful those are our answers to all your questions about hamburgers for one of the great foods they're tasty foods I really do love them in the summer burgers eat more burgers eat less burgers whatever your body needs mix of hamburger you know I spent two years at Shake Shack I went home a lot of nights covered in airborne beef fat so I have to be in the right moodquestions are yours answers are out you got the burgers we got the answers today we're in the VA Test Kitchen and we had any no questions about burgers I love burgers burgers part of this what is the best fat percentage in a burger mixture 80/20 I think 80/20 80/20 80/20 80/20 is just the percentage so it's like 80% meat protein 20% fat that just like enough fat to keep the burger really really juicy but not so much fat that it's like I think I'm an 80/20 person 80/20 is pretty standard you see ground chuck that's normally I have had burgers that we're pushing at 70/30 too much shrinkage too much bad code in your mouth it does not feel right 80/20 ninety ten is Julian 90 10 honestly like don't don't bonito burger if you can find 25 75 well it's special oh yeah you can't find it very easily but if you're very lucky 75 25 is very village its custom deluxe you just want something some kind of fats are the burger to cook it like just sort of cook itself in and give for right and it keeps it you know fat is gives a lot of flavor and when it's just if it was just 99% lean beef I mean it'd be like why is there such an emphasis on overworking the meat what will happen if I mix it's much too much and it'll just become tough it all just kind of like becomes like a little bit like - like pasty and kind of uniform yeah it gets like a little bit more to that like bouncy bologna territory we don't want bouncy Bologna and you don't have to stress out about it just know that like don't sit there like needing it and like trying to override the adult regular shape we are very kind of gentle with our coach it's a gathering more gathering so we like buff Patty's we don't like Tom Patty's bestest seasoned burger before or after grilling I do it before dancers both you always want to cook your meat with a little salt I mean it season it before you grow it and then after you cook it I like to just a little bit i season it in my hand boom girl season the other side you wouldn't want to do it after because it just spent all that time cooking without any seasoning you're not drawing out any flavor yeah what are your go-to burger toppings and condiments I mean I needed the very least mayonnaise and ketchup super super super super thinly sliced white onion onions that are diced not cut into rounds I don't know why cuz they slide out we slide up I need special sauce like if I go to the somebody else's barbecue and there's no special sauce for the burgers you make your own yeah and a little bit of mustard on the side just like to where you just put it this I swipe of mustard I like it all I like I'm you know lettuce onions I love cheddar cheese like good sharp cheddar definitely not red Leicester no never Mayo most are Swiss cheese bread butter because lettuce is it it's highly personal very personal tear us apart I like kimchi and I like Mayo that's all I like onions of the patty yes or no I would say in the burger but not in the patty no no nothing in the patty onions on top of the patty what is the best way to green a homemade burger without it falling apart put a little oil on the grill grates first and if it's stuck to the grill and it doesn't want to come off just wait a little bit you just kind of have to leave it alone until that like that understand sets when things are cooked though properly they'll want to release themselves you take your cast iron out and I will use a cast iron on the green you can use a cast iron on a grill I mean it's a good little like insurance policy I have no desire for my patty to touch the grates of them know what's the best cut of beef for a burger you can get fancy with other cuts of meat but at the end of the day I feel like Chuck's the most bang for your buck most flavor best fat percentage 80/20 chuck yeah I like the brown beef isn't that cheap and it's comparable to like a boneless short rib almost really I say brisket see the best cut of beef is when you grind your own how do you prevent funds from getting soggy well whose bothers bones are not shot oh you mean like why in the composed burger me Oh in the burger burger should be made put in a bun handed to a person eaten it should never get to the point where you have the opportunity to SOG out you gotta just eat them it's a quick thing when they're done it's go time if you poke holes in the meat does it cook evenly or faster there's so much misinformation on the internet it's just terrible no no coals in that no no well I do my big I can't even say I think why are you making flat burgers I don't like why do my big flat burgers shrink up into small patties when I cook them really as you cook it the fat melts which means there's just left there in the end right first of all make them bigger and flatter than you think you want them to be because they're gonna shrink up and then make a little like well in the middle and then they won't form this like puck can you sous-vide a burger and then quickly sear the outside before serving what are these Nokia's oh we can just keep these questions I mean it's probably not bad I don't see why not yeah people don't do it though but why why why why don't we do what with it along that travel it's hard to get out of a color on a burger without spending like a reasonable amount of time like on the grill I was worried that it would kind of overcook right it just seems unnecessary but I don't see why not what's the best way to make grilled burgers that won't dry out or get too charred so you want like a medium heat and you want to make sure you have some fat like we mentioned before in the mixture the burger kind of like keeps cooking when you like I used to do it you usually do it a little bit under because I feel like people always over yeah a smash burger on the grill put your cast iron on the grill so that they're basically crisping up in their own fat but you're still getting the smoke that's wafting off the grill if you have a gas grill and you're not really benefiting from any of that smoke anyways just put a like one of those like Lodge griddles like pancake griddles right on the gas grill and just cook straight on that catch Mona burger yes or no if it's what you like what's the best way to cook a burger grill or fry why you know what you're after yeah I mean I mean I love I love a smash burger that's technically a fried burger but I also love a grilled burger you know I mean I'm I'm on Team fry I don't think that a burger benefits from the grill all that much I don't need the great marks or on a girl I'll even if I'm on picking over charcoal I like it kind of just I'd like a flat poncho kind of steel you get real direct contact and you get that a little bit of crust I really like that I agree what's the best method of topping a burger so it doesn't slide out of the fun I think this question is about the toppings themselves sliding out on the ice is that an issue Oh in terms of like when you pick it up and it kind of wants to fall out the back I didn't really have a problem I guess don't overdo it you can get a little slippy with the lettuce some chopped up onions on the yellow grabbers in there was all kind of culture actually yeah it creates them try like that builds interaction if your burger is like these you wanna have a bread that is at least the same side waist or elite will be here if you have to have like a spike through it you know like a metal skewer or wooden skewer yeah you know if that's what it's gonna take to keep that burger in the bun like I say a fair play okay I think you need to think about not putting too wet slippery things next to each other I want to put special sauce on there and Dumbo just get in size I do and like some of that is gonna come out with that part of the joy are you eating a burger next best time to add cheese to the patty after the first flip like once you figure patty is if you're a smash burger you're gonna add the cheese right when it flips because it's not gonna spend that much longer on the grill if you're doing a thick burger I cooked my thick burgers by flipping them pretty constantly interesting so then I wouldn't add the cheese until a minute or so before they're finished yeah or if you're cooking on a flat or a poncho or something you cover a little little Bowl but before you do a little splash of water real quick little steam mo melt Oh get it out of here but somebody if you make this Center thinner or not I guess I don't usually do that don't overthink it if you're doing bigger burgers I think it does start to make a difference cuz nobody really wants a burger that like you know it starts like this and then it shrinks like that and then all of a sudden it's that thick stuff burger with cheese how do I get it on the burger not in a burger yeah I think you just have to be reasonable in terms of how much cheese are getting inside that thing it's gonna melt it's gonna be there it's gonna be awesome so don't try to get like four slices in there my only thing with this is like cooking temperature-wise hey you're putting you know we're not gonna pay the price all right what is your favorite vegetarian burger uh Brooks Headley superiority burger recipe it's really hard but the payoff is worth it or the one that Chris Morocco has in bone Appetit is it fantastic totally we can all agree on that I hope that was helpful those are our answers to all your questions about hamburgers for one of the great foods they're tasty foods I really do love them in the summer burgers eat more burgers eat less burgers whatever your body needs mix of hamburger you know I spent two years at Shake Shack I went home a lot of nights covered in airborne beef fat so I have to be in the right mood\n"