Using Professional Griddle Methods in the Home

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New York Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Program on YouTube. This video and article are part of, our series on kitchen fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last 20 years of my career carefully investigating and checking recipes, techniques and widely accepted cooking area knowledge to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several burger joints and even composed a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I separated and checked every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a burger.

Here are the most crucial suggestions I've found for optimizing your hamburger 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 hamburgers, overhandling can create an undesirable dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, also requires you to strain the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is a great thing in sausages, which ought to have a firm texture, but with burgers, you want looseness. A hamburger should be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger 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 including the patties, and cook them until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes taste while preserving juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had an opportunity to drip out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually always been a hamburger fan. 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 right day and I may confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the very same concept of what makes the perfect burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know individuals like but I just. Perhaps I haven't tried your preferred hamburger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply joking).

There's one ideal burg out there for everybody. Let me show you what makes the ideal burger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I state I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The very best ones amazingly stay juicy with simply a tip of flaky char around the edges, however regrettably, many locations go too hard on the smash.

When I bite in, I require to see a little sparkle, some sparkling from the beef and maybe a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be scorched to assist secure the juices, however not too crusty.