How to Grill Burgers

Burgers are one of those essential foods to learn to cook at home. Despite the ubiquity of them on menus from drive-thru to fast casual to fine-dining establishments, a great burger you create yourself is a staple for any home cook. On the surface, a burger is one of the easiest things to make: form ground meat, fish, or vegetables into a patty and cook it on a hot grill or skillet. All you need to do is break out the buns. But that doesn't mean all of us haven't been faced with burgers that are charred on the outside and raw within, or come out with the texture of rubber. Here are tips for shaping, seasoning, and cooking burgers, to help you have the best grilling nights all summer long.

Make sure you have enough fat in your burger blend

Whether you are making a standard ground beef burger, or getting fancy with chicken, turkey, fish or vegetables, the single best thing to do to up your burger game is to ensure that you have enough fat in your burger mix. The high heat cooking needs fat to melt into your burger or you will end up with dry, rubbery, bland burgers every time. Your basic ratio should always include 20% fat. And yes, even if you intend to serve your burger covered in gooey cheese and slathered with mayo, exterior fat cannot save the texture of a burger with too little fat within. If you are using ground beef, you can buy 80/20 at the store. For other proteins, add grated butter or shortening or ground bacon or other source of solid fat into the blend to make up the difference.

Press a dimple into the center of the patties

Ever wonder why your perfectly formed patty came off the grill looking more like a meatball? Simple. While the burgers cook, the heat shrinks the exterior, while steam and juices cause the center to swell. The result is that domed puffy burger that no longer provides a flat surface upon which to pile toppings. To avoid this shaping issue, you just want the center of your burger to be slightly less thick than the exterior dimension. Press down in the center of the parry to create a crater that is about 1/3 deeper than the rest of your burger. This tip does not apply to burgers designed to be cooked straight from frozen (which are most often docked when shaped to address this issue), or for smash burgers, for obvious reasons.

Season your burgers before you cook them

No matter how much stuff goes on top, you have one shot to get the seasoning right on your patty and that is before you cook it. If your patties are store-bought, season them well on both sides with salt and pepper before cooking. If you are forming your own patties, you can season the blend as you mix and shape them. If possible, season at least 30 minutes (and up to to two hours) before cooking to let that seasoning work its way into the patty. There's no skipping this step: Unseasoned burgers will always taste bland.

Let your burgers chill before cooking

Burgers are a high-heat, direct-heat item to cook, so there is little room for error. You want a great crusty sear on the outside—some people use a grill press for that—but some control over the cooking temperature, especially if you like yours rare to medium-rare. Chilling the patties before cooking gives you a bit more control over getting that exterior well-browned and crisp before the interior goes too far, and help the patties hold their shape. Give them at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator to chill, but a few hours or an overnight rest is ideal. Then you can brown them well and still get a juicy pink center. If your burgers are less than 3/4-inch thick, consider freezing them for 30 minutes before cooking.

Grill them to just the right temperature

How long to cook a burger can feel like a mystery when you are staring at a hot grill, with friends and family all around you, waiting for their burgers. While you want to cook chicken, turkey, and veggie burgers all the way through, burgers made with beef, fish, or pork, require more temperature management. Here are some guidelines; use a meat thermometer for the most accurate grilling.

• Medium-rare (warm, red center): 6 minutes, or 130°F to 135°F
• Medium (warm, pink center): 7 to 8 minutes, or 140°F to 145°F
• Medium-well (hot, slightly pink center): 9 minutes, or 150°F to 155°F
• Well done (brown all the way through): 10 minutes, or 160°F to 165°F

Use a plancha or grill pan for delicate fish and veggie burgers

Burgers on the grill are a particular pleasure, that bit of smoky flavor really hits the spot. But burgers — especially veggie burgers or ones made from fish or other seafood — can also stick to your grill grates, making for a nightmare with flipping. While you will get good grill marks, you will never get the kind of wonderful crust you get on a burger made on a flattop or in a cast-iron skillet. To have the best of both worlds, use a plancha or iron skillet on half of your grill. Let it heat up as your grill heats, at least 30 minutes, so that it is ripping hot, give it a good oil with something high-heat and neutral, and put your burgers down. Flip to sear both sides to your liking, then shift the patties to your well-oiled grill grates next to the plancha or pan and close the lid to finish cooking to your preferred doneness. The fat on your seared patties will drip on your elements or coals and you'll get restaurant-quality crust and still have that smoky note. If your grill is small, carefully remove the plancha or pan to a heat-safe surface before moving the burgers over.

Let your burgers rest after grilling

A few minutes' resting time will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the burger, and let carryover cooking finish the burger to the perfect temperature. Place the burgers on the buns, then five minutes to let them rest while you add cheese, get condiments and drinks ready. Those few minutes are the final touch for a perfect burger.