Advanced Cooking Techniques for Superior Hand-Pressed Patties

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

J. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New York Times on food and science, and he establishes recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Program on YouTube.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I've spent the last 2 decades of my profession carefully looking into and checking recipes, methods and extensively accepted kitchen knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several burger joints and even wrote a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I separated and checked every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

Here are the most crucial ideas I've discovered for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the kitchen. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be an advantage, but with burgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra flavoring, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to overwork the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the exterior of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to link up more easily. This is an advantage in sausages, which should have a company texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A burger needs to be tender, with lots of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply takes full advantage of taste. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a big burger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a griddle, browning is taste, and high heat is key. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before adding the patties, and cook them till they're well browned on both sides.

This makes the most of taste while preserving juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating so much quicker. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't 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 actually had an opportunity to leak out.

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

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Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually constantly been a burger 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 might admit that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the same idea of what makes the best hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know individuals like but I just. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Perhaps we have various taste. Perhaps I haven't attempted your preferred burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (just kidding).

There's one best burg out there for everybody. Let me show you what makes the best burger for me. Let's start with the patty. Can I state I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The best ones astonishingly stay juicy with simply a hint of flaky char around the edges, but sadly, most places go too tough on the smash.

When I bite in, I need to see a little sparkle, some glistening from the beef and maybe a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be scorched to assist lock in the juices, however not too crusty.