Grilling Burgers For Beginners
There are lots of little tidbits to keep in mind when you are making the best burgers. You will love how simple these grilled burgers come together!
- Resist The Temptation: Try not to press down on the burger while it cooks. This squeezes out all those lovely juices that are meant to be inside.
- Let it Rest: Let the hamburger rest for 5-10 minutes after grilling to redistribute the juices throughout the meat.
- Got Fire: If you get a flare up on your grill, cut off the oxygen to the flame by closing the lid. This should put it out. And have a glass of water on hand, just in case.
- Variations: There are many ways to vary your burger from the kind of meat you use, to the seasonings and the toppings. Once you feel you have the basics down good, experiment with flavors and textures. Keep in mind any time you change the meat, you will change the cook time, temperature, and seasonings. Besure to do your homework before working with different meats in your burgers so that you can still have the best, juiciest and most flavorful burger around.
- Toppings: Get creative with your tastebuds and try different toppings. Some ideas include grilled onions or mushrooms, pineapple and teriyaki sauce, pepper jack cheese and avocado spread. Melt blue cheese and top with bacon. The possibilities are endless. Let the grilling begin!
The Best Juicy Burger Recipe On The Stove Top Or Grill
Learn how to make juicy burgers on the stove or on the grill, perfectly every time. This juicy burger recipe makes the best grill or stovetop burgers, thanks to 2 secret ingredients, plus prep & cooking tips!
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Happy grilling season! I cant believe Independence Day is in just a couple of weeks. Summer is flying by. One of my favorite ways to enjoy it is with a good barbecue. Especially when juicy burgers are involved! And even though I love these juicy hamburgers on the grill right now, you can make them as stovetop burgers all year round, too.
Ill show you how to make burgers on the stove and on the grill, so you can decide how you want to do it. The stovetop burger method means you can do this anytime of year!
But for right now in the middle of summer, fire up the grill, get a round of drinks going, and engage in some deep conversation as the breeze blows through your hair. Or chase your little girl running around in circles in the grass. Thats my kind of summer afternoon. This year well be up north for a wedding for the fourth, but we still plan to grill many times before that and after.
On Grill Smoking Grilled Burgers
A great compromise to add smoked flavor without buying a smoker is adding some wood to smoke on the grill. You can use an smoker box but I use an even easier method. Placing a piece ofheavy foil on the grill with wood chips on it naturally allows them to begin to smoke and infuse flavor.
These Grill-Smoked Green Chile Burgers in a Bacon Weave are delicious and always impress . The burgers are grilled with mesquite wood chips for a nice smoky flavor. Dont let the bacon weave scare you either. The step-by-step photos will help you whip them up like a pro .
The wood chip smoking technique is so easy youll want to use it on recipes outside of burgers too. I even made a Grilled Pumpkin Pie with Hickory-Smoked Ginger Snap Crust for Thanksgiving!
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Let The Flavors Mingle
Leave the meat mixture in the refrigerator for several hours to allow all the flavors to mingle. To form patties, wet your hands a little to keep the meat from sticking to them. If you make patties ahead of time, stack them on a plate separated by waxed paper and cover with plastic wrap before you put it in the refrigerator.
What Ingredients Are In The Juiciest Burgers
- Ground Beef 80% lean 20% fat, this is the only one I will use for my homemade hamburger patty recipe.
- Spices Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Worcestershire Sauce Adds a little smokey flavor. This is an optional ingredient.
- Cheese Cant have a juicy burger without some cheddar cheese on top.
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How Long To Grill Burgers
In general, follow these total grilling times:
- For rare burgers, cook for 4 minutes total
- For medium-rare burgers, cook for 5 minutes total
- For medium burgers, cook for 6 to 7 minutes total
- For well-done burgers, cook for 8 to 9 minutes total
Please note that the USDA recommends cooking ground meats to an internal temperature of at least 160°F, which is well done without any pink in the center. Cooking burgers to other degrees of doneness should be done at the cook’s discretion.
All this said, ultimately, the time it takes for a hamburger to reach a certain temperature depends on how hot your grill is and how thick your patty is. In my tests, my 1-inch thick, 4-inch diameter patties were medium done at 5 minutes total , and well done at 6 minutes total .
Raichlen suggests checking the temperature of the burger by inserting the meat thermometer through the side, not through the top this gives you a more accurate reading. You can also use Elises handy dandy finger-test guide.
The Best Ground Beef To Buy
taste of hometaste of home
You cant make a great grilled burger without tasty beef. Sure, you can dress-up ground beef with Worcestershire and garlic powder, but the seasonings arent the star of the burger: The beef is. So skip the bargain-bin and buy the best quality beef you can afford. That might be grass-fed beef if you prefer meatier, pastoral flavors, or grain-finished options if you like a sweeter, richer taste.
When it comes to fat content, youll also want to take a pass on lean offerings. The best-grilled burgers weve had are juicy and rich, and that comes from fat. Ground beef with 20 to 25% fat is just about perfect, so look for an 80/20 blend. More fat and the burger can fall apart. Less fat and the burger will turn out dry. If your butcher will grind beef to order, ask for a coarsely ground chuck roast, or a mixture of brisket and sirloin.
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How To Make The Best Burgers
You are going to start by making a nicely flavored panade in a large bowl. Add the torn or cut bread pieces, milk, kosher salt, onion powder , black pepper, minced fresh garlic, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon Mustard.
Mash that all together until it forms a smooth paste, this is your panade.
Now add the ground beef to the bread mixture. With clean hands or a fork mix until everything is combined. You do not want to overwork your patty mixture or you will end up with tougher meatball-like burgers.
Divide the mixture into 5-6 equal potions. This will be five pound burgers or six ¼ pound burgers.
To form the patties I like to roll the meat into a look meatball shape and then press to flatten. You can also shape them in the palm of your hand.
Form each burger patty about ½-1 inch larger than your buns. This allows for some shrinkage on the grill. Then your burgers will fit perfectly in your buns.
Pro Tip: using your thumb or a small spoon make an indention in the center of each patty. That will prevent your hamburgers from completely shrinking into little hockey pucks on the grill.
You can grill your burgers right away or pop them in the fridge, covered, for a day or two.
If you choose to refrigerate the raw patties then place them on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. OR you can stack the patties with a little square of parchment paper between the patties so they dont stick together, cover and refrigerate.
Shape Those Burgers Right
When forming a burger for the grill, aim for a ¾” to 1″ thickness and a 3″ to 4″ diameter. The burgers will shrink slightly as they cook, so you want the raw patties to skew a little larger than the buns onto which theyll eventually land. Make a small dimple in the center of the pattythis indentation will prevent your burger from puffing up like a balloon, ensuring an even and picturesque patty. Work quickly but gently, and dont compress the patty too much: The enemy of any burger is overworked meat.
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How To Grill The Perfect Burger
This post for “How to Grill the Perfect Burger” is in collaboration with the Wisconsin Beef Council on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.
It feels like we are just kicking off summer, but Ive already been enjoying all the summer eats.
One of my favorite ways to celebrate the warmer weather and late nights is by slapping a few burgers on the grill!
I dont know about you, but grilled burgers are one of the very best ways to really celebrate summer. And today I’m sharing all of my best grilled burger tips!
Grilled Korean Bulgogi Burgers With Kimchi Mayo And Pickled Daikon
These burgers are glazed with a flavorful sauce inspired by bulgogi, the marinated and grilled meat that’s one of the highlights of a meal at a Korean barbecue restaurant. To double down on the Korean-inspired theme, we mix up a spicy kimchi mayo and slide a couple slices of pickled daikon under the buns.
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Should You Dimple Your Patties
All over the Internet and in cookbooks, you will find burger recipes that will instruct you to make an indentation in the center of the patties, usually about the size of a thumbprint or a tablespoon.
The goal of “dimpling” is to prevent the burger from puffing up in the center. But does it really work? Like everyone else, I wanted to prevent puffing, but I also wanted to minimize shrinkage with my burgers, so I tested it out.
I found that a thumbprint or tablespoon indentation prevented center puffing, but the burgers still shrank. Making a wide, shallow depression in the patty, however, worked like a charm. Think of a salad plate rather than a donut.
- Shape your patties so the outer 1/2-inch of the patty slightly taller than the middle.
One more tip: Rather than smash the patties together in your hands, place approximately 5 oz of meat on a tray or platter lined with parchment. Gently flatten the top of the burger and make your wide shallow depression with one hand while pressing your other hand against the sides form a circle. This creates a depression without overheating or overworking the ground beef.
Grilled Burger Recipe Tips Tl dr
. Follow these final tips to make sure you end up with the best burgers on the block:
- Start with the very best ground chuck that is 80/20 lean beef.
- Mix the panade before adding the beef.
- Do not overwork the beef.
- Form your patties about ½-1 inch larger than the bun, it will shrink to fit your bun perfectly.
- Make an indention in the center of each patty with a spoon or your thumb, this prevents your burgers from shrinking into little hockey pucks on the grill
- Grill your burgers over direct heat, covered, for 3-4 minutes per side.
- Do not smash or press your burgers on the grill, you want all that juice IN your burger.
- Move to indirect heat for 1 minute to melt cheese.
- Choose a bun that is appropriate for your burger size and will not be more bun than burger.
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Try This Juicy Grilled A1 Hamburger Recipe Seasoned With Fresh Rosemary And Topped With All The Fixings
Most summer grilling is done for large groups and as such is not too fancy – burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and the occasional kabob. For this recipe, I’ve borrowed a tip from my good friend Jim Honniball – a way to dress up a simple hamburger.
Everybody should have a friend like Jim. He can swim a mile, bike thirty, and still have the energy to cook up a batch of his legendary hamburgers for his friends.
Jim learned to cook from his mom and loves nothing more than to see everyone’s delighted faces as they bite into something delicious he’s prepared.
Especially satisfying after a hard day of body-boarding and surfing are his hamburgers which are seasoned with fresh rosemary from the garden and A.1. sauce.
Best Ground Beef Recipes For The Grill
Looking for some creative ways to use that ground beef in your freezer? Theres nothing wrong with good old-fashioned burgers, but thats just scratching the surface of what you can do with this versatile ingredient. Check out these grilled, baked, braised, and smoked ground beef recipes to find some delicious dinner inspiration.
From classics like cheeseburgers and Italian meatballs to Shepards pie, smoky meatball subs, and stuffed southwestern peppers, we have all the wood-fired ground beef recipes you need to put big flavor on the table tonight.
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Cemita Burger With Refried Beans Chipotle Mayo Avocado And Oaxacan Cheese
New Yorkstyle cemitas are filled with lots of meats that aren’t traditional in their Pueblan counterparts, so why not throw a hamburger patty in the mix, too? Make sure your guests come hungry, thoughloaded with refried beans, avocado, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a Mexican herb called papalo, these burgers aren’t for the faint of stomach.
Buy An 80/20 Mix Of Ground Beef
A burger can be seasoned a hundred ways to Sunday, but it means nothing without a solid foundation. For a juicy, flavorful burger, skip the extra-lean ground beef patty blends and use ground beef with a higher fat content.
Ground beef with an 80/20 mix is the best for grilled burgersthis means a mix 80 percent lean beef and 20 percent fat. The 80/20 ground beef you would buy in the supermarket is usually ground chuck, which is great for burgers.
Raichlen actually prefers mixing ground chuck and ground sirloin to create his own mix of 80 to 83 percent beef and 17 to 20 percent fat
I opted for 80/20 ground chuck because its easily available in most supermarkets, but dont be afraid to ask your butcher to grind your own blend or grind a higher fat-to-beef ratio.
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Argentine Asado Burgers With Seared Provolone And Chimichurri
Even if you’ve never been to an asadoa type of epic grilling feast native to the mountains of South Americayou can still make and enjoy this Argentine-inspired burger at home. A juicy patty of lightly packed and shaped beef is topped with a griddled slab of provolone cheese and spoonfuls of sharp, garlicky chimichurri, then sandwiched between two pieces of crisp bread.
Diets This Recipe Is Good For
- Gluten-Free: Our juicy burger recipe is 100% gluten-free. In case you are wondering about the Worcestershire sauce, which is also gluten-free.
- Nut-Free: We dont use any almond flour in the hamburger patty mix.
- Egg-Free: Unlike meatballs, we dont use any eggs to hold the mixture together, making it a great egg-free recipe.
- Dairy-Free: There is absolutely no dairy in this juicy burger recipe.
- Whole30 and Paleo: Take out the Worchestire sauce if you want these homemade burgers to be paleo and whole30 compliant.
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A Tip For Grilling Burgers Indoors
At the time of this writing, I did not have a grill. So, to simulate the high-heat grilling environment, I bought a heavy-duty, cast iron grill pan from Williams-Sonoma for the task.
They also sell Calphalon pans . But the Calphalon simply cannot hold the high heat that cast iron can to match the heat of a real grill.
Eventually, the high heat will warp the Calphalon pan. The brand I picked up was Lodge for less than $25. They also carry Le Creuset for somewhat more.
How To Serve Juicy Burgers
Follow these tips, incorporate the secret ingredients, and youll end up with perfectly seared, juicy burgers every time.
I serve mine over lettuce with some tomato, avocado, and whole grain mustard most of the time. But, I also love to add cheese and low carb ketchup, too. Sometimes I even add sugar-free barbecue sauce or spicy mayo.
And even though this blog is low carb, Im sure some readers may not be so it goes without saying that you could easily add your favorite bun. If youre looking for a low carb bun option, try the flattened version of my almond flour biscuits or simple low carb hamburger buns.
Whos ready to add this juicy burger recipe to their barbecue?
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Easy Blackstone Copycat Burger Recipe:
We love copycat recipes especially ones that we can make on our Blackstone Griddle. We love quickly the burger cooks which saves me time and money. These In-N-Out Burgers are always a family favorite and perfect for your next BBQ.
The only season that is required is some salt and pepper on these burgers. Cooking the burgers on the Blackstone gives it so much flavor. They turn out so juicy and crispy edges, that we prefer these over the restaurants.