Steps to Perfect the Ideal Flat-Top Burger

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Program on YouTube. This video and short article become part of, our series on kitchen area basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food writer and cookbook author, I've invested the last 2 decades of my career carefully investigating and testing recipes, strategies and commonly accepted kitchen area knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated numerous burger joints and even wrote a monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I separated and checked every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a hamburger.

Here are the most crucial pointers I have actually discovered for enhancing your burger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a great thing, however with burgers, overhandling can produce an unwanted dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra flavoring, like onions and herbs, likewise requires you to strain the meat and distract from the beef taste, so avoid it.) Salting the exterior of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is an excellent thing in sausages, which need to have a company texture, however with burgers, you want looseness. A hamburger should be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

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

This optimizes taste while maintaining juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating a lot faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties relax 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 Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Thick Yard BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Follow,,, and.

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Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually always been a burger fan. Growing up, I 'd happily chomp them down at sit-down restaurants and from the drive-thru getting back from gymnastics practice. I 'd crush the soft bun and let catsup dribble down the sides over my fingers. 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 best day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the same idea of what makes the best hamburger.

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I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand individuals like but I just. Possibly I have not tried your preferred burger. Possibly I'm out to get you (simply joking).

Let me share with you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's start with the patty.

When I bite in, I need to see a little shimmer, some sparkling from the beef and perhaps a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be burnt to help lock in the juices, but not too crusty.