Essential Outdoor Grilling Tips

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

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

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last two decades of my career carefully investigating and testing recipes, methods and commonly accepted kitchen knowledge to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated multiple burger joints and even wrote a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I isolated and evaluated every possible variable that can affect the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

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

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In bread, this can be a good idea, however with burgers, overhandling can create an undesirable dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional flavoring, like onions and herbs, likewise requires you to exhaust the meat and sidetrack from the beef taste, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to connect up more quickly. This is a good thing in sausages, which should have a company texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A burger should hurt, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply maximizes flavor. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a huge burger 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 burgers, wait until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them till they're well browned on both sides.

This makes the most of flavor while maintaining juiciness. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had an opportunity to drip out.

Smash BurgersCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Diner BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Thick Yard 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 always been a burger lover. Growing up, I 'd gladly chomp them down at sit-down dining establishments and from the drive-thru getting home from gymnastics practice. I 'd squish 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).

Capture me on the ideal day and I might confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Really, I may say that on most days. And you may state the very same. However even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the same concept of what makes the perfect hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to end the ones I know people like but I just. don't. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have various taste. Possibly I have not tried your preferred burger yet. Maybe I'm out to get you (just kidding).

There's one ideal burg out there for everyone. Let me share with you what makes the ideal hamburger for me. Let's start with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little exhausted of smashburgers? The very best ones astonishingly remain juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, however regrettably, most locations go too difficult on the smash.

When I bite in, I need to see a little sparkle, some sparkling from the beef and possibly a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be burnt to help lock in the juices, however not too crusty.