Steps to Master the Ultimate Flat-Top Patty

There is no end to the number of scrumptious hamburgers you can make, however 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 developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Program on YouTube.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last 20 years of my career carefully investigating and testing dishes, strategies and commonly accepted kitchen knowledge to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several burger joints and even wrote a regular monthly column for Serious Eats called the Burger Laboratory, in which I isolated and evaluated every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a burger.

Here are the most important pointers I've found for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Mastering Chef Flat-Top Methods in the Home

In bread, this can be a good thing, however with hamburgers, overhandling can develop an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra flavoring, like onions and herbs, also forces you to overwork 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 assists them to connect up more quickly. This is an advantage in sausages, which ought to have a firm texture, however with burgers, you desire looseness. A burger should hurt, with lots of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a big hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a frying pan, browning is flavor, and high heat is key. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait 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. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had a chance to drip 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've constantly been a hamburger enthusiast. 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 ideal day and I may confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the very 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 end the ones I know people like but I simply. do not. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have various taste. Perhaps I have not attempted your preferred burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply kidding).

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

When I bite in, I require to see a little shimmer, some glowing from the beef and possibly a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty should be seared to assist lock in the juices, but not too crusty.