Selecting High-Quality Meats for Tasty Burgers

There is no end to the variety of scrumptious 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 develops dishes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise 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 2 years of my career carefully looking into and testing recipes, strategies and extensively accepted cooking area knowledge to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several burger joints and even wrote a monthly column for Serious Eats called the Burger Laboratory, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

That doesn't imply you can't intend for something better. Here are the most crucial ideas I have actually found for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the cooking area. Working ground beef too much can trigger it to become thick. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Top-Rated Savory Dinner Recipes for 2026

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

This is an excellent thing in sausages, which ought to have a firm texture, however with burgers, you want looseness. A burger ought to be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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 crucial. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait until your pan or grill is hot before adding the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes flavor while preserving juiciness. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had a possibility to drip out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

How High-Quality Fresh Ingredients Transform Your Dinner

Updated 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).

Capture me on the right day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the very same idea of what makes the perfect burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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

There's one best burg out there for everyone. Let me share with you what makes the ideal hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The finest ones miraculously stay juicy with just a hint of flaky char around the edges, however unfortunately, many places go too tough on the smash.

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