Advanced Cooking Techniques for Juicier Homemade Burgers

There is no end to the number of scrumptious hamburgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

J. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes 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 Show on YouTube.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food writer and cookbook author, I've invested the last 2 years of my profession rigorously investigating and evaluating recipes, methods and extensively accepted cooking area knowledge to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated numerous burger joints and even composed a regular monthly column for Serious Eats 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 important ideas I have actually found for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be an advantage, but with burgers, overhandling can create an undesirable thick texture. (Including extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra spices, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to overwork the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is a great thing in sausages, which should have a company texture, however with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A hamburger must be tender, with plenty 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 griddle, browning is taste, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, 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 makes the most of flavor while keeping 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 possibility to leak out.

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

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Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually always been a hamburger lover. Maturing, 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 ketchup 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 may confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the exact same idea of what makes the best hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand people like but I just. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have various taste. Possibly I have not attempted your favorite hamburger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply joking).

There's one best burg out there for everybody. Let me show you what makes the best burger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The finest ones astonishingly remain juicy with just a hint of flaky char around the edges, but regrettably, most locations go too difficult on the smash.

When I bite in, I require 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 always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be seared to assist lock in the juices, but not too crusty.