Selecting the Best Meats for Tasty Burgers

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. 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 also the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and post belong to, our series on kitchen area fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I've spent the last 2 years of my profession rigorously looking into and evaluating dishes, strategies and widely accepted cooking area knowledge to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several hamburger joints and even composed a monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can affect the flavor and texture of a burger.

However that does not mean you can't aim for something much better. Here are the most crucial pointers I've found for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the kitchen area. Working ground beef too much can cause it to end up being thick. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a good idea, however with hamburgers, overhandling can develop an unwanted dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra flavoring, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to strain the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply maximizes taste. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a big hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a frying pan, browning is taste, and high heat is crucial. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them until they're well browned on both sides.

This takes full advantage of taste while keeping juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to consuming so much faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even 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.

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Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've constantly been a burger lover. 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 may confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the very same concept 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 know individuals like but I just. Maybe I have not attempted your favorite burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply kidding).

There's one best burg out there for everybody. Let me show you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I state I'm growing a little sick of smashburgers? The finest ones miraculously remain juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, but unfortunately, most locations go too difficult on the smash.

When I bite in, I need to see a little shimmer, some shining from the beef and perhaps a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty should be scorched to help secure the juices, however not too crusty.