Chef-Level Culinary Techniques for Superior Homemade Burgers

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops dishes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and short article belong to, our series on kitchen basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I have actually spent the last 20 years of my career carefully researching and checking recipes, strategies and widely accepted cooking area wisdom to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated several hamburger joints and even wrote a month-to-month column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I separated and tested every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a hamburger.

Here are the most important ideas I've discovered for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the cooking area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

How Premium Fresh Ingredients Transform Your Burger

In bread, this can be an excellent thing, however with hamburgers, overhandling can develop an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra spices, like onions and herbs, also requires you to exhaust the meat and distract from the beef taste, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is a great thing in sausages, which ought to have a company texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A hamburger should be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply makes the most of taste. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a frying pan, browning is flavor, and high heat is crucial. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them till 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 quicker. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties relax on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had an opportunity to leak out.

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

Steps for Crispy Golden Sides

Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a burger fan. Maturing, I 'd happily munch them down at sit-down restaurants and from the drive-thru coming 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).

Catch me on the ideal day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the exact same concept of what makes the perfect hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to end the ones I know individuals like but I simply. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Perhaps we have different taste. Possibly I haven't tried your favorite hamburger. Perhaps I'm out to get you (simply joking).

There's one perfect burg out there for everyone. Let me show you what makes the best burger for me. Let's start with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little exhausted of smashburgers? The finest ones miraculously stay juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, but sadly, the majority of locations 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 diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be seared to help secure the juices, however not too crusty.