Advanced Cooking Techniques for Juicier Hand-Pressed Patties

There is no end to the variety of delicious hamburgers 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 city Times on food and science, and he establishes 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 article belong to, our series on kitchen area fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last twenty years of my profession rigorously researching and checking dishes, techniques and commonly accepted kitchen wisdom to figure out 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 Burger Lab, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a burger.

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

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In bread, this can be a great thing, however with hamburgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, likewise requires you to overwork the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so avoid it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is an excellent thing in sausages, which should have a firm texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A burger must be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply maximizes flavor. 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 hamburger on a frying pan, browning is taste, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them until they're well browned on both sides.

This makes the most of flavor while preserving juiciness. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had a chance to drip out.

Smash BurgersCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Restaurant BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Thick Backyard BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Follow,,, and.

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Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually always 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).

Capture me on the ideal day and I may admit that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Really, I might state that on most days. And you may state the exact same. However even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the exact same idea of what makes the perfect burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand people like however I just. do not. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have different taste. Maybe I haven't attempted 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 ideal burger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I state I'm growing a little sick of smashburgers? The best ones amazingly remain juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, however regrettably, a lot of places go too hard on the smash.

When I bite in, I need to see a little sparkle, some sparkling 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 must be burnt to help secure the juices, however not too crusty.