Let’s face it, everyone has tips and secrets to making the best burger. The thing is, a lot of those tips and secrets are garbage. I recently saw a post that suggested you use the leanest meat you can buy, and load it up with vegetables and oats. Does that sound like a good idea to you? If it does send me a message and I’ll give you the link to the site. If you think that sounds terrible like I do, stay here. I am going to give you a very short list, only three things, that will actually make your burgers better. Don’t believe me? Keep reading.

The Beef

First things first, let’s talk about the meat. One thing I’m not going to tell you to do is to grind your own meat. Do you know why? Because you aren’t going to do it. I don’t even do it. Will grinding your own beef make a better burger? If you get the ratio of fat and meat right, then yes, it can. Can you make a delicious burger with store-bought meat? Of course, you can. Anyone who tells you different is full of it.

For hamburgers, you want to buy medium ground beef. The ‘medium” refers to the ratio of meat to fat, not the size of the grind. Medium ground beef has no more than 23% fat, leaving 77% meat. Typically, 80/20 is the perfect ratio, but 77/23 is pretty close. You might be tempted to go with leaner beef, but don’t do it. Leaner meat will lead to a dry burger unless you are very careful. Keep in mind that a lot of the fat will melt out of the burger while cooking.

Seasoning the Meat and Other Additives.

I’ve seen a lot of people put a lot of things in their burgers. Don’t. Keep it simple. Your meat does not need a binder. It does not need filler. It needs very little. I’m not going to tell you exactly what you should put in your burger mix. I think that is up to you. But, here is what I put in mine; salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and sometimes Old Bay Seasoning. That’s it.

You may be looking at what I put in my burger mix and thinking to yourself that those burgers must taste bland. “That Ben guy is so uncreative. He can’t even think of interesting things to put in his burgers.” Wrong. If I’ve learned anything in my career, it is this: Making things unnecessarily complicated is a recipe for disaster. I’m making a recipe for burgers, not a disaster. The burgers have loads of flavour, and they make the perfect base for whatever toppings I want to add. What more does a hamburger patty have to be?

Forming and Cooking Hamburgers

I have made thousands of hamburgers in my life, literally. It’s to the point that I can eyeball a 6 oz handful of meat with a very high level of accuracy. I assume you can’t do that. Why would you be able to? But there is a simple enough way to form evenly sized patties. Figure out how many burgers you want. It’s best if it is an even number. Flatten and square off your meat mound as best you can. Divide the mound-o-meat in half. Do that again. Do that again. Do it again until you have the number you want. Roll all of those divisions of meat into balls, then form them into patties. Who cares if they are 6 oz, 5 oz, or 4 oz as long as they are all the same size and you have enough.

Making Hamburger Patties

I do not like thick hamburger patties. I would rather have two thin patties stacked on top of each other than one big one. The reason is simple. A lot of the burger flavour comes from the browning on its surface. Two patties, no matter the width, have double the surface area of one patty. So, two thin patties equal more flavour. Plus, you can melt cheese on both. And, two patties make for better pictures, if that’s your thing.

To make it a little more clear, I very rarely make a burger patty more than a 1/4 inch thick. Oh, and season the outside of the burger with the same stuff as the inside.

BS Check

I’ve seen a lot of people lately saying not to put salt in your burger meat because it will affect the texture. I’m positive that salt will alter the texture of a raw burger patty that sits in the fridge for even a few hours. But, it isn’t going to make that big of a difference. The benefit of flavour that comes from seasoning the meat with salt far outweighs any possible negative effect on texture. I call BS.

Cooking the burgers

I don’t care if my burgers get cooked on a grill, in a skillet or on a griddle. All three options will make a good burger. I care that the burger tastes good, and I care that the burger is cooked all the way through. Anyone that tells you to eat a burger anything less than well done is putting your life at risk. The only time it is okay to eat a hamburger less than well done is when you have ground the meat yourself (see the science fact below for more information). For cooking, the barbecue has a slight advantage over a skillet or griddle. On the grill, the fat melting out of the meat drops away instead of pooling around the patty. Other than that, it doesn’t matter. It is going to taste good no matter what.

Science Fact

You can eat a steak rare. Why shouldn’t you eat a burger rare? Surface area. A steak has a top, a bottom, and sides. Bacteria can live and grow on all of these surfaces. But, when the steak is cooked, the high heat that hits those surfaces is enough to kill the bacteria. If you take that same steak and throw it through a meat grinder, you will create thousands of little steaks. Each small piece of ground meat has a surface area for bacteria to grow. If the grinding equipment had bacteria on it, or if someone didn’t wash their hands before grinding your meat, that has now been transferred to the meat. The more time that passes from grinding to cooking, the more bacteria will grow. When you form that meat into a burger, the majority of that bacteria gets tucked nicely inside protected from direct heat. The only way to kill the inside bacteria is to cook the hamburger to an internal temperature of 165°F. That’s well done.

Bonus Tip

.Whatever you put on your burger, cut it as thin as possible. Tomatoes, cut them thin. Onion, cut it thin. Pickles, cut them thin. The thinner the toppings, the easier your burger is going to be to eat and the more structurally sound it is going to be.

Conclusion

If you love your hamburgers and think that there is no room for improvement, don’t listen to me. If that is the case, I’d love to hear about what makes your burger so great in the comments. If you think that you’re burgers could be better, follow these three tips and you will find an improvement.

What are your top hamburger tips? Tell me in the comments section below.

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