Bold Modern Dinner Inspiration for Busy Kitchens

There is no end to the variety of scrumptious burgers 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 are part of, our series on kitchen area basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last two years of my profession rigorously looking into and testing dishes, techniques and commonly accepted cooking area wisdom to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated several burger joints and even composed a month-to-month column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, 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 have actually found for optimizing your burger experience, whether in the backyard or the kitchen. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Using Chef Flat-Top Styles in the Home

In bread, this can be an excellent thing, however with hamburgers, overhandling can create an undesirable dense texture. (Including extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional seasoning, like onions and herbs, also forces you to strain the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so avoid it.) Salting the outside of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to connect more easily. This is an advantage in sausages, which should have a company texture, however with hamburgers, you want looseness. A hamburger needs to hurt, with a lot of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a big burger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a griddle, browning is flavor, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This maximizes taste while maintaining juiciness. 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 had an opportunity to drip out.

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

Selecting High-Quality Beef for Tasty Burgers

Updated 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).

Catch me on the best day and I may admit 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 ideal burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know people like however I just. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have different taste. Maybe I haven't tried your preferred hamburger yet. Maybe I'm out to get you (just joking).

There's one best burg out there for everyone. Let me share with you what makes the best burger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I state I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The best ones astonishingly remain juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, but regrettably, most places go too tough on the smash.

When I bite in, I require 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 constantly go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be burnt to assist secure the juices, however not too crusty.