Delicious Outdoor Dinner Inspiration for the Future

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes 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 basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food writer and cookbook author, I've invested the last twenty years of my career rigorously researching and checking recipes, methods and widely accepted cooking area wisdom to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated several burger joints and even wrote a month-to-month column for Serious Eats called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I isolated and evaluated every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a burger.

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

Steps to Perfect the Ideal Griddle Burger

In bread, this can be a good idea, but with hamburgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra seasoning, like onions and herbs, also requires you to overwork the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so avoid it.) Salting the exterior of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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

This makes the most of flavor while maintaining juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had an opportunity to leak out.

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

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Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually constantly been a hamburger lover. Maturing, I 'd happily munch them down at sit-down restaurants and from the drive-thru getting back from gymnastics practice. I 'd crush 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 right day and I may confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. In fact, I might say that on the majority of days. And you may state the same. Even if you do, it's likely we don't have the same concept of what makes the best 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 but I just. Possibly I haven't attempted your favorite burger. Perhaps I'm out to get you (simply kidding).

There's one perfect burg out there for everyone. Let me share with you what makes the ideal hamburger for me. Let's start with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little sick of smashburgers? The very best ones amazingly stay juicy with simply a hint of flaky char around the edges, but sadly, many locations go too difficult on the smash.

When I bite in, I require to see a little sparkle, some sparkling from the beef and perhaps a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be burnt to assist secure the juices, but not too crusty.