Choosing High-Quality Meats for Tasty Burgers

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

J. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New York Times on food and science, and he establishes recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Program on YouTube.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually spent the last 20 years of my career carefully investigating and testing dishes, techniques and widely accepted kitchen area wisdom to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated several hamburger joints and even wrote a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can affect the taste and texture of a burger.

Here are the most essential ideas I have actually found for optimizing your burger experience, whether in the backyard or the kitchen. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be an advantage, however with hamburgers, overhandling can develop an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to exhaust the meat and sidetrack from the beef flavor, so skip 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 link up more easily. This is an advantage in sausages, which must have a firm texture, however with burgers, you desire looseness. A hamburger must be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a big hamburger 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 till they're well browned on both sides.

This maximizes flavor while preserving juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating so much faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties relax on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had an opportunity to drip 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've constantly been a hamburger lover. 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 right day and I might confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Really, I may say that on most days. And you might say the same. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the same concept of what makes the perfect burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know people like but I simply. don't. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have different taste. Maybe I have not attempted your preferred hamburger yet. Possibly I'm out to get you (simply joking).

Let me share with you what makes the perfect burger for me. Let's begin with the patty.

When I bite in, I need to see a little sparkle, some shining from the beef and possibly a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be seared to assist lock in the juices, however not too crusty.