How to Make Perfect Golden Sides

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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes 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 creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and article become part of, our series on cooking area basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually spent the last two decades of my profession carefully looking into and evaluating dishes, strategies and widely accepted kitchen area wisdom to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated multiple hamburger joints and even composed a month-to-month column for Serious Eats called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I isolated and checked every possible variable that can affect the taste and texture of a hamburger.

Here are the most crucial suggestions I have actually discovered for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the yard or the cooking area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be an advantage, but with burgers, overhandling can create an undesirable thick texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional seasoning, 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 a great thing in sausages, which ought to have a firm texture, however with burgers, you desire looseness. A burger ought to be tender, with plenty 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 taste, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them till they're well browned on both sides.

This takes full advantage of taste while preserving juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating a lot faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have had a chance 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've constantly been a hamburger fan. Maturing, I 'd happily chomp them down at sit-down dining establishments and from the drive-thru getting back from gymnastics practice. I 'd squish 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 best day and I may confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Really, I may say that on most days. And you might say the exact same. However even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the very same concept of what makes the best burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand people like but I just. don't. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Perhaps we have different taste. Maybe I haven't attempted your favorite hamburger. Maybe I'm out to get you (just kidding).

Let me share with you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty.

When I bite in, I need to see a little shimmer, some shining from the beef and possibly a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty should be scorched to assist lock in the juices, however not too crusty.