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There is no end to the variety of tasty burgers 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 establishes dishes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and short article become part of, our series on cooking area basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I've spent the last twenty years of my career carefully researching and testing dishes, strategies and extensively accepted cooking area knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run numerous hamburger joints and even composed a regular monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I isolated and tested every possible variable that can affect the taste and texture of a burger.

However that doesn't indicate you can't aim for something better. Here are the most crucial suggestions I've found for enhancing your burger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen. Working ground beef excessive can cause it to end up being thick. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a good idea, but with burgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable dense texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, also 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.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply makes the most of flavor. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a huge burger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a griddle, browning is taste, and high heat is crucial. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait till your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them until they're well browned on both sides.

This takes full advantage of flavor while preserving juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had an opportunity to drip out.

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

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Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a burger fan. Maturing, I 'd gladly chomp them down at sit-down restaurants and from the drive-thru getting back from gymnastics practice. I 'd squish the soft bun and let ketchup 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).

Capture me on the ideal day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the very same idea of what makes the best burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know individuals like but I simply. Perhaps I have not tried your favorite burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply kidding).

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

When I bite in, I require to see a little sparkle, some glowing from the beef and maybe a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be scorched to help secure the juices, but not too crusty.