Grilling Your Perfect Burger

Want to impress at all the cookouts this year?

Let’s face it deep down you want everyone to talk about what you served from your grill over the weekend and to come back early next time to watch the expert in action. Master these essential skills to be the king of the grill!

Perfecting Your Burger

Armed with a spatula in one hand and a cold beer in the other, there’s no better way to celebrate summer than by hosting a cookout with friends.  Whether on a beach in sunny California or at a backyard BBQ in North Carolina, I love entertaining around a fully loaded grill.  There’s just something primal and manly about watching raw meat roasting over an open flame.

Of course, a cookout is never truly a cookout without our beloved hamburger.  Yet, for all of its simplicity, it’s one of those food items that can often fall flat.  You know what I’m talking about: From the burgers that resemble hockey pucks, to those that taste like lighter fluid, to the balls of meat that have you two bites into the bun thinking: “Where’s the beef?”

Method

Grill your burgers over high heat.  Whether using gas, charcoal (skip lighter fluid and use a chimney starter instead), or an indoor grill pan, you want to make sure to grill your burgers over substantial heat to form that nice crust (flavor/texture) that we all love.
Avoid using your spatula to press down on your burgers while cooking.  Why?  Those flavorful juices are meant to stay inside the burgers–don’t waste all that flavor by pressing out the juices just to make your grill sizzle.
Flip your burgers only one time–about 3 minutes on each side for medium rare plus.  Keep in mind that eating burgers rare or even medium does carry certain health risks.  For the purist, you can always grind your own meat at home.
If you get a flare up, cover the grill.  Cutting off the oxygen should quell the flames.  Otherwise, always keep a beer in your hand to put out the fire.
Allow your burgers to rest for a few minutes before serving.  This will ensure that the juices redistribute into the meat.
– via The Art of Manliness

No cookout is complete without hamburgers! Knowing the secrets can mean the difference between a juicy delicious burger or a dry tasteless one. If you want your burgers to be a cut above the rest, be sure to avoid these common grilling mistakes.

Burger Mistakes To Avoid

Burgers are usually edible no matter what, because yum. But to make one that’s truly memorable, there are a few things you need to keep in mind, because it’s all too easy to make mistakes without even realizing it. There are eight very common ones, in fact, and it’s those mistakes that are getting in between you and burger greatness. This grilling season, don’t let them hold you back.

Right those wrongs, and eat better home-grilled burgers.

Don’t buy cheap, frozen or lean beef.

If feeding a crowd, we understand going for a bargain. But if grilling burgers for you and a select few, go for the good stuff. Get nice, preferably freshly ground beef, with at least 20 percent fat. Because remember, you can taste the difference between grass-fed beef and the conventional, grain-fed stuff.

Don’t over-work your burgers OR add a bunch of other stuff into the mix.

First, burgers are already perfect as they are. Adding onions, herbs or sauces to the meat is only detracting from their inherent greatness. Secondly, adding ingredients means having to overwork the meat, warming up the fat in the burger which emulsifies it and makes the meat rubbery. No one wants a rubbery burger, especially with onions and herbs in it. Instead, lightly shape the burgers, top with a little salt and leave it alone.

Don’t forget to put a divot in the middle.

It’s commonly thought that one should form a burger into a perfect patty, but this doesn’t account for the shrinking and expanding that happens to the meat as it cooks. Instead, shape the burger into a patty, then push a dimple into the center. This will create a perfectly flat burger when cooked making it so toppings stay in place when eating it. Those rounded burgers so common at backyard barbecues make topping burgers impossible.

– via The Huffington Post

What’s your favorite kind of burger to grill? Do you have any secret seasonings for the perfect burger?