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There is no end to the variety of scrumptious 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 establishes dishes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and short article belong to, our series on kitchen area fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I've invested the last twenty years of my profession carefully looking into and checking dishes, strategies and commonly accepted kitchen area knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run numerous burger joints and even wrote a month-to-month column for Serious Eats called the Hamburger Lab, in which I separated and tested every possible variable that can affect the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

That doesn't indicate you can't aim for something better. Here are the most important tips I have actually found for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the kitchen area. Working ground beef excessive can trigger it to become dense. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a good idea, however with hamburgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable dense texture. (Including extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional seasoning, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to strain the meat and sidetrack from the beef taste, so avoid it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and assists them to link more quickly. This is an advantage in sausages, which need to have a company texture, however with hamburgers, you want looseness. A hamburger ought to hurt, 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 Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. 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 burgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them until they're well browned on both sides.

This maximizes flavor while preserving juiciness. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had a chance 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 have actually constantly been a burger 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 favorite food. Even if you do, it's likely we do not have the same idea of what makes the ideal hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand individuals like but I simply. don't. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Possibly we have different taste. Perhaps I haven't tried your preferred hamburger yet. Possibly I'm out to get you (just joking).

Let me share with you what makes the perfect hamburger for me. Let's begin 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 constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be seared to assist secure the juices, however not too crusty.