Ten Tips for Better Burgers

Who needs a drive-through or a pricey gourmet burger when right at home, just a few easy techniques can transform a good burger into a better burger and even a great burger? Here I'm sharing the handful of tips we use for burgers on the grill and cooked inside.

Simple Tips for Burger Perfection. Easy Techniques, Fresh & Family-Tested. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special.

~ Skip Straight to the Tips ~

Good Burgers vs Great Burgers

Sure, a good burger is a good thing. And sure, it's easy to throw a little meat on the grill and call it a burger.

But a great burger is 80% of the way to a party. A great burger is worth learning how to cook well. A great burger is worth matching up to family preferences and personal effort.

Me, I'd like us to be famous for great burgers!

So over the years, we've perfected our technique to fit us. We're not into stacked-high "garbage" burgers or huge heart attacks on a plate, just good burgers turned great.

I'm thrilled to share our methods here, maybe they'll work for you too?! Or maybe they'll inspire you to think through your own special techniques.

Either way, it's a burger win!

Happy Burgers, All!
~ Alanna

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What's Below

~ Ten Tips for Better Burgers ~
~ How to Set Up a Burger Buffet ~
~ Side Dishes for Burgers ~
~ Burger Condiments ~
~ Burger Relishes ~
~ Our Favorite Burger Recipes ~

PLUS
~ All My Burger Recipes ~
Including Plant-Based Burgers

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If these burger tips inspire, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...

Simple Tips for Better Burgers

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TIP #1 GOOD MEAT Good meat makes a difference. For a few years, we’ve been devouring pound after pound of corn-fed, pasture-grazed locally raised beef. Honestly? With good meat, you could dispense with TIPS 2 through 9, it’s that good, even salt and pepper can be superfluous. It's also fun to experiment with different meats, bison and lamb are favorites here.

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TIP #2 WORCESTERSHIRE Gently work a little Worcestershire sauce into the meat. It adds moisture and depth to the meat. Then season the meat with salt and pepper, no more.

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TIP #3: MAKE 'EM THICK Form the hamburger patties quite thick, this helps the cooked burgers stay juicy. After that, don't rush it. Even on a hot grill, thick burgers take 20 – 25 minutes to cook.

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TIP #4 ADD SMOKE About 15 minutes before starting to grill, place water-soaked hickory, apple or cherry wood chunks on the grill away from the meat. A small log works too if one happens to be handy.

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TIP #5 ICE WATER * Just before cooking, dip each burger into a big bowl of ice water for 30 seconds. Sound crazy? It sure does. We’re not sure what it does, exactly, but it does something that sure works!

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TIP #6 BUTTER * As soon as the burgers are on the grill, brush the top sides with melted butter. When they’re turned, brush the flip sides with butter too. This adds both flavor and moisture to the meat. Be aware: as the butter drips below, flames will rise up. But all's good, this adds flavor, a slight char that’s wonderful.

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TIP #7 SURE, COOK 'EM INSIDE! Some times, it's just too blazing hot to cook outside. Some times, it's pouring rain. Some times, it's just too much effort to fire up the grill. But Do.Not.Fear. Just quickly brown the burgers on cast iron on a hot stove, then move to the oven at about 300F/150C to finish. We also love to start the burgers on the grill, then finish them inside in the oven, this is especially useful for someone who has trouble over-undercooking burgers. Just use a digital thermometer (affiliate link) to cook the burgers to temperature, the safe internal temperature for ground beef and lamb is 160F/70C and for ground poultry is 165F/75C.

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TIP #8 TOAST the BUNS If you do just one thing, toast the buns! Brush the cut side of the buns with olive oil (or leftover melted butter, if you like) and then toast, either on the grill or inside in a skillet. If needed, keep warm in a warm oven, just be sure to put the buns back together so they don’t dry out.

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TIP #9 LIBATIONS Open a big zinfandel or a pinot noir. Or Old-Fashioned Homemade Lemonade! Or my favorite beer and diet ginger ale, it's in this collection of Thirst-Quenching, Low-Cal, Low-Alcohol Drinks.

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TIP #10 SHARE WITH FRIENDS! Burgers this good create their own occasion! Invite a few friends for an impromptu supper, see if they don’t just start calling your burgers the “World’s Best Burgers”.

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YOUR BURGERS Who has a tip or two or three to share with other Kitchen Parade readers? How do YOU make a better burger?! Just leave a comment so that others can learn from your experience!

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INSPIRATION * TIPS #5 and #6 come directly from a terrific Food & Wine grilling issue. I especially recommend the cover burger: it's a small production but gathers big reviews. We especially like the Russian Dressing with Tarragon. For awhile, it was the "house burger sauce".

How to Set Up a Burger Buffet

If you have a kitchen island or a long counter, clear it for a burger buffet! That way all the food is out and obvious, no passing, everybody takes what and as much as he/she wants.

Arrange the plates, food, cutlery in this order with left to right or right to left.

• The Dinner Plates
• The Toasted Buns
• The Burger Platter
• The Condiments & Relishes
• The Side Dishes
• The Napkins/Cutlery

Here are a few more buffet tips. We serve buffet-style even for small gatherings so I've gotten quite good at this!

• It takes people a big to figure out the buffet system so fix on the best way for things to work for you, then stick to it.
• If there's a line, some people might grab their drinks rather than just wait.
• People really appreciate knowing what's what – for a small group/small meal, I just tell people when we gather to eat, for a larger group/larger meal, cardboard placards help. This is especially useful for people who are accustomed to foods easily identifiable by their packaging – but for our homemade foods, no packaging. But it's also useful for those who are "food curious" and are just really interested in what's being served.
• Put plastic/washable placements down, one for each food "station" – arrange them longways at an angle, you can fit more in. Put serving utensils and hot pads in place on the appropriate placemat before the food is out, that way you aren't scrambling later.
• Put the food toward the back of each placemat, this leaves room in the front space for people to put their plates down while adding condiments, etc.
• If any appetizers are left over, refresh a bit and add them to the buffet line too.
• If you can, set up drinks in a separate spot away from the burger buffet, self-serve is the way to go. I often put the napkins and cutlery near the drinks.

Don't Forget the Side Dishes!

A burger can be a meal in itself so for balance, think about salads and sides that lean into veggies, even, LOL if they're tucked into a big bowl of noodles aka the Best-Ever Macaroni Salad.

Start with my huge collection of Favorite Summer Salad Recipes. It's super-organized so you can zoom right into what you've got in mind or just scroll through waiting for the right salad to jump up and demand, "Pick me! Pick me!"

• THE RECIPE Cooler Corn - How to Cook Corn in a Beer Cooler
• ANOTHER TAKE Quick Microwave Sweet Corn

• THE RECIPE Fresh Three-Bean Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Chilled Green Bean Salad with Rosemary & Garlic Oil

• THE RECIPE Bloody Mary Salad A jello salad with kick.
• ANOTHER TAKE Tomato Soup Vegetable Salad An old-fashioned salad makeover.

• THE COLLECTION Favorite Summer Salad Recipes From sides to suppers, make-ahead to eat-it-now, simple to sumptuous, all special for summer.
• AND ANOTHER Favorite Summer Soup Recipes

Experiment with Burger Condiments

It's easy to pull bottles of ketchup and mustard from the fridge and me, I'm still working on the house "special sauce". Maybe I'm trying to match McDonald's ditty! Who remembers? "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun."

But these are fun!

• THE RECIPE Famous Mustard Sauce (Carolina BBQ Mustard Sauce) A tiny-bit spicy and a tiny-bit sweet and totally addictive.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Finnish Mustard How to make mustard at home, Finnish-style.

• THE RECIPE Green Mayonnaise A whole new way to think of mayonnaise.
• ANOTHER TAKE Almonnaise Vegan mayonnaise Made from Almonds

• THE RECIPE Homemade Fresh Basil Pesto Without Cheese Unleashing sweet, fresh basil flavor.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chimichurri How to make chimichurri, the Argentinian parsley sauce.

Experiment with Burger Relishes

For anyone who's bored with everyday ketchup and mustard, it's worth planning ahead to have a good homemade relish ready to spread across a good burger.

Our family favorite is a labor of love, we call it Sharon's Pickle after my cousin Sharon who loves it so-so much but it's really a Ripe-Tomato Relish with Peaches & Pears.

Look for jars of interesting relishes at farmers markets and specialty shops too.

• THE RECIPE Sweet Corn Relish A simple summer relish, no canning required.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Zucchini Relish Use up those giant zucchini from the garden.

• THE RECIPE Tomato Ginger Jam
• ANOTHER TAKE Ripe-Tomato Relish with Peaches & Pears (Sharon's Pickle)

• THE RECIPE Green Chili Sauce (Salsa Verde) New Mexico-style salsa verde.
• ANOTHER TAKE Best Quick Tomato Salsa (Red Salsa) For chips, tacos, burritos, eggs & more.

Our Favorite Burger Recipes

My husband is prone to burger experimentation, he's always trying out some new something or other.

Maybe that's genetic? Our grandson Jackson invented the Oil Tanker Burgers and it's our current favorite burger. What makes it so good? Everyday condiments, but all in the right order.

Me, I like to take the best of the best from all this burger creativity and share it here for everyone else to try too!

• THE RECIPE Oil Tanker Burgers Stacked so high, you might call 'em Super Tankers.
• ANOTHER TAKE Minnesota Sloppy Joes Sloppy joes made from scratch in the crockpot.

• THE RECIPE Green Chili Burgers Just good meat with a good green salsa.
• ANOTHER TAKE Jerusalem Turkey Burgers with Zucchini Moist, flavorful burgers specked with grated zucchini and fresh herbs.

• THE RECIPE Chicken Burgers with Fresh Spinach, Feta and Garden Tzatziki Sauce Summery Greek-style chicken sandwich with chunky Greek tzatziki.
• ANOTHER TAKE Spinach Burgers A meaty burger laced with fresh or frozen spinach, moist & juicy.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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