The secret to grilling a perfect burger starts with this key ingredient

Summer is grilling season, but can you grill the perfect burger? With these simple, easy tips, a delicious burger can go from grill to plate.

Can you grill the perfect burger? While everyone seems to have a secret, tip or cooking hack, the reality is quite simple. With four easy to follow tips, anyone and everyone can grill a delicious, flavor and perfect burger every single time.

Thinking about grilling hamburgers, there are a few tips that can make a boring burger turn into a better burger. Putting aside plant-based meat alternatives and other non-beef options, these burger tips focus on the old school traditional burgers.

Recently, BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com shared some thoughts on grilling better burgers. While its tips make sense, FoodSided is building on those ideas with a few of our own.

Here’s our secrets for grilling a perfect burger

Right ratios

Ratios are key to a delicious burger. In addition to the meat/fat content (think the number on the package, like 80/20), the meat to bun ratio needs to be correct. No one wants all bun and no burger. Also, the opposite applies too.

Before cooking your burger, look that the size of your buns. Make the burger a little bigger than the bun. Usually cooking will cause a burger to shrink a little. If the burger is slightly bigger prior to cooking, the final product will be the perfect size once it is cooked.

Only flip once

Ever wonder why your burger stuck to the grill, wasn’t juicy or looked like a mangled mess? Patience is a key virtue when cooking burgers. Once you put the burger on the grill, let it cook.

The burger doesn’t need to be squished, smashed or touched. Let the heat from the grill cook the burger. Those beautiful grill marks say it all.

Just flip the burger once during cooking. The burger will release easily from the grill and all those delicious juices will stay inside the patty. After all, shouldn’t you enjoy that flavor and not lose it to the grill grate?

One size does fit all

If cooking many burgers, make sure that they are all the same size. It helps for all the burgers to cook evenly.

Also, consider making a little indentation in the burger patty. The little round mark in the center can help the burger cook flat, which ensures better, more even cooking.

Temperature is king

While some people have preferences on doneness, the safe temperature for a burger is 160 degrees. This internal temperature is recommended.

Although some professional chefs can determine doneness by touch, the home cook should use a thermometer. A quick read thermometer placed in the center of the burger will get an accurate reading.

These four tips can put any cook on the path of grilling a perfect burger every time. While the condiments, cheese and other sides might vary, the burger itself will be a home run.

Do you have a grilling tip? Share your thoughts in the comments or tag us on social media using

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