Delicious Summer Dinner Ideas for the Future

There is no end to the number of scrumptious hamburgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New York Times on food and science, and he establishes recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and article become part of, our series on kitchen fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I've spent the last 20 years of my profession rigorously investigating and checking recipes, techniques and extensively accepted kitchen knowledge to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated several burger joints and even composed a month-to-month column for Serious Eats called the Burger Lab, in which I separated and checked every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a hamburger.

That does not mean you can't intend for something better. Here are the most important suggestions I have actually discovered for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Working ground beef too much can cause it to become dense. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Selecting High-Quality Meats for Savory Burgers

In bread, this can be an advantage, but with burgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable thick texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional flavoring, like onions and herbs, likewise requires you to exhaust the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so avoid it.) Salting the outside of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to connect more easily. This is a good thing in sausages, which should have a firm texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A hamburger should be tender, with lots of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

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 huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a griddle, browning is flavor, and high heat is key. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes taste while keeping juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating a lot quicker. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties relax on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had a possibility to leak out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Chef-Level Culinary Techniques for Superior Hand-Pressed Patties

Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a hamburger lover. Growing up, I 'd gladly munch them down at sit-down restaurants and from the drive-thru getting back from gymnastics practice. I 'd crush the soft bun and let catsup 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 confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's likely we don't have the same concept of what makes the ideal hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand people like however I just. Possibly I have not tried your preferred burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (just joking).

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

When I bite in, I need to see a little sparkle, some glowing from the beef and perhaps a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be seared to help lock in the juices, but not too crusty.