Internal Temperature Guide For Burgers
Many people choose to eyeball it when grilling burgers to know when theyre finished and ready to eat.
While we generally wouldnt recommend doing this for other types of grilled meat, you can definitely get away with it for burgers because they dont spend a lot of time on the grill
However, if youre in doubt you should use an instant-read thermometer to read the meats internal temperature. As a guide, you should reach 125ºF for rare cooking, medium-rare cooking should be kept at 135ºF, medium cooking should be 145ºF, and well-done cooking needs to hit 155ºF.
Choosing The Right Level Of Doneness
Before you fire up the grill, you’ll want to determine what “doneness” level you’re going for. The doneness level will impact the texture and color of the burger, so keep that in mind when you’re choosing. Use the following guide from NORMS Restaurants executive chef David Cox to figure out the right level.
Rare: Rare burgers are cooked for the least amount of time. They’re typically seared on the outside and have a cool, reddish center, red juices, and a soft spongy texture.
Medium-rare: Medium-rare burgers have a golden brown crust, a juicy deep pink center, red or deep pink juices, and a slightly soft interior.
Medium: These have a light pink center, pink juices, and a slightly soft interior. When it comes to increased cook times, burgers tend to shrink as the water evaporates. You’ll start to notice a difference in the size once you get to medium, medium-well, and well-done temperatures.
Medium-well: Medium-well burgers are similar to medium-cooked burgers, but have very little pink at the center, a firmer texture throughout, and clear juices.
Well-done: These are the most cooked with a heavier char on the outside. They’re completely browned with no pink in the center, minimal clear juices, and a very firm texture.
What Temperature To Grill Burgers
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What temp should you grill burgers at? If you want to grill burgers, you need to know the ideal temperature to cook them at. The answer depends on the type of burger you are cooking.
Grilling burgers is a great way to enjoy delicious food without spending much time or effort. However, grilling burgers requires some knowledge and practice. This guide explains the ideal temperatures to grill hamburgers at, so lets dive right in!
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Temperature Guidelines For Burger Doneness
Remember, by USDA standards, any ground beef under 160°F is deemed unsafe.
If youre grinding your own beef at home though, use the following temperature guide to ensure your burger has the appropriate doneness for your tastes:
- Well Done: 160°F to 165°F Its very tough and usually dry. If you use store-bought ground beef, you have to cook it to this temperature, or you can pasteurize it at 140°F for at least 12 minutes.
- Medium Well: 150°F to 155°F This burger will have a small amount of pink in the very center, but the outsides will have started to dry out.
- Medium: 140°F to 145°F Slight pink throughout the inside of the burger.
- Medium Rare: 130°F to 135°F If proper precautions are taken, you can cook and eat at this temperature.
- Rare: 120°F to 125°F You should never cook and eat a burger at this temperature for safety reasons.
How To Prepare Your Grill
From my experience, the best grilled hamburger is achieved through two avenues, smoke and indirect heat. You may be asking, what is indirect heat? Indirect heat is when there is no heat directly below the food you are preparing. This is the easiest way to prevent over cooking the burger. The best way Ive found to do this is to pile the lit charcoal on two sides of the grill, leaving the middle of the grill open. This will allow the hamburgers to slowly cook and absorb the smoke while grilling.
Next, its time to make some smoke. To do this, you will add a chunk of wood to the top of your lit charcoal. I prefer using wood chunks over wood chips because they make a better smoke and smoke for a longer amount of time. Your local grocery store or home center should have a variety of wood chunks for you to choose from. Ive found that hickory pairs perfectly with a grilled hamburger.
- Should the grill vent be open or closed? This will vary depending on the grill to get the right temperature. The more open the vent, the more oxygen will get to the coals resulting in a hotter fire.
- Do you need to soak your wood chunks or chips? There isnt any reason to soak wood chunks. However, if you are going to use chips I recommend letting them soak for about 30 minutes.
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How To Season Burgers
A big burger deserves big flavor, but that doesn’t mean you need to go bananas with the seasoning. When you’re working with high-quality meat, sautéed onions mixed into the patties just aren’t necessaryand that goes double for raw onions. Other things to leave behind: egg, bread crumbs, cumin, garlic powder, taco seasoning, etc. It’s not a meatloaf, people!
Two seasonings you should incorporate: salt and pepper. Avoid mixing these seasonings into the burger meat, however, since adding salt to ground beef prematurely can toughen it. Instead, season the patties with ample kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper after theyre shaped and right before you plan to take them out to the grill.
Can Burgers Be Cooked On Electric Griddle
In fact, an electric griddle is capable of cooking hamburgers. Simply prepare your desired ingredients, preheat the griddle, and cook the patties on each side for about 4 minutes. Next, place your toppings between the halves of your buns.
The majority of people who enjoy cooking outside enjoy the taste of burgers. You can quickly and easily grill hamburgers on a gas grill. This is a fast and easy way to make perfect burgers if you have the ingredients and the time. The steps below will help you get started. Before the patties can be cooked, they must be prepared. After 3 minutes in the hot oil, flip the burgers over and cook them on the other side. Remove them from the griddle and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Burger cooking can take place on an electric griddle. All you need is to make the patties, preheat the griddle, and cook them for about 4 minutes per side on each side. Grilling your favorite burgers on an electric griddle is a convenient, yet simple, way to prepare them indoors.
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How Long To Cook A Burger
When youre ready to sear your patties and with the grill set to the highest setting, the cook time for the perfect burger is about eight minutes or four minutes per side.
When it comes to flipping the burgers, only flip once in the middle of the cook. After your patties hit the grill, leave them alone. Resist the urge to squish the burger with a spatula. Youll just be pushing out all that precious, delicious juice.
Cook about two minutes per side for rare, three minutes for medium rare, four minutes for medium, and five minutes for well done.
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How To Light A Charcoal Grill
Lighting a charcoal grill is usually easiest with a chimney, a cylindrical device which helps the coals light each other by containing and directing the flow of heat.
Charcoal company Kingsford says these are the steps you should take to get your grill going with a chimney:
Kingsford also presents a simple method to light your grill if you dont have a chimney:
Some easy-light charcoal can also be lit with matches.
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How Long To Grill Hamburgers
Grill your burgers according to your desired level of doneness. Below are the hamburger grill times that Ive tested time and again:
- Rare: 2-3 minutes per side
- Medium: 3-4 minutes per side
- Medium well: 4-5 minutes per side
I always grill my grass fed beef burgers for 3 minutes per side for medium doneness and theyre perfectly juicy every time.
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How Long Do You Grill Burgers At 400
There is no one answer to the question of how to make juicy hamburgers, as the secret is often a combination of factors.
However, some tips that may help are to use a grinder or food processor to create smaller pieces of meat, to cook them slowly over medium-high heat until they are cooked through, and to add onions, garlic, and other spices when needed.
Press The Burgers Into Patties
You should split your beef into the number of burgers you want to make and ensure they are all a similar size. For a rough guide, you can try to make burgers that weigh around -pound each.
Thickness is important when making burgers. The thinner they are, the more evenly they will cook. Thicker patties tend to burn faster and get overdone.
You should use your hands when pressing the burgers into patties and aim for a thickness of about ½-inch larger than the buns you plan to use.
Avoid overworking the meat, but still, squeeze it together around the edges so the meat doesnt crumble when you transfer it to the grill.
Ultimately, simply try to form the burgers so that they are thin enough to fit into a bun but thick enough to hold together.
You can also try flattening out the patty with a grill spatula while cooking. This helps ensure that the burgers stay flat during cooking.
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How To Grill Hamburgers
- Optional toppings, like lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and pickles
Yield: 4 burgers
Step 1: Season the beef
taste of home
If you went all-in with high-quality beef, you dont really need any of the optional seasonings listed above. Mixing the seasonings increases the risk of overworking the meat, but we understand if you want to infuse the burgers with some extra flavor. If you choose to use them, place the seasonings and beef in a large bowl. Use your hands to lightly but thoroughly mix the seasonings into the beef, working as quickly as possible.
Editors Tip: Dont salt the ground beef in advance. Salt pulls moisture out of the patty, making it denser and dryer than it should be. Instead, save the salt for later.
Step 2: Divide the beef
taste of hometaste of home
Divide the beef evenly into four balls. Wet your hands with cold water and shape the beef into a 1-inch patty thats roughly 3-1/2 inches wide. Dont worry about packing the beef in too tightly. The patty needs just enough pressure to hold together. Using your thumb, create a tiny indentation in the center of the patty.
Once your patties are divided and formed, store them in the refrigerator until the grill is preheated. You want the beef to stay as cold as possible until it hits the grill.
Step 3: Season and grill the burgers
taste of home
How To Grill Burgers On A Pellet Grill
When it comes to backyard BBQ, a good burger can make or break the party. We go over patty creation and grilling burgers to perfection on your grill in order to achieve burger glory. Trying out our tips on your Pro, Ironwood, or Timberline? Share your burger photos on social media with #TraegerGrills.
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What Ground Beef Should You Use For Pellet Grill Burgers
These burgers are made with 80/20 blend of ground beef or chuck. This blend works the best because it keeps the patty shape and size together throughout cooking time.
Once you have your ground beef, you will want to measure out 8oz of ground beef per patty and then shape them to be about 1/2 inch thick.
These can be measured using a kitchen scale.
How Long Should You Cook Your Burger
The grill temperature and the internal temperature you want to attain will directly affect the amount of time your burger stays on the grill.
When your grill is at a high temperature of 375 degrees F or more and grilling 1.5 inches burger, then you will need to cook your burger for 4 minutes on each side for a perfect medium cooking.
2 minutes on each side is for a rare, 3 minutes each side for medium-rare and 5 minutes for well-done cooking.
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Gourmet Burger Recipes From Sip Bite Go To Check Out
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, youll often see me using:
Its like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I dont have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use em What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as its cooking. Without having to take it out and check. Its really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
How To Get The Perfect Grill
We all know how important it is to get the perfect grill for whatever burger you choose to go for. It does seem as if youve wasted your time if you overcook burgers.
Especially if you pop them onto the grill and then get sidetracked! We have gone through all of the grill timings above, so it is now time to discuss our top tips on how to perfect your grilling technique.
There are several things to consider when grilling burgers. Get one of the below steps wrong and you could seriously compromise your burger.
The first step which we have already covered is the flip timings. If you stick to our recommended times, then you will end up with a perfect burger to serve to your family and friends.
The other steps to think of when grilling burgers are:
Lets take a deep dive into each of these factors and see just how they can affect the final result of your burger.
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Bonus Tip: How To Keep Grilled Burgers Moist
A hot, hot grill achieves just the right char and sears the perfect grill marks on burgers, but the fierce flames can also dry them out. Graham Elliot, a judge on MasterChef, has a pretty cool solution: hide a small ice cube in center of the patty! That’s right, the cube melts as the burger grills, and keeps the meat nice and moist.
See our collection of Grilled Burger Recipes.
On Grill Smoking Grilled Burgers
A great compromise to add smoked flavor without buying a smoker is adding some wood to smoke on the grill. You can use an smoker box but I use an even easier method. Placing a piece ofheavy foil on the grill with wood chips on it naturally allows them to begin to smoke and infuse flavor.
These Grill-Smoked Green Chile Burgers in a Bacon Weave are delicious and always impress . The burgers are grilled with mesquite wood chips for a nice smoky flavor. Dont let the bacon weave scare you either. The step-by-step photos will help you whip them up like a pro .
The wood chip smoking technique is so easy youll want to use it on recipes outside of burgers too. I even made a Grilled Pumpkin Pie with Hickory-Smoked Ginger Snap Crust for Thanksgiving!
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