How do I make good burgers?

Fat content, minimal handling and a hot pan — the three things that produce a juicy burger rather than a dense puck.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 30 min
Read: 2 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Use mince with at least 20% fat, handle it as little as possible, and season only the outside just before cooking. Over-worked mince and lean meat are the two reasons home burgers come out dense and dry.

A burger should be loosely packed meat that holds together, not a compressed patty. Working the mince develops the proteins into a springy texture — closer to a sausage than a burger.

Safety

Minced meat must be cooked through to 75°C — mincing spreads surface bacteria throughout, so a burger cannot be served rare the way a steak can unless the meat was minced to order for that purpose.

What you'll need

Beef mince, 20% fat
Heavy pan or barbecue
Buns (optional)
Thermometer (optional)

Step by step

Use mince with at least 20% fat.Chuck or brisket mince. Lean mince makes a dry burger and no technique compensates for it.
Handle the meat as little as possible.Divide it, shape it loosely, stop. Every extra squeeze makes the texture denser and springier.
Make the patties wider than the bun and press a dimple in the centre.They shrink and dome as they cook. A dimple keeps them flat and the extra width accounts for the shrinkage.
Season the outside only, just before cooking.Salt mixed into the mince dissolves the proteins and creates a bouncy texture. On the surface it seasons and helps the crust.
Cook on a properly hot surface.A heavy pan or a hot barbecue. You want a hard brown crust, which is most of the flavour.
Turn once and do not press them.Pressing squeezes out the juices into the fire. It achieves nothing except a drier burger.
Cook to 75°C.Minced meat must be cooked through. Add cheese in the last minute with a lid on to melt it.
Toast the buns and rest the patties for a minute.A toasted bun holds up to the juices instead of collapsing. Resting keeps the juices in.

Tips

Ask a butcher to mince chuck or brisket coarsely. It makes a noticeably better burger than fine supermarket mince.
Keep the meat cold until it hits the pan. Warm fat smears rather than staying in distinct pieces.
Build the burger with a barrier — lettuce or cheese — between the bun and anything wet, or the base goes soggy.

Common mistakes

Using lean mince — Fat is what makes a burger juicy and flavourful. Below about 15% you get a dry, crumbly result.
Working the mince into a smooth ball — It develops the proteins and gives a springy, sausage-like texture rather than a loose tender one.
Pressing the burger with a spatula — It squeezes out the juices and fat. There is no benefit at all, and it is the most common burger mistake.

Questions people ask

What fat percentage is best for burgers?

Around 20%. Below 15% the burger is dry and crumbly; the fat is what carries flavour and keeps it juicy during cooking.

Why do my burgers puff up into a ball?

The proteins contract as they cook and pull the patty into a dome. Pressing a dimple into the centre of the raw patty prevents it.