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

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he establishes recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and short article become part of, our series on cooking area fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I've invested the last two decades of my career rigorously looking into and testing dishes, methods and widely accepted kitchen area knowledge to determine the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've operated several hamburger joints and even composed a month-to-month column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I isolated and tested every possible variable that can affect the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

Here are the most crucial ideas I've discovered for enhancing your burger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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In bread, this can be a good idea, but with hamburgers, overhandling can produce an unwanted dense texture. (Including extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra spices, like onions and herbs, also forces you to exhaust the meat and distract from the beef taste, so skip it.) Salting the beyond 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 an advantage in sausages, which must have a firm texture, but with burgers, you want looseness. A hamburger ought to be tender, with a lot of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply maximizes flavor. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a big hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a frying pan, browning is flavor, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait up until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This makes the most of flavor while preserving juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had an opportunity to leak out.

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

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Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a hamburger enthusiast. 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).

Catch me on the ideal day and I might confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Really, I may state that on most days. And you may state the exact same. Even if you do, it's likely we don't have the exact same concept of what makes the best burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know people like however I simply. don't. get. Yes, I know your favorite isn't there. Maybe we have different taste. Possibly I have not attempted your favorite burger yet. Perhaps I'm out to get you (just joking).

Let me share with you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty.

When I bite in, I need to see a little shimmer, some glowing from the beef and perhaps a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always opt for a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be burnt to assist secure the juices, however not too crusty.