There’s a unique joy that comes from making your own food and making it well. That joy comes in a huge rush especially when you just nail the art of grilling a burger. Making the perfect burger, however, can be more challenging than one would think.

We’ve written pretty extensively in the past about choosing particular ingredients that are well suited and how you can combine certain ingredients in order to make a burger that tickles the taste buds. But what are you to do when your burger just doesn’t seem to come together? It’s easier than you’d think to end up with a burger that’s swollen up and is shaped more like a ball than a traditional burger.

Wondering How to Keep Burgers Flat?

As a matter of fact, it’s pretty much a given that if you’re new to grilling your own burgers, you’re going to encounter this particular phenomena. Chances are you’ve heard about the “use your thumb to create a dimple in the center of your patty” method and you’ve probably even tried that. Here’s the truth of the matter–sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. There are a number of variables.

You’ve probably also heard that you should never under any circumstances or for any reason use your spatula to flatten your burgers while they’re on the grill. The vibe that’s put out when this type of statement is made is that if you even think about it the burger police will show up and confiscate your grill and issue you a ticket stating that you can’t try to grill again for a year.

Here’s our opinion–as long as your burger tastes good to you, you can grill it up any darned way you want to. We do, however, have a few tips for your success.

A Few Tips from the Team at Mighty Flame

No one wants to eat a burger that’s crispy on the outside and red, cold, and raw on the inside. (Well…someone probably does, but we’re going to assume that most of the people who are reading this post don’t want that at all.) Whatever a perfectly cooked burger looks like to you, that’s your goal every time you fire up the grill and we want to help you achieve the success you’re looking for.

First of all, one of the best things you can do for any burger is to use 80/20 ground beef as your starting point. This ensures that you’ll get a nice, juicy burger that’s full of flavor. Season it with salt and pepper at a minimum, but feel free to add bread crumbs, minced garlic, or diced onions. In other words, focus on the flavors you want because your goal is to make a burger that you’re going to love.

And here’s the crucial step–technique matters when it comes to creating indentations in your burger patties. According to a recent article on the Huffington Post, “If you form [your burger patties] and you make the inside thinner and the outside bit bigger, then when you cook it, it all ends up exactly the same width. Otherwise if you just do it all the same, it puffs up in the middle.” This bit of advice comes from professional chef Mary Sue Milliken who also notes that it’s wise to take advantage of this technique on both sides of the burger.

Bobby Flay-style indentations are about an inch and a half wide and this seems to be the method that works out best and is the one that many burger aficionados prefer. This is the time-tested way of creating a burger that is uniform in thickness all the way across.

What Else Can You Do?

One other thing that we’ve discovered in our tests is that it can sometimes help to have an object around that makes it easier to shape your patties to begin with. Luckily for you, a helpful little device called a burger patty mold exists, allowing you to section of a portion of your ground beef, toss it in the mold, and shape it perfectly every time. From there, add your indentation in the top of the burger and throw it on the grill.

You can also ensure that your grilling tactics are setting you up for burger success. Do this by cooking your burger over high heat with the grill cover down for 3 to 4 minutes before flipping and cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes depending on how well done you’d like your burger to be.

You would also be wise to invest in a meat thermometer as this is one of the best ways to tell how much longer you need to keep your meat on the grill. Of course you don’t want to slice into a burger to see how much pink there is in it, nor would you want to do that with steak, chicken, or pork chops. Here are the temperatures you need to know:

• For a rare burger, cook to 120 to 125 degrees
• For a medium rare burger, cook to 130 to 135 degrees
• For a medium burger, cook to 140 degrees
• For a medium well burger, cook to 150 to 155 degrees
• For a well done burger, cook to 160 to 165 degrees

One other thing to keep in mind is that it’s best to pull your burgers off the grill just shy of your target temperature because they’ll continue to cook for a few minutes even though they’re off the heat. Memorize your preferred temperature and keep a meat thermometer handy and you’ll be just fine. The uniform thickness of your burger as it nears its final temperature is a good way to make sure that everything is cooked exactly the way you want it.

Wrapping it Up

That’s all there is to it. Is this the ideal method of making burgers? We think so, until something else comes along that proves us wrong that is. It’s always in your best interest to make sure you have plenty of propane to get the job done. That’s why knowing where the nearest propane cylinder exchange location is.

Luckily for you, Mighty Flame has  a number of propane tank refill locations across the Eastern U.S. and we’re always adding more! We know that the term “the best burger” is subjective, but we’re here to arm you with the techniques you need to set yourself up for success as well as the propane you need to make the burger the right way. Our goal is to be your partner in all things barbecue and we’d love nothing more than to help you perfect your techniques. Good luck out there, friends!