Barbecuing Hamburgers

Information may not be reliable

Whether using gas grills or charcoal grills, hamburgers are always a hit.

You can give hamburgers a nice char with any of our infrared barbecues which include the brands Fire Magic, Lynx, Twin Eagles, American Outdoor Grill (AOG) and Solaire. Even Weber has a type of infrared system in their Summit line. Infrared cooking uses intense heat to char and seal in the juices of the meat.

You can achieve the same taste with infrared that you get with charcoal or hardwoods. People think you are tasting that good taste of charcoal but in reality it’s the searing that gives meats that charcoal taste.

With most of our barbecues, whether they are built-in or stand alone cart models you can get a portion of that grill dedicated to infrared cooking. That means if you buy a 3 burner grill from Twin Eagles, for instance you can get it with two standard burners and one dedicated infrared burner. The best of both worlds!

With Lynx grills, their infrared burner can also be used for lower temperatures because you can dial it down to between 200º and 250º for slower grilling. It’s designed that way where some of the other brands have only on and off.

Want to grill a burger? Start with the best meat. Whether you want to admit it or not, fat makes for the best tasting burger. Use ground beef that isn’t more than 80 – 85 percent lean. That means you are getting at least 15 to 20% fat in that ground beef.

Also make sure it is fresh. If you are using frozen ground beef ALWAYS make sure that it’s completely thawed before using it. You wouldn’t want to bite in to a raw burger no matter how rare you like it.

Don’t limit yourself to only salt and pepper when seasoning your burgers. Be creative. There are a lot of great barbecue rubs and seasonings out there or be creative and make your own. It’s easy!

Ground beef can harbor germs where a steak usually doesn’t. For that reason you should try to use an instant read thermometer to make sure that the center of the burger reaches the temperature of 155º. When you take a burger off of the cooking surface it continues to cook for a short time so let them rest before eating.

A neat trick for great burgers is to make a small indentation in the center of the pattie. That way they stay flat when grilling.

Make sure that your grill surface is hot before putting the meat on to the grill. Also oil the surface with any good cooking oil before adding the meat. A hot grill and the meat will release easier without sticking. Don’t start peaking either. Let the meat caramelize on the grill and it makes removing them simple.

Although you might like to do it, never press the burgers when they are cooking on the grill. This just presses out all the great juices. Leave them alone until done!

If some of the burgers get done before the others you can always move them up to the warming rack while the others get finished. A warming rack is not just for buns and vegetables.

Most of all enjoy your barbecues and experiment with all kinds of foods!