This Is The Trick To Making Juicy Burgers

When it comes to burgers, every chef puts his or her own special spin on this all-American cookout essential. Gordon Ramsay is known for his "most amazing burger", which is made with good ground beef, topped with fresh, grilled onions, and positioned on a grill so it that it hardly moves (via Independent). Bobby Flay offers up a bunch of hacks like nacho burgers with cheese, salsa and tortilla chips; beef burgers with peanut-chipotle barbecue sauce; turkey burgers with smoked gouda; and green-chili bacon burgers with goat cheese (via Food and Wine).

But no matter how high up the gourmet burger chain you choose to travel, a large part about a burger tastes comes down to how you cook the patty. According to the The Kitchn, there are two key variables you need to get just right in order to enjoy a perfect-tasting, juicy burger: the temperature of the grill and how long you leave your patty on the grill. 

Burgers thrive when they're cooked on a grill set at a temperature between 375 and 400 degrees (which translates to medium-high on a gas grill and two to three quarts of lit charcoal in an even layer for charcoal barbecues). Even if you are using a pan, chef Michael Ollier suggests cooking patties on a super-hot surface to make sure the meat doesn't stick (via Insider).

When the grill is all fired up and ready to go, time how long you cook your patties — and once the burgers go on the grill, try not to move them around too much. If you like your burger medium rare, Delish recommends four minutes on each side; medium burgers will need five minutes per side; and a well done burger needs at least seven minutes on each side.

Important note: If your burger isn't beef, be sure to pay close attention to the patty's internal temperature. Pork burgers need to be cooked to 160 degrees, while turkey and chicken patties need to reach 165 degrees to be safe to eat (via Taste of Home). Chef Adam Perry Lang warns against stabbing burger patties with a knife to check whether they're done. "One thing I would say is that for a thicker burger, an instant-read thermometer is gold. For the thinner ones, the temperature is somewhat insignificant unless you're cooking it so hot and fast that it'll be raw inside," he says (via Thrillist).