In this article learn the best Tips Grilling Burgers to make the best burger you can. By the end you should be stocked with enough tips to make one darn good burger and be receiving compliments left and right. Let's get to it!

Tips Grilling Burgers #1: Where's the Beef! Or Turkey.

Not all meat is created equal. The leaner the beef you buy the drier your burgers will turn out so try to avoid meat labeled extra lean or lean. You can buy ground beef or chuck. Chuck is a better quality meat and comes from a single cut of beef.

Both are fine but make sure the fat content is at least 15% and more preferably 20%. This will make for the juiciest burgers. Also make sure it is fresh. The beef should be a bright pink color without any dark spots.

Fat gives burgers their natural flavor and juiciness so if you choose to use leaner meats there is a couple things you can do to make a more flavorful and less dry burger.

Add moist ingredients such as chopped onion.

Add extra seasoning to ratchet up the flavor.

Cook slower over medium heat.

Beef or Turkey? Beef has a juicy, rich, hearty, and bold flavor. Turkey has a moist, delicate flavor with a denser texture.

We recommend beef!

Tips Grilling Burgers #2: Mixing and Seasoning or just buy premade.

Making your own burger patties opens up a lot of customization and experimentation avenues but you can just buy pre-made boxed burger patties. There are many brands out there that are very good. If you are doing this you can skip down to the next tip.

To season or not to season? Many simply use salt and pepper mixed in with the beef and later use condiments and buns to jazz it up.

Some add-ins that are popular are Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and chopped onion.

Avoid over mixing your beef it becomes tougher with handling.

Tips Grilling Burgers #3: Make that patty.

Be sure the meat and your hands are chilled before you form the patty. That's right I said hands. Warm hands start to melt the fat and makes it a little tougher. This is a miniscule difference but hey you are trying to make the best burgers you can.

You want to take about a 1/4 pound of meat (size of a tennis ball) roll it into a ball and then press down while still in your palms into a flatter cake. Then throw it onto a cutting board and do it again. You don't have to get it perfect. Make the patties about 1/2 to 1 inches thick and the diameter 1/2 inch wider than the buns your going to be using to account for the burger shrinkage when grilling them.

When making the patty use a spatula to pull in the sides and make it rounder. This also keeps the meat together better. Just work it to the approximate dimensions above, tighten it up on the sides, and voila the patties are ready for the grill.

Burgers usually always swell in the middle when grilled. To help ward this off put a depression in the middle top of the patty before throwing it on the grill.

Place all your patties on a plate and stack them with wax paper between layers so they don't stick when you go to place them. Now it's time to take a walk to the grill.

For Delicious burger recipes see the article: Hamburger Grilling Recipes and Tips
For outdoor grilling preparation and other great tips be sure to read our other popular related article: Outdoor Grilling Tips.

Some of our family have purchased the Weston Burger Patty Press on Amazon.com and love it. If you want an easy wasy to make the perfect size patties we recommend this burger press.

Tips Grilling Burgers #4: Time to fire it up.

Fire the grill up to a hotter temperature so the burgers get seared when throwing them on. This will lock in the juices.

Throw the burgers on the grill over the direct heat and cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes for rarer, 5 minutes for medium, and 6-8 for well.

Only turn the burgers once when cooking!

Be sure to use a spatula or tongs to turn your burgers these tools help to maintain the shape and ward off broken patties.

Here is a big one. Don't squeeze, press, and push on the burgers when cooking them. This will release all your juices, make the burgers dryer, and create flair ups.

Tips Grilling Burgers #5: When is it done?

You want the internal temperature for beef burgers to reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit ( 71 degrees Celsius). Turkey burgers need a slightly higher internal temperature at 170 degrees Fahrenheit ( 77 degrees Celsius).

When it's at the ideal doneness the meat should show no sign of pinkness and the juices should run clear.

Use an internal meat thermometer, a grillers best friend, to easily check the internal temperature. These reliable and handy tools are well worth the investment. Not only do they let you easily check to see if the doneness is at a safe temperature it will deter cooking your juicy burgers too long!

Stick the thermometer in the side not the middle top of the burger to get the best reading.

Do you want to add some cheese and make them Cheeseburgers? Well now is the time.

Place a slice a cheese on the patty about 2 minutes before you plan to take them off the grill. Lay a piece down and close the lid. The cheese will perfectly melt and cover the patties.

Remember to never put cooked burgers back onto the plate that you had the raw paddies on. This can cause contamination and defeats the whole point of cooking them.

Your burgers are done! Only finishing touches need to be added before you and your company devour those good looking, juicy burgers.

Tips Grilling Burgers #6: Buns and limitless toppings!

There are many types of buns out there. The 4 most popular are sesame covered, whole wheat, regular white, and Kaiser rolls. After choosing your bun you need to choose whether you or your company want them toasted.

To best way to toast a bun is to lightly butter both cut ends and place them on the least hottest part of the grill grate for only a minute or two. Keep an eye on them because they toast quick.

Now it's time to finish off that masterpiece or just start eating. Plain burgers and cheeseburgers are all some need and are very good in their own right. For others looking for a flavor boost or a new taste altogether the options are limitless!

Below you will find a list of some of the most common and popular condiments and add-ons:

Vegetables: tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, pickles or cucumbers, and onions. Condiments/Sauces: Worcestershire sauce, A-1 sauce, hot sauce, any kind of mustard, manaisse, ketchup, relish, other steak sauces.

Experiment away!

If your looking for something different and of higher quality we recommend the Stonewall Kitchen line of specialty, home made condiments.

There you have it. The best Tips Grilling Burgers to make a masterpiece of a burger. You'll only get better every time you grill out. Enjoy!

Be sure to check out our other popular and related articles:

Tips on Grilling Steaks

Tips for Grilling Chicken

Outdoor Grilling Tips

Vegetable Gardening Tips

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