The Most Helpful and Handy Guide for How Long to Cook Burgers On the Grill
Two things you can never go wrong with: burgers hot off the grill and plenty of icy cold drinks. And with the warmer months approaching, there's no time like the present for a grill and chill.
Regardless of how you like your burger toppings—piled high with crispy bacon, stacked with thick slices of tomato and chilled pieces of lettuce, loaded up with pickles, fried onions, avocado and cheese—one thing's for sure, there's nothing like a grilled burger. Unless of course your burger isn't grilled enough, or grilled too well. Then you're going to have some seriously unhappy and hungry guests on your hands.
Even rare burger fans still want a little sear on their meat. After all, no one likes a totally raw burger, which is why we're breaking down exactly how long to cook burgers on the grill with this helpful guide.
Related: How Many Burgers Do You Need for Your Cookout? How to Tell
Best Burger Buns
Planning a DIY burger buffet? Get a variety of buns at the market to serve with your grilled burgers. Pick up some classic potato rolls along with brioche buns, ciabatta and onion rolls, Kaiser rolls, a good loaf of sliced bread and English muffins that can be lightly toasted on the grill, while the burgers are cooking. Let your guests make their own burger just the way they like it and dinner is done!
Best Burger Condiments
Now that you have your burger toppings and buns out of the way, all that's left is condiments, like tangy ketchup, creamy mustard or chopped dill pickles as a relish. You can customize anyone's burger to their liking just by setting out a few different sauces and condiments.
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Best Tips for Cooking Burgers on the Grill
Season the meat before you shape the patties and place them on the grill with a simple addition of salt and pepper and seasonings to suit your taste.
Try and make the patties uniform in size to have them grill up in the same amount of time. They don't have to be exactly the same size, but you can use a guide for scoring the meat with your hand to make even amounts of meat to form into patties, or a large ice cream scoop to drop them on a clean plate to take out to the grill.
Remember that whatever you use to transfer the burgers to the grill can't be used when they come off the grates to avoid contamination with a plate that has come in contact with raw meat.
Place the burgers on the grill and be sure not to crowd the surface to allow for even cooking.
There is no need to handle the meat more than once to sear each side of the burger.
Do not press down on the burgers with a spatula while they cook on the grill. You want the juicy goodness to stay in the burgers!
Related: 32 of the Most Unique Grilling Recipes
How Long to Cook Burgers on the Grill
Use this guide for how long to cook burgers, using half the grilling time for each side:
Rare burgers should cook for 4 minutes total (125°F)
Medium-rare burgers cook for 5 minutes total (135°F)
Medium burgers cook for 6 to 7 minutes total (145°F)
Well-done burgers cook for 8 to 9 minutes total (160 °F)
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How Long to Cook Burgers on a George Foreman Grill
Prefer to use your George Foreman Grill for burgers? You can prepare the burgers as you would normally, but keep in mind that the Foreman grill is designed to have the burger come in contact with a hot surface on the bottom, as well as the surface area on top of the patty when you close the lid. This is how the appliance can turn out burgers in such a short amount of cooking time.
Many fans of the George Foreman Grill like how quickly the burgers cook and the feature that draws the excess fat away from the beef as it cooks and deposits the drippings into a tray to make this a healthy meal option.
To cook burgers on the George Foreman, form the meat into patties that are approximately 4 to 5 inches in diameter and 1/2” to 3/4” thick for the best results. Then use this guide for how long to cook the burgers:
Medium-rare to medium: For a burger that is medium-rare to medium, they should be done in about 2-1/2 to 3 minutes.
Medium to well-done: For a result of medium to well-done the burgers should take 3 1/2 to 5 minutes.
The cook time of burgers on a George Foreman grill is shorter than other burger grill times and there is no need for anyone to be on spatula duty to flip the patties as they cook. Place the meat patties on the grill, close the lid and let the George Foreman grill get to work on cooking the burgers.
How Long to Cook Burgers on a Charcoal Grill
Your first step is to prepare the grill and get the coals glowing a nice hot, orange color letting you know the briquettes are ready to get to cook burgers on the charcoal grill. Most grillers will tell you to avoid using any chemical fire starters for coals as the fumes that rise from the hot embers will taint the flavor of the burgers with an unpleasant aftertaste. Hot coals without any chemical assistance will give you the smoky burgers you're looking for when cooking burgers on a charcoal grill.
Form the patties so they are about 3/4 of an inch thick. Many grillers like to make an indentation by pressing down on the center of the patty to create a small well to prevent the center from bulging when the burgers are cooking on the charcoal grill.
Now, how does everyone like their burgers? Medium rare or well-done? Here's a handy guide to measure doneness on a charcoal grill:
For medium rare: Grill the patty on one side for 3 minutes and turn it over for 4 minutes.
Medium: Grill the patty on one side for 3 minutes and turn it over and cook for 5 minutes.
Medium well: Grill on one side for 3 minutes. Turn it over and cook for another 6 minutes.
Well done: Grill the patty for 3 minutes and turn it over for an additional 7 minutes.
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How Long to Cook Frozen Burgers on the Grill
If you're asking yourself if it takes the same amount of time to cook a frozen burger on the grill as it does to cook a regular beef patty, the answer is no. Keep in mind that a frozen burger will actually take longer to cook as it comes up to temperature.
Frozen patties are super convenient when you are making burgers for a crowd though, since there is no handling of raw meat and or having to form patties. You can simply grab them right from the freezer and remove the paper separators, before throwing on the grill.
Pro tip: Frozen patties will have more water content as they go from frozen to cooked and the excess moisture can cause flare-ups on the grill so be prepared to move the burgers around the grates when needed.
Place the frozen patties on the grill and flip every 3 to 5 minutes. If you have any flare-ups, you can move the burgers to another area of the grill grates. Continue occasionally flipping patties and cooking for about 20 minutes.
Get ready for burgers hot off the grill this summer!
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