Today’s tip is so simple and yet it makes a huge difference in getting the perfect hamburgers patties every time.
But my tip has nothing to do with the seasoning or the meat, it is all about the technique.
When hamburgers cook they tend to swell up in the middle and form a bulge. This makes them harder to eat because all the toppings fall off. This always bothered me, but I always figured that it was just the way hamburgers were meant to be.
However, sometime ago I read a tip in a magazine that changed my hamburger making forever. It solved the dilemma of my misshapen and bulging hamburgers.
And it is so simple. All you need to do is make an indention in the top of your hamburger patty before you cook it. When the hamburger cooks it won’t bulge in the middle This means that the toppings won’t fall off and I can enjoy my hamburger much better.
Now please tell me I am not the only one that is bothered about things like bulging hamburger patties? Because seriously does this mean I have a weird issue with my food?
It’s never really been something that bothered me but Rachael Ray says it every time she’s making burgers on her show because it apparently is an issue to her. So, no, you’re not alone 🙂
LOL! I just recently saw this tip through cooks illustrated, posted from a friend on fb. I must be so silly, because I’ve never noticed a problem with any of my hamburger patties swelling up in the middle and allowing condiments to fall off. It might be when you are frying them in a pan, but not on the grill? Cause I made burgers last week and they are nice and evenly flat on top and they were grilled. But I will have to try to remember this tip the next time I cook up some burgers!
If hamburgers always bulge in the middle, why do my meatballs always deflate? It must be the cow’s way of getting revenge.
I’m wondering why you make your burger patties so thick . . . and maybe that’s why they bulge up in the middle when cooked. I flatten my burger patties out quite a bit before grilling them and they turn out just perfectly!
I do this also! I actually learned it from watching Racheal Ray! LOL
I don’t have that problem because my burgers are so chintzy! I make quarter pounders and make them super thing. My boys would love yours!
@FishMama, that would be thin.
This is BRILLIANT! Ahem…and no, you are not the only one that bulging burgers bugs you. My burgers always end up turning out like meatballs by the time they are done swelling in the middle and it drives me absolutely nuts because everything (even mustard) just falls right off of them and trying to fit a bun around them, let alone your mouth, is a bit of a challenge. I am so going to do this the next time I make burgers!
Thanks for sharing!
Almost as annoying as the pickle, onion, and lettuce sliding off the cheese!!! 😉
So simpl, and yet I never thought about this before. Thank you so much!
I bought a burger press at Cabela’s that presses concentric circles into the patties…no more bulging!
This is a great tip that I will use the next time I make burgers. Thank you!