Hamburgers... What's the perfect temp to cook at?

KyleEgg

Anybody have a perfect temp and time for the average burger?

Thanks?

gmac

What's average?  I like thin and double stack.  Others like thick and single.  For me, it's 350 or so direct until the Thermopen says they are done.  

KyleEgg

What internal temp do you shoot for?

gmac

For me, medium at the least (wife won't eat pink hamburg) so I look for 160 or so.  Other folk will suggest much lower depending on your tolerance for pink burger

cmkratt

I like to go about 1/2 pound 1" thick. Raised direct at 400 to about 145 internal. The key for me is not using the cast iron grid on burgers as it makes them too crispy on the outside.

Mickey

IMO  400 Direct

smokeyj

 

setdahook

Depends on how big a buger but I go about 450 and about 3 min per side but never really time it

brock9281

Everyone go raised direct or just direct?

fusionhq

Just finished these @400ish. Started in a cast iron skillet with onions and butter. Finished on the grid for some char. Cooked to 150ish, my knock off thermapen may be off.

However they were super good and super juicy!!!

bclarksicle

I go hot and fast. 500-550 on a cast iron grid

jccbone62

I go direct at approximately 350 to 400 degrees. Cook for desired internal temperature. Personal preference. ..

johnkitchens

I am more or less like most of you. I cook mine direct at around 350. Burgers are quick so I am not real picky about my cooking temp, but it always ends up being between 300 and 400. 

I pull mine at 150 to 155 at the most. A Thermapen is a must!

DMW

Cook temp isn't ask important as finish temp. Before I got my Thermapen I turned out lots of overdone dry burgers, not anymore.

Terrebandit

325 indirect until 145 IT.. Then, sear 2.5 minutes on each side on CI at 500. Perfection.

Skiddymarker

Depending on the meat mix, 80/20 - raised direct at 400ºF, for 90/10 - direct at 350ºF. Final temp is determined by the source of the meat, from my local butcher, I'll pull at 145ºF, everything else goes to 155-160ºF. 

Zmokin

Don't know and don't know

I just cook them until they look done

nolaegghead

I like my burgers rare to medium rare.  I can get away with a pretty lean grind (5-15% fat) that way.  You cook them to medium - around 135-145F, or higher, you really need to use a 20% fat burger, well done, you need even more.  Don't cook them too long or squash them.  That fat is the only think keeping a well done burger juicy.

nolaegghead

The grill can be at a wide range of temps - 300 - 500F.  Just impacts how even it cooks versus the sear/crust.

stemc33

Wow! Pretty hard core people grilling here. I check internal temps on chicken and large cuts of meat, but never on a burger. I cook mine about 3-4 minutes a side on standard grill direct at about 450 degrees. Leave my wife's on longer because she likes them dry. She's paranoid about Escherichia coli.

Skiddymarker

stemc33 said:

Wow! Pretty hard core people grilling here. I check internal temps on chicken and large cuts of meat, but never on a burger. I cook mine about 3-4 minutes a side on standard grill direct at about 450 degrees. Leave my wife's on longer because she likes them dry. She's paranoid about Escherichia coli.

Check the temp by inserting the probe into the patty from the side, not from the top - same as you would for a steak. Get it to 160ºF for hers and all is good. Let your good wife see the temp to convince her it is safe. 

Foghorn

I've done them at every temp from 350 - 1200.  My wife prefers a good sear/crust so I cook burgers at 500 - 550.  Much above 600 and it can get away from you real fast and turn into a charcoal briquet.

fishlessman

over 400 direct for me. the thermopen wrecked burgers for me so i went back to my old method. put burger on grill, wait for juices to pool up on top, flip, wait til juices pool up on top, add cheese. that fda crap about 160 degrees for burger is rediculous to me, i grew up sampling raw ground burger
)

khristyjeff

I do hand-formed patties and cook them at 350-400 for 4 minutes, flip, then 4 more minutes and they're done.  If I have preformed patties, it takes much longer.

Tigers34

I did burgers last night.  Cooked at 400 raised direct for about 5 minutes or so on each side.   

coffeeguydenton

In summary, there is no perfect temp and there is no average burger. As a rule, though, we can say the more char you want for a given IT or the rarer you want for a given amount of char, the hotter the grill should be.

fishlessman said:

over 400 direct for me. the thermopen wrecked burgers for me so i went back to my old method. put burger on grill, wait for juices to pool up on top, flip, wait til juices pool up on top, add cheese. that fda crap about 160 degrees for burger is rediculous to me, i grew up sampling raw ground burger
)

I wouldn't go that far. I like a pink burger as much as anyone. But they have very good reason for that recommendation. Grinding meat gets all of those yummy contaminates from the slaughterhouse from the outside of the meat to the inside. Steaks and such where the meat is intact only have contamination on the surface, which gets plenty hot, and that is why it is safe to eat them rare. It's all about tolerance for risk. You could eat 1000 burgers that way and be fine, and then the next could give you the worst explosive diarrhea you can imagine. If you're okay with that risk, have at it. But the recommendations are not crap.

fishlessman

coffeeguydenton said:

In summary, there is no perfect temp and there is no average burger. As a rule, though, we can say the more char you want for a given IT or the rarer you want for a given amount of char, the hotter the grill should be.

fishlessman said:

over 400 direct for me. the thermopen wrecked burgers for me so i went back to my old method. put burger on grill, wait for juices to pool up on top, flip, wait til juices pool up on top, add cheese. that fda crap about 160 degrees for burger is rediculous to me, i grew up sampling raw ground burger
)

I wouldn't go that far. I like a pink burger as much as anyone. But they have very good reason for that recommendation. Grinding meat gets all of those yummy contaminates from the slaughterhouse from the outside of the meat to the inside. Steaks and such where the meat is intact only have contamination on the surface, which gets plenty hot, and that is why it is safe to eat them rare. It's all about tolerance for risk. You could eat 1000 burgers that way and be fine, and then the next could give you the worst explosive diarrhea you can imagine. If you're okay with that risk, have at it. But the recommendations are not crap.

ill be at the local lebanese restaurant tomorrow eating the raw lamb they serve (kibee) and have eaten the raw dry crud off a 60 day dry aged steak, im not going to worry about it
i would never eat burgers again if i had to cook them to 160 degrees. i used to eat raw burger at a neighbors house daily, they would put it on top of the fridge to warm it up to eat while watching the daily news
:-\"

johnkitchens

@fishlessman you are a very brave man. 

coffeeguydenton

johnkitchens said:

@fishlessman you are a very brave man. 

Brave indeed!

BigGreenCraigdotcom

"Grilling" temperature ranges anywhere from 450-650. Anywhere in that range is fine. However, cooking at a high temp is dangerous in that fact that it is easy to overcook. I tend to stay around the 450-475 range for that reason alone. Once you've over cook, you can't go back.

Here is a lower temp recipe for an awesome burger:  http://www.biggreencraig.com/new-whiskey-planked-juicy-lucy.html

fishlessman

johnkitchens said:

@fishlessman you are a very brave man. 

what im scared of is salads
) lettuce puts me on a hopper for the rest of the day, even the smallest amounts. im probably the only one out there that has orders from the doctor not to eat lettuce. cabbage,kale, spinach im ok with but lettuce puts me on a hopper holding a bucket, i was goood with it til my 30's and the last 20 years it all changed