Why Cook Burgers Using High Heat?

Nitro...All due respect to all prior contributors, I've never cooked a burger above 400* on a med or large.... (on a side note, I am not a smokey food fan)....that said, sometimes the burgers are so smokey/flamed tasting I can't eat them (but the family loves 'em!) . If you want to practically guarantee a smokey burger, use ground chuck. IMO, cook lid open unless you have to close it to stop flame ups.
You should get bunches more feedback on this. Remember, there are many "correct" ways to cook things on the Egg. You just have to find the method you like best.
Happy Eggin, and welcome!

burgers are a specialized cook, like steaks. Just so many ways to make 'em and eat 'em, you'll need to play some to find your best method.

If the smoke and dryness are hindering your burger enjoyment, may I suggest thinner patties, quicker cooks and just stack 'em on the bun to the desired meat thickness. You can still use the 80/10, 90/10 or similar meat ratios to get your flavor "fat" fix.

You might try this method. Roll 'em out on wax paper, cut with a pizza cutter to size, and cook 'em quick to desired doneness. I use a blackening skillet with this method. The pan cover idea came from a food network show couple years ago, a restaurant in Calfornia did 'em this way with ice cubes thrown under the cover to steam 'em some.











Another option you might consider is cook 'em fast low to get your desired char/sear, then raise 'em up to smoke. If flair ups are problem, throw a pan of water under 'em. Again, burger thickenss and meat ratio determines time at each step. Make 'em thin and stack 'em on the bun is always an option to quicker, easier cooks.

Nitro - something's amiss here. If I cook 3/4" burgers at 650 for 2 minutes per side and then 3 minutes with the vents shut, I never get dry burgers. I am not using a CI grill however. That may make a difference.

That being said, I seldom cook my burgers that way. I normally cook at around 400 and leave 3-4 minutes on each side and they turn out juicy and well done - just the way my wife likes them.

I cook mine at 350 and only flip once. Time on each side depends on how done you want your burger. Turn out great every time, but as mentioned I don't see a right or wrong way to do it. It's personal preference

I've had my Egg for almost 4 years now and I don't think I ever cooked burgers on it until a couple weeks ago. I've cooked all sorts of food on it, but not hamburgers.

Mine came out ovedone and dry, but I think my problem was I was cooking to temp and the temp I was referencing for store-bought hamburger was like 160 or higher. I cooked them again the other day (400) and they came out good. Still a little overdone, but they were still good.

I'm getting the hang of it and want to try again!

Nitro wrote:

I may try cooking at ~350-400 deg next time, similar to what I do on the Gasser. Hopefully with better results, otherwise I'm gonna hear it from the little lady. She's not exactly empressed with my new toy so far. :ohmy: Little does she know. :laugh:

One thing I forgot to mention is I'm using a Cast Iron grill, upside down. That really charred the burgers too much. Next time I may turn it right side up.

BTW, I don't mean to obsess about cooking methods for burgers. I just never heard of cooking burgers on high heat before I got the Egg. I was just wondering if I'm missing something.

Next thing I'll cook is some steaks. Those should sear up real nice in the Egg.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes - try them at 400° with the pointy side up of the CI grill, I bet you will like the results.

I highly recommend the T-Rex method for steaks.

its the thermapen, it ruins a good burger.

hi. welcome.

I haven't read the others' comments, so i may be repeating something. ...and I'm sure they covered the various methods you can use to approach a burger cook.

I would just like to interject that when something is overcooked, it is never the result of a method, the cooker, or anything else other than the fact that it was cooked too long.

that really means, that aside from a three minute egg, nothing should ever be cooked to time.

all time references are rough guides. i have had ribs take anywhere from 5 to 9 hours under what i thought were identical conditions.

this isn't a peculiar issue with the egg, just with cooking in general, and something i had no idea about until i started paying attention when i was cooking. the fact that i didn't pay any attention to what i was cooking until i got an egg made me think for a minute it was the egg, or the advice, or the recipes here that were screwing up my food.

so. take notes, modify methods, and think to yourself what exactly a particular type of cook is trying to do. why is it cooking the way it is... and always take food temps, using dome temps and time estimates as rough guidelines only.

welcom aboard.

That's exactly what I do with great results! 13" CI on the spider for a quick sear and on to my grid raised on the AR. 400* dome. Comes out perfect for me and my wife! Pull at 120*

I usually cook Bubba Burgers because I really like them and I am lazy. I cook them directly on my medium Egg but with a Woo ring (grill extender) that I use for almost everything now. They typically take about 4:30 a side to come out medium to medium well. I use the "poke test" to check for doneness. Here's a good explainer of what that is:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/the_finger_test_to_check_the_doneness_of_meat/

I do mine similar to Fidel does, but I wait until they are off before adding cheese. I use american singles which require little heat for melting.
Worth noting is that the higher the heat, the quicker a burger will go from medium to overdone. Sounds obvious but that window is very small at 600deg. None the less, I go around 550-600 becuase I like a bit of an outer crust.

agree! When I first got my bge large 4 to 5 years ago someone suggested 750° for steaks. Had to replace the gasket and it was only a month old. Now my steaks and pizzs are done at no more than 400° to 500°.