Debate with number one son who disapproves of how I grill the burgers (these ones made with bison and quite yummy) …
Is the preferred a flat disc, akin to the patties you get at the store, such that in cross section the burger occupies no more than 20% from top of bun to bottom (inclusive of whatever else you like on burger), perhaps cooked 1/4 to max 1/2 inch in thickness?
Or thicker, more an inch to 1 1/2 inch thick, such that at least half the cross section or more is meat?
Assume in each case the burger is cooked to perfection in terms of your preferred doneness and char.
Thicker gives you more of an opportunity to vary the doneness, to better emulate a perfect steak by sear-sealing in the juicy flavor…but of course this is tricky, because you don’t want the center to be raw, just the customer’s preferred shade of dusky pink. Nor do you want the surface char to go too deeply in – forget cancer, it tastes bad to let the burnt part dominate rather than complement the rest.
We really can’t assume this, because it depends upon the shape of the burger. I like my burgers uniformly done with little or no char, and that’s not really possible with the thick burger.
Even aside from that, thinner patties are also a lot easier to eat. Make them too thick, and they roll off the bun when you try to pick it up.
If I’m getting the same total amount of meat either way, what’s the advantage of the thick patty?
If we’re talking good quality beef, then thick, because thin burgers are generally cooked too well done.
I like my burgers (and my steak) dragged through a warm room, slowly, and then passed through the flame to brown the outside a bit. In other words, rare. No, rarer. As rare as the cook is willing to make it while ignoring the dire health warnings of the health department. Yeah, raw is good.
I really like the char and think it’s a vital component of the flavor of a burger. As such, I now make very thin patties, cooked over as high of heat as I can for a short time so the outside is charred but the inside is still moist. I make double cheeseburgers so the meat to bun ratio is still acceptable.
Depends, sometimes a thin pattie (or two) with a good crust on it is awesome.
Other times I want something more significant like a nice inch or more thick burger.
Depends on my mood.
I have had some exceptionally good burgers and none of them have been the super-thick kind that your are describing. I understand the thinking behind it but it generally doesn’t work well and, if it does, it still isn’t as good as a medium thick to thin burger. The best burgers are medium thick at most (1/2" or maybe a little less), slightly charred on the outside and medium-rare on the inside. Really thick burgers always end up being more of a poorly thought out gourmet experiment than an actual good idea in my extensive experience. I have seen good cooks latch onto the idea for a while because they think it lets them show some creativity and flair but it really isn’t that good as a cooked patty. It is also difficult to eat and doesn’t play well with the rest of the ingredients.
Flatter. The thick, swollen patties some cooks think are burgers are an abomination and a mess to dress and eat. Hamburgers should not look like a bunned bocce ball.
The OP didn’t specify which opinion was that of #1 son, but he is wrong in any case. You are the cook, therefore you are right. Unless you make thick burgers. In that case you are both wrong.
If it is a meat like Bison or Kobe, I’d say go thicker.
It also depends on what style bun you are using, I say a classic style American bun.
One of my friends used toasted English muffins with premium Angus, and although I though it was a terrible idea, it was pretty good. He also made some pretty good condiments to top it with. Sliced garlic cloves, chopped cocktail onions, and jalapeños.
He wouldn’t let anyone eat them any other way. You had to have one his way.
This is why you have a hot side and a less hot side of the grill. You plop the meat down on the hot side until it gets charred enough, and if the middle isn’t done enough, you move it over to the less hot side and let it finish cooking without more char. This technique requires the lid to be down most of the time, to allow the heat to circulate around to the less hot side.
Since a hamburger is a sandwich and a sandwich is something you eat with your hands, 1 1/2 inch patties are way too thick. 1 inch burgers are too thick unless they’ve been stuffed with sliced mushrooms or something similar.
1/4 inch burgers are easy to make and big eaters can stack two or three to make a sandwich. I prefer 1/2 inch burgers that are mostly pink and moist on the inside with char marks on the outside.
One inch is just about perfect. But I mostly just like the meat with no bun, so there’s no problem eating it. With grilled onions and mushrooms piled on top of it. Yum.
I generally prefer thin burgers, and double patties if I want more meat. Every once in a long while I want a big thick patty, just like I like deep dish pizza every once in awhile, but my go-to burgers and pizzas are thin.
A good burger is a good burger and I’ll happily eat either one. But the ones I make are always thinner because they cook faster and it is easier to cook them the whole way through. It seems like when I try to make thicker burgers they are either too raw inside or burned on the outside (sometimes both). I’ve never owned a grill, so all my burgers are and will continue to be made in a frying pan.
To expound on my previous comment: See, that’s the thing with me. When I do thicker burgers, I do them rare-to-medium rare on the inside (I’ve found that I’ve generally have to order them “rare” to get them anything below “medium.”) Yet I still generally prefer the thin patty–we’re talking around six to a pound–which cannot be made anything but well done if you want the outside to have that nice crust. But that, to me, is the perfect crust-to-meat ratio. I love the crust on those thin, griddled burgers.
So the way I stand is, if I’m making pan-fried burgers (which is my preference), it’s the small thin patties. If I’m grilling them (which is rarely), I like to make them around 1/3 of a pound or so and cooked just so it sears nicely on the outside and is rare-to-medium-rare on the inside. As for the shape, I don’t like those stupid football-ish shaped burgers. For me, regardless of size, it needs to be relatively flat.
I’m really surprised that so many people prefer a thinner burger. I don’t really care for them at all if they are under an inch thick. But I do agree that they should never be roundish. And not so big that you can’t take a bite. I also feel that the bun should only be a tool for holding the sandwich together. I like brioche.
