And do you know what most of those burgers have in common? They’re cooked all the way through. Americans eat around 50 BILLION hamburgers annually. In the United States alone there are more than 50,000 restaurants where the burger is the focus of the menu. It’s not difficult to cook meat to this level it’s pretty much black right through, and hard. I hate to even mention this, but some people really like their meat, “burnt to a crisp,” to quote Steve Buscemi in ‘Pulp Fiction.’ Beef should be gray/brown all the way through, hot, and firm.Ĭooking time: 3 minutes on one side, 7 minutes on the other Overcooked Hamburger This is the minimum level of doneness for ground beef as recommended by the USDA. Just a bit of pink will show in the center of the burger, and the meat will be firm.Ĭooking time: 3 minutes on one side, 6 minutes on the other Grilling a ‘Well Done’ Burger A medium burger should be slightly pink, warm all the way through, and firm.Ĭooking time: 3 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on the other Hitting the ‘Medium Well’ Doneness MarkĪpparently, this is almost safe to eat. Medium is the lowest level of doneness some regulating bodies recommend for cut beef. One of the most popular levels of doneness, medium rare beef is moderately warm and red, and slightly firm.Ĭooking time: 3 minutes on one side, 4 minutes on the other Grilling a Burger to Medium Doneness Rare beef is soft, cool and red in the center, and only cooked about 1 or 2 mm. Meat cooked to the blue level of doneness is very red in the center and lightly cooked on the outside.Ĭooking time: You really just want to sear both sides 2 minutes on very high heat on each face ought to do it Grilling a Burger to Rare The times are guidelines only, of course, because meat will cook at different rates depending on how thick it is, fat content, starting temp, and a few other variables. Temperature is the best indicator of whether you’ve got your meat to where you want it, but if you don’t have a wireless meat thermometer, you can use your watch instead. Just get the grill to a very high heat before the burger ever touches it. Whether using a charcoal grill or gas grill, it doesn’t matter. But I will produce an article on this soon.Īnyhow, assuming you know your meat to be safe, here’s how to cook it to various levels of doneness, where I have provided times and temperatures as guides.Īll the timings below are for a 1-inch thick burger patty, over a screaming hot grill heat. I’m not going to dive into how to cook burgers in this guide, it’s simply a screaming hot grill and flip once mid-cook. How Long Should You Grill Burgers? The Bottom Line up Front In this article, we’re going to discuss how long to grill burgers for a delicious end result, while keeping a keen eye on food safety. However, is it safe to make a hamburger the same way? A pink and juicy bit of beef is wonderfully tender and flavorful. I mean, here’s the thing The majority of people like their steak medium rare, maybe even leaning to the rare side. So do we have to cook our burgers to well done for safety reasons? Or is there a safe way to have them cooked to a lower doneness level? But there’s safety issues at play here when dealing with the temperature of grilled ground meats, due to surface bacteria being minced into the middle. However, I like mine a little less well done than most. But there’s a special place in my heart for the classic barbecued hamburger. I’m speaking on a purely personal level here, though I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but there’s little I like better from the barbecue than a delicious burger.ĭon’t get me wrong, steaks, chops and ribs are all great! Same goes for grilled veggies - if you can grill it, I’ll eat it. On this site, we’ve already looked at how to make burgers, but we’ve not yet looked into how long it takes to grill a burger to achieve different doneness levels, or the perfect result you’re after.
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