The best way to grill a burger? Keep it off the grate

Juicy through thin (smash) and thick (tavern)

IUSED TO HAVE a sociological hamburger theory. Growing up in Philly and Michigan, I thought a hamburger was big and fat, the type my mom made, the kind (amped up in size and quality) made famous at the 21 Club in New York. My wife thought a hamburger was thin and crusty, the sort she ate at the Diamond Inn, a homey café in the small Central Texas town of Taylor, where she grew up.

My theory was this: the tall burger was emblematic of the verticality of New York (and urban America), while the flat burger represented the horizontalness of Texas (and rural America).

If there was anything to that theory, it has crumbled like a stale brioche bun by now. The thin, or smash, burger is everywhere. Its crispiness adds texture to the orb’s juiciness. When patties are stacked one atop another as a doublemeat double-cheese, it becomes a transporting experience.

Yet the thick, a.k.a. tavern, burger remains a mainstay in pubs, back yards and high-end restaurants. The brawny sphere exudes enormous beefy taste and, unlike a smash burger, it can be cooked to medium-rare, giving it a deeply satisfying flavour profile.

Which is better, you ask? My answer: why choose? The surprise is in the best method to produce them: a cast-iron skillet on a grill. This lets burgers of either variety cook in their own juices, leaving them fantastically moist, while allowing for some smoke to waft in.

But there’s more to it than that. Here, drawing on my recent tests and a little help from experts, are tips to help you create the best burger you can, whichever style you prefer:

Choose the right meat

The best burgers come from freshly ground meat. Either grind your own or ask a butcher to grind it for you.

Don’t overwork it

That creates a dense burger. To optimize the juiciness, handle the meat just enough to barely form a patty.

Season the outside only. This keeps you from kneading the meat to spread the seasoning around. Use only salt and pepper, after forming the patties, to showcase the full flavour of beef. And season aggressively.

Cook in a cast-iron skillet, even on the grill

It’s the same reason that Taddesse and other burger-meisters cook on a flat top: you can control the patty better, and the juices don’t drip through the grates.

Don’t squash the patty

Constantly pressing on a burger while it’s cooking releases too much of its juice. Don’t do it — unless you are making a smash burger. Smash those once and only once, when you set the ball of meat onto the cooking surface. And then stop.

Serve on a soft bun

To Michael McDearman, a judge for the World Burger Championship, the bun is the secondmost important consideration after the choice of meat. “When you bite into the bun, you should not have to unhinge your jaw,” he says. “It should have enough substance to hold what you put on [the burger]. It should complement. When I bite into it, I want to get every flavour of that bite.”

Use whatever condiments you like

Take that, ketchup-haters. Also consider protecting your burger eating experience. Tommy Shive, the 2017 winner of the World Burger Championship, suggests placing lettuce on the bottom bun to keep it from getting soggy.