Soaking your burger bun in the grease and juices leftover from cooking the patty to add extra flavor may seem intuitive, but one chef says it’s “one of the worst things you can do.”
To form a nice crust on the bun, executive chef Michael Hawk of the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Florida, said to toast it in butter to create a barrier that’s both flavorful and adds texture.
“Use a sauté pan with medium heat and whole, unsalted butter, melting the butter and putting the bun cut-side down in the pan, applying a little bit of pressure for a little more contact with the pan, and toast it for about two to three minutes, until it’s golden brown,” Hawk told Fox News Digital.
He recommends checking the buns occasionally to make sure they’re getting brown enough without burning.
“Ideally, the right time to start toasting your bun is just as your burgers are starting to finish,” he said.
“Burgers, when you pull them off, need a little bit of time to rest so they’re not just leeching the liquids out on the bun. If you’re going to take the time to make a nice toasty bun, then you don’t want to put a liquid right on top of it.”
The three or four minutes it takes to get the buns ready is the “perfect amount of time to rest that burger,” Hawk said.
Burning burger buns usually happens when people use a grill, according to Hawk, because the heat is much more intense. He advised using a slow, gentle heat to toast the buns.
If using a grill, place them on the outer edges where the surface is less hot.
Hawk’s preferred type of bun is brioche or potato bread, because they don’t add many additional flavors, allowing for the flavor of the meat to shine through. He said any bun works, though, and people should choose whichever they prefer.
Hawk offered several other dos and don’ts for the perfect burger.
The shape, size and meat blend of a burger are all factors in how to cook it. When cooking a batch of burgers, making them all the same shapes and weights helps, he said.
Hawk advised using a digital thermometer to ensure burgers are cooked precisely and to take them off the heat source 5 degrees before they reach their ideal temperature, since they’ll keep cooking while they rest.
Smash burgers continue to be a popular method of cooking burgers, and Hawk said there’s only one time people should apply pressure to their patties.
“Smash it as a raw patty,” he said. “That’s the perfect time to smash it, and the only time you want to smash it.”
Once the burger starts to cook, it’ll develop a seal on its outer edges that retains the moisture inside, he shared.
“If you smash it halfway through the process, it’s going to result in a drier burger, and it’s not really going to develop that nice crust, either,” Hawk said.
Hawk said that pressing the burger while it’s cooking is “probably the biggest mistake people make at home.”
The other top tip Hawk gave for home cooks is to temper the meat, which not a lot of people do out of concern for bacteria, he acknowledged.
“Allow that burger to come up to room temperature a little bit,” he said.
“Ten to 15 degrees will save you some time on the grill with a much more intense heat source, so it helps you retain more moisture.”
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