re: What is your preferred way of cooking burgers?

Pecan smoke is my new thang. I did some redfish last nght on the halfshell and that was amaazing.

Yea if it is a quick smoke like that I would do a stronger wood like that. I been digging pecan...and I love the color cherry provides. I think I am going to do some ribs with cherry this weekend on the Primos


and some pork belly burnt endz

Buy ground meat from Costco, salt and pepper, form into patties, throw cheese on at 145, pull at 150.

Put raw onions, and ketchup on, sometimes bacon.

Not complicated and don't overthink it.

Not talking to you Yank, just the last reply.

Academy has the pecan and hickory. Maybe cherry and apple.

I like this website a lot. It gives you a variety of burgers and the methods for preparation.

Serious Eats

I am going to be the outlier here. I got over the thick burger a few years ago, 80/20, S/P, a splash of L&P, a tablespoon of ice water and finely chopped white onion. Here is the tricky part, make thin 3-4 oz patties, as thin as you can handle. Go to a hot 500F grill, oil the grate then gingerly lay the thin patties down. Grill about 4 minutes, flip, a little of you favorite BBQ sauce and cover with cheese of your choice. They are done in another 4 minutes.

Times are approximate depending of heat, distance from coals or burners and thickness of burgers.

Have the buns ready, I stack 2 burgers on each bun, your condiments, I like lettuce, tomato, mayo, yellow mustard and dill pickle. The thin patties brown and cook quickly and all that surface area turns into Maillard crusted heaven.

Once you go thin you never go back, I promise.

I've done smashburgers in a skillet the last few times. My favorite that I make include raw bacon cut up and added to the beef, feta, and spinach. If I'm doing those I'll also fry some bacon and slice up avocado to go on top.

I like the Ron Swanson method.

Ground beef and charcoal.

That’s it.

I agree with this guy.

Lately, like OP, I've been looking to switch it up. Normally it's either over charcoal or in a cast iron skillet. Toppings, like various cheeses, are always changing, so it seemed difficult to come up with something 'new'.

I've always made big, thick burgers. Maybe starting a patty with 3/4 lb chuck and forming them about an inch and a half thick. (Guestimating)

Now I'm experimenting by taking that same amount of meat and splitting it into either 2 or 3 equal sized balls and smashing them thin in the cast iron pan (probably about 1/3rd inch thick).

The most obvious difference you'll experience is texture. Even though it's the same amount of beef, you'll find it's much softer/easier to bite through the burger with two or three thinner patties than a single thick one.

Also, you can add cheese on each of the thin patties, which when stacked, adds to the overall texture. (makes the burger creamier)