Pre-form your patties. A day (or even two) in advance, pre-form your burger patties, then store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Like when you make meatballs, pre-forming hamburger patties and then letting them rest will allow the meat to come together and will lessen the chances of your burgers falling apart on the grill during party time.
Save the seasoning for last. Once your patties are formed, a simple but heavy-handed mixture of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper is all you'll need to complement the beefiness of your burger. But, if you're feeling fancy, burger seasoning blends can be kept simple — like recipes for ones featuring brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, and dried parsley.
Thick or thin? If you want a thinner burger — more for the smash burger experience — you can try flattening your patties and then cooking on the grill almost entirely on one side. Flip, then cook for an additional minute or so until you see juices and fat coming through. For a more traditional, thicker burger, make sure the patty is at least at ¾ of an inch thick. The heftier patty can withstand more heat, allowing it to cook evenly without getting too blackened on the outside. Too much thicker, though, and you run the risk of serving a raw burger with an overly charred outside.
Chilled beef is best. Nearly as important as the right temperature on the grill and not over-handling your patties is the temperature of your burgers when they hit the grill. Your burger patties also shouldn't be warm or room temperature when they start to cook. The warmer your ground beef mixture, the more likely the fat holding everything together is to melt, quickly. The faster the fat melts, the less juicy your burger and the less likely it is to stay together. The absolute best temperature for your burger patties as they hit the grill is cold — not frozen — just out of the fridge is best.
IMPORTANT: The Dimple Step. Professionals agree: taking your thumb and leaving a small, central indentation in your burger patties before cooking them helps your cooking process by ensuring you have a nice, flat burger that lays nicely on your bun and allows for toppings to be stacked. When a burger hits the hot grill, the heat immediately makes the burger's juices push toward the center of the patty — away from the edges. Without a dimple, this would mean that as the edges of the burger crisp, the center of the burger puffs up, giving the patty a spherical look. When you add the dimple, the juices will still rush to the center, but they'll puff the middle of your patty up to be even with the rest. Burgers with dimples will also cook more evenly, ensuring you have a nice medium rare or medium burger throughout.
