How To Cook Perfect Hamburgers in a Skillet

This technique results in a perfect medium hamburger with great texture and flavor. All you need to make two hamburgers is one pound of ground beef, salt and pepper, and a little oil for the skillet.

The Best Way to Cook a Hamburger in a Skillet

For this demonstration, each burger patty weighs about 8 ounces, patted out to about 3/4-to-an-inch thick, which makes for a nice big-sized hamburger. Before hitting the skillet, salt and pepper both sides of the burgers generously.

Next, grease a skillet lightly with oil. Use your favorite skillet. I'll use either a nonstick or a cast iron skillet.

Preheat the pan on medium high. Add the patties to a hot skillet. If you're not sure that your skillet is hot enough, just touch a burger patty to the pan; if it sizzles, the pan is ready. If it doesn't sizzle, wait a minute or two, and try again.

When the pan is hot enough, add your patties, and then turn the heat down to medium.

To achieve perfect doneness, we're not going to rely so much on cooking time as on look. What you are looking for is a change in color as the heat works its way up the side of the patties; the raw burger is going to start turning opaque and then gray or light tan. This is going to take about 5 to 6 minutes for the line of tan/gray to extend just a little past halfway up the burger. When your patty is not quite two-thirds tan, give it a flip. Watch the video above to get a clear sense of when to flip.

You'll cook the second side for a little less time than the first side. My rule of thumb is however long it took the first side, subtract about a minute for the time you'll cook the second side. So if the first side cooked for five minutes before flipping, the second side will go for about four minutes.

The burger is done when the meat is somewhat firm to the touch, springing back after you gently press the center with tongs or your finger. Juice will also want to pop up through the light crust. If when you push down, you feel there's no resistance there, give it a little more time to firm up.

When done, remove the patties from the skillet and let them rest for at least five minutes, while you prep your buns with your favorite toppings. Incidentally, this method works just as well on the grill. Enjoy!

Related:

• Chef John's Best Burger Recipes
• Chef John's Best Hot Dog Recipes
• The Complete Chef John Recipe Collection