Cooking tips for a "Normal" sized burger?

[KiloVolt89]

Love the site. Love the Pit. Love the book. But need some help!!

Looking through the site and the book, and there's no tips or direction for making a "normal" sized burger. I know the steakhouse burger would be delish, but I don't want a honking ball of a burger every time. On the flip side, the only other burger recepies are for diner burgers, super thin and made on a griddle insert. I don't have one of those yet, and don't want em that thin.

So, help a common man out! What's the best temp/way to make a burger that's in between the sizes presented here? Not a hockey puck or a smashed burger; more like ones that are around the size of the standard preformed ones you see at the store (I know very well not to cook those, I have 80/20 ground chuck ready to hand form to roughly that size). Direct heat? Indirect? 350, maybe 400?

Trying to figure it out in time for lunch stomach's growling but the chuck still needs another 30 to defrost!

[Fine Swine]

How about gently microwave in defrost mode? Another way is cook frozen indirect then direct when thawed out. You could cook frozen and flip often with the lid down.

[Breadhead]

KiloVolt89 ... A 8oz hamburger patty is a bit larger than I prefer too. I weight mine out to 6oz and cook them the reverse sear way.

If I was going to cook a 4oz patty I would do it on a flat top or in a cast iron skillet.

[bbqstud]

I would NEVER cook a burger using indirect. Why would you? A trick I learned many years ago was this; take your ball of meat and flatten it making sure that the middle is not thicker than the sides. Then make a small hole in the middle of the patty and cook over direct heat either on the grill or griddle. the hole helps with the shrinkage and cooks the burger faster and more evenly.

[Breadhead]

I cook it indirect like a steak because a smart guy that used to be a professor at a renowned culinary institution, Le Cordon Bleu, and renowned BBQ guru told me it is superior way to cook a thick piece of meat, and get a nice crust on it at the end. That guy goes by the name Meathead. That's why.😆

[billg71]

I cook my burgers reverse sear(indirect) because I like big, thick burgers done medium-rare. Since I don't have a sous vide and a salamander that gets up to 1800 degrees that's about the only way I've found to do it.

Thinner burgers for guests I cook direct over as hot a bed of coals as I can get.

[Dutchness]

Form patties loosely》refrigerate》I use a flat top on my kettle grill》get it hot》salt n pepper》put burgers on cold》for medium rare flip them when the sides start to brown half way》for a more cooked through burger flip them when the brown gets to the top》salt n pepper》3 more min and they are done. If you didn't get a nice crust on them your flat top wasn't hot enough. When cooked on a grill they will not have the crust but will have nice smokey flavor instead.

[Breadhead]

You might want to consider using a Thermapen to determine when you patty is done.👍

[billg71]

KiloVolt89, I'd say get the grill rip-roaring hot and throw the meat to it! A minute and turn 1/4, another minute flip and repeat. If they're not done enough, give them a little longer. I'm assuming you're cooking on the Char-Broil gasser in your sig.

If that doesn't work, the cast iron griddle should.

HTH,
Bill