A great burger should be juicy, full of flavour and cooked just the way you like it. But from choosing your mince to knowing when your burger is done, a few simple details can make a big difference.
We asked BBQ expert DJ BBQ for his top tips for cooking the perfect burger, including how he chooses his beef, forms his patties and uses temperature to get the result he wants.
What Temperature Should Burgers Be Cooked To?
For burgers cooked at home, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends cooking minced meat thoroughly to 70 °C for 2 minutes, or an equivalent time-and-temperature combination.
However, some chefs choose to cook burgers to a lower temperature when using carefully sourced beef from a trusted supplier and where the meat has been handled and prepared correctly. For burgers cooked at home, the FSA recommends cooking minced meat thoroughly.
Burger Temperature Guide
| Temperature | Guidance |
| 70 °C for 2 minutes | FSA recommended temperature/time for burgers |
| 75 °C for 30 seconds | Equivalent FSA time/temperature combination |
| Below 70 °C | Requires careful consideration of sourcing and food-safety controls |
Important: Colour alone isn't a reliable way to tell whether a burger is safely cooked. The most accurate way to check is with a food thermometer.
What About Medium or Medium-Rare Burgers?
You'll often see chefs cooking beef burgers to lower temperatures for a pinker, juicier finish.
DJ BBQ says:
“Make sure you know where your beef mince comes from if you want to have it pink in the middle. I would always cook supermarket meat to medium well to well done. I trust my local butcher's beef mince and will cook the occasional burger medium rare to medium when using carefully sourced beef mince.”
Food businesses can also serve less-than-thoroughly cooked burgers when they have specific food-safety controls in place to manage the additional risk.
For cooking at home, however, the FSA still recommends cooking burgers thoroughly.
DJ BBQ’s Top 5 Burger Tips
Choose the Right Beef
DJ BBQ recommends keeping your burger mix simple. You don't need to add breadcrumbs or egg; good-quality beef with enough fat should bind on its own.
Fat is important for both flavour and juiciness. You can even add a little suet or bone marrow for an extra-rich burger.
Form your patties gently and season the outside with salt and pepper just before cooking.
Don't Overwork Your Patties
Avoid squeezing and compacting the mince too much when shaping your burgers.
Gently bring the meat together until it holds its shape. DJ BBQ likes to leave small pockets of air and cracks around the edges, giving the rendered fat somewhere to move through the burger as it cooks.
Keeping a light touch will help you get a tender, juicy texture rather than a dense burger.
Try to make each patty a similar size and thickness, too. This will help them cook more evenly.
Cook to Temperature, Not Time
Cooking times can't tell you exactly what's happening inside your burger.
The thickness of your patty, the temperature of the meat, and the heat of your BBQ can affect how quickly it cooks.
Always use an instant-read thermometer such as a Thermapen to check the internal temperature.
How to Check the Temperature of a Burger
For the most accurate reading, insert your Thermapen probe into the thickest part of the burger and aim for the centre.
DJ BBQ recommends probing slightly beyond the middle before slowly pulling the probe back through the burger. Watch the display and look for the lowest temperature; this indicates the coolest part of the patty.
It's also worth checking in more than one place, particularly with a thick burger.
This gives you a much better indication of doneness than simply relying on cooking time or cutting the burger open.
Get Perfectly Melted Cheese
Want that properly melted, gooey layer of cheese rather than a barely softened slice?
DJ BBQ's trick is simple: use a cloche or heatproof bowl.
Once your burger is nearly ready, place your cheese on top and cover the patty. The trapped heat creates a hot environment around the burger, helping the cheese melt quickly without overcooking the meat.
No cloche? An upturned heatproof metal bowl can do the same job.
Always Toast Your Buns
Don't spend all that time making a juicy burger only for the bun to let it all down.
Lightly toasting the cut sides creates a barrier between the bread and all those burger juices, sauces and toppings.
It also adds texture and flavour, giving you a soft bun on the outside with a lightly crisp surface around the burger.
Then it's simply a case of building your burger and getting stuck in.
Perfect Burgers: Quick Tips
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Choose good-quality beef with enough fat for flavour and juiciness.
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Don't overwork the mince when forming your patties.
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Season the outside rather than mixing seasoning through the meat.
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Cook burgers to temperature rather than relying on time or colour.
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Probe the thickest part and find the lowest internal temperature.
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Melt cheese under a cloche or heatproof bowl.
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Toast your buns before building your burger.
Burger FAQs
What temperature should a beef burger be cooked to?
For burgers cooked at home, the FSA recommends 70 °C for 2 minutes, or an equivalent time-and-temperature combination, such as 75 °C for 30 seconds.
Can you eat a beef burger pink?
The FSA advises that burgers cooked at home shouldn't be served rare or pink because bacteria from the outside of the meat can be distributed throughout it during mincing.
Some chefs choose to serve carefully sourced beef burgers at lower temperatures, and food businesses can do so when appropriate food-safety controls are in place. This is different from the general advice for cooking burgers at home.
Where should I put a thermometer in a burger?
Insert the probe into the thickest part of the burger and aim for the centre. Move the probe slowly through the centre and use the lowest reading to identify the coolest part of the meat.
For thinner burgers, inserting the probe from the side can make it easier to reach the centre accurately.
How long should you cook burgers for?
There's no single cooking time that works for every burger. Thickness, starting temperature and cooking temperature will all affect how quickly it cooks.
Internal temperature is the only way to know when your burger is ready.
How do you keep burgers juicy?
Start with beef that contains enough fat, avoid overworking the mince and, most importantly, don't cook your burgers for longer than necessary. Using a food thermometer lets you stop cooking at your chosen target temperature rather than guessing.
Get Your Burger Just Right
Whether you're cooking burgers on the BBQ, in a pan or under the grill, checking the internal temperature is the easiest way to know what's happening inside.
A fast, accurate instant-read thermometer lets you find the coolest part of the burger quickly, so you can cook it to your target without relying on guesswork.
