Food - Drink
Try Bobby Flay's Trick For Perfectly Shaped Burgers
By JOHN TOLLEY
Chef and grill master extraordinaire Bobby Flay shared his top burger grilling tips on the “Today” show in 2016. Along with the proper lean-to-fat ratio and seasonings to use, Flay offered up a simple hack to keep your patties from swelling on the grill.
Using your thumb, create a shallow, noticeable depression in the center of the patty on both sides, resulting in a burger that comes off the grill in a shape you'll be proud to serve. In a Serious Eats article, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt examined the dimple technique in relation to the cooking method to better understand the transformation taking place.
The blockbuster find is that the burger isn't swelling at all, but rather it's the outer perimeter of the patty that is contracting and shrinking and, in so doing, pushing in the center. The dimple — in addition to forming the patties a bit wider than you actually want them to be — gives the burger the space it needs to mature into a respectable final form.