Why You Might Want A Higher-Fat Beef Ratio For Grilled Burgers

Taking your first bite of a grilled burger — preferably on the patio on a warm evening as the sun goes down — is a wonderful thing. It's more than just a good meal, it is a cultural touchpoint — the sort of shared experience that makes eating about more than just sustenance. Unless, of course, that first bite is into a dry, chewy burger. Nothing quite ruins the idyllic backyard barbecue scene like a bad burger. Fortunately, the solution to this problem might be simpler than you expect. For perfectly plump patties, all you need to do is up the fat ratio in your ground beef.

When it comes to grilled burgers in particular, you want to stay away from the lean end of the spectrum. That 93/7 ground beef — 93% meat and 7% fat — might sound good on paper, and it is probably healthier, but it makes a lousy grilled burger. Instead, go heavy on the fat with the 75/25 mix. This isn't quite the highest fat content ground beef allowed by the USDA, but it's close. With grilling, though, that's exactly what you want.

Grilled meats sit on an open grate above the heat source. As they cook, any juices and fats produced drip off and are vaporized. All of the surface fat on the burger is lost, so having plenty in the mix ensures a good crust on the outside and a middle that stays nice and juicy. As a bonus, all of the fat dripping down turns to a rich, meaty smoke that also helps flavor the burgers.

It might be nearly impossible to overdo the fat in a grilled burger, at least with the ground beef ratios that you can buy at the store, but cooking burgers indoors is a different story. When it comes to skillets and griddles, you might want to tone down the fat a bit.

The reason that skillet burgers are better at a lower fat ratio is that unlike the grill, in these cases there is nowhere for that fat to go. If you try to cook a few 75/25 burgers in your cast iron, they will be swimming in grease before you know it. The best lean-to-fat ratio for smashburgers is 80/20, a number that allows them to crisp up nicely while staying plenty juicy. The ideal beef ratio for more traditional stovetop burgers is a little bit leaner still, at 90/10. The quantity of fat that cooks out of a thick patty of fatty ground beef can quickly fill up the pan and keep your burgers from getting a proper crust.

Plus, more fat in the pan can quickly lead to more smoke, the same as on the grill, but when you're cooking indoors, that's not quite as nice. On the grill, it creates flavor, inside that smoke can quickly fill the kitchen and have you swatting at smoke alarms rooms away.

There is no one best lean-to-fat ratio for making burgers. A portion of the decision is about personal preference — some folks like their burgers fattier than others — but a lot comes down to the style of cooking. On the stoveopt, you might opt for a lean mix. For the grill, however, make it fatty.