The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

exposed to, how and when they’re slaughtered, and whether
they live on grass their whole lives or are supplemented with
grain. From these animals come many cuts of meat that vary
in flavor according to fat content, their function during the
animal’s life, and its specific diet. Blending specially
selected cuts will lead to ground beef with the optimal flavor
and fat profile.
From there, it’s just a simple matter of grinding, forming
patties, and cooking, right?
Not so fast. How you grind your beef can have a
profound impact on the texture of the finished burgers.
Think all ground beef is created equal? Think again. And
what about salting? Do you salt the meat and blend it in, or
do you salt the outside of the patties? How do you form
those patties? Pressing the beef into a ball and flattening it
works, but is that really the best way? And what causes
those burgers to puff up into softball-shaped spherical blobs
when you cook them anyway? Once you start opening your
mind to the wonders of the kitchen, once you start asking
what’s really going on inside your food while you cook it,
you’ll find that the questions keep coming and coming, and
that the answers will become more and more fascinating.
Not only does answering questions about burgers help
you to cook your burgers better, but it also reveals
applications to all sorts of other situations. We start big fat
burgers off on the cooler side of the grill and finish ’em with
a sear in order to get a nice, perfectly even medium-rare
color throughout, along with a strong, crusty sear. Guess
what the best way to cook a big fat steak is? You got it: the
exact same method applies, because the proteins and fat in a