Here’s a complete guide how to make the best homemade burgers for the grill. Whether you’ve grilled a lot of burgers before or you’re new to the game, you might learn a few new tips. This is listed in our Grilling on Charcoal article and also, is a part of our Grilling, Fast Food, Beef, Ground Beef, Sandwiches, and Main Dishes categories.
About Homemade Burgers For The Grill
We all have the same goals and look for better ideas for faster and better taste. Keep reading for tips on times, temps, seasonings, and when to flip those homemade burgers for the grill.
How to Grill a Good Burger
Make the best and fastest homemade burgers for the grill using all kinds of tips from my years of different kinds of grills and also commercial restaurant experience. In summary, you season the raw meat, make the patties, grill one side on a preheated grill, flip them once, and serve when done. Read on for all the details and tips.
Here are the details on how to cook homemade burgers for the grill. You can never beat homemade burgers on the grill, especially if you feel you have the best hamburger recipe. I worked in the foods industry, including fast food restaurants for over a decade, all across the Southeast United States. There are tons of “best burger” recipes out there but this one has evolved over a few decades and it’s been narrowed down to the most popularly loved ingredients for homemade burgers.
I’ll cover that plus a lot of tips for prepping, grilling, and serving them a lot easier. This recipe has some basic info but there are many more things to know that will make it easier for you every time. And, the most popular questions are answered as well.
Meat to use for making good homemade burgers for the grill
From my fast food experience of many restaurants, the best flavor will be in using 80/20 ground beef. Then, you can work in any seasoning (if any) and make the patties. You can use both hands and roll the seasoned meat initially into a ball. Read our article for more details at “How to Form Burger Patties“. Then, keep turning the meat ball as you apply hand pressure and shape it into a patty. While turning, you can use your thumb to press in the outside patty’s border to retain a solid side.
Cooking Tips for homemade burgers for the grill
- Regardless of what type of grill you’re using, you will want it very hot, around 400-500 degrees F. And this is managed by its venting, which is discussed in more detail later. Place each patty on the grill, keeping the grill cover off. You can place them directly over heat or indirectly away from it. There are details later discussing times and completion temperatures.
- Generally, when you see slightly browning of the edges, or a small pooling of juices forming, it’s time to flip the burger. You’ll want to scrape deep towards the grill itself to help retain the burger’s shape and bonding, while getting the patty onto the spatula. Flip it over and quickly reposition it if you need to right away before it starts to secure itself to the grill.
- Cooking with the grill cover. If you’re cooking on indirect heat, you’ll cover the grill. If you’re cooking on direct heat, you’ll usually leave the lid off.
- The cooking internal temps. If your patties are thick, and you want to check their internal temp, you can do so and go by the chart of temps shown later in this post.
- Adding cheese is best to do so about 1 minute before a burger is done. However, if you’re going to store the burgers for a little later to serve, it’s best to add the cheese after they’re done.
How many burgers fit on a Weber grill?
The amount of burgers that can fit on a Weber grill will vary on 3 things.
- The size (diameter) of each burger patty (thickness doesn’t matter)
- The size (diameter) of your Weber grill grate
- The location of how you placed your hot charcoal.
So, let’s pick a scenario. Let’s say you made about 3½-inch patties. And, we’ll also say you’re going to cook on direct heat and you have your hot coals dispersed all across the bottom and spread out. Then, with these listed grill sizes, Weber has estimated about how many you can cook at one time, using their Weber Burger Press. With our chosen patty size, there is some allowance for a small amount of space between each burger.
- Go Anywhere Charcoal Grill (160 square inches) – 6
- 14-inch cooking surface (147 square inches) – 6
- 18-inch cooking surface (240 square inches) – 9
- 22-inch cooking surface (363 square inches) – 13
- 24-inch cooking surface (452 square inches) – 17
- 26-inch cooking surface (508 square inches) – 19
- 37-inch cooking surface (1,104 square inches) – 41
Serving homemade burgers for the grill
- Keep the burgers warmed in several ways. Read on further in this article about how to store them.
- You can now serve your finished burgers. It’s good to serve them near all the toppings and condiments so the complete burger can be built easily.
- For larger gatherings, if it’s a crowd, keep some space apart for these items so it occurs like an assembly line and the overall time for everyone in making a burger is much faster. For example, have enough space for at least one person in front of getting a bun, 1 person in front of getting a burger, 1 for condiments, and 1 for toppings.
How to Season Homemade Burgers on the Grill
Here you can see how to season burgers on the grill. It’s best to add the seasonings into the raw meat before grilling it. However, you can also sprinkle on the seasonings right after adding the raw patties on the grill. And, lastly, you can let everyone season their own.
So, it’s a very subtle amount of initial ingredients (garlic and onion powder, S&P, Worcestershire sauce) in the meat. And it lets individuals add more of whatever they want on their own grilled burgers, e.g., extra salt.
Saving Time on Seasoning Burgers
Now, if you’re running short of time, do what I do. I’ll get the unseasoned ground beef patties slapped onto the grill to start cooking. Then, I’ll run inside and grab the spices and sprinkle them about the top of each raw burger on the grill.
Sometimes, I use very little salt, pepper, pinch of garlic & onion powder, and a splash or Worcestershire Sauce. Although not mixed into the meat, they still turn out as darn good burgers on a grill.
Best Cheese for Homemade Burgers for the Grill
The best cheese for grilled burgers is American Cheese. However, there are some surprising changes that have been taking place these past 10-20 years. People have experimented with and also love White American Cheese, Provolone cheese, and Swiss (with grilled mushrooms).
When you add cheese to grilled burgers, you’ll want to only add it about 1 minute before removing from the grill.
How to Keep Grilled Burgers Warm
You can keep grilled burgers warm in several ways. Don’t forget that the doneness continues to increase while keeping it warm if it’s for an extended period of time. Here is a variety of popular ways.
- If it’s just for about 5-10 minutes, you can keep it off direct heat, remaining on the grill off to the side or on the upper warmer shelf, if your grill has one.
- You can put them on an oven-proof platter or plate, cover it with foil, and set it the oven set to 225°F.
- You can set them on a microwave-proof dish and set your microwave on “Keep Warm” if it has that function. Don’t cover with foil, of course. But, if it’s going to be for longer than about 10 minutes, you can consider enclosing it with paper towels that will cover over all the burgers to help with moisture retention.
- Some have been known to just put them all in a big sheet of foil and close it up and set it off to the side of a still warm grill.
Time and Temp for Homemade Burgers for the Grill
The cook time and internal temp for burgers on the grill are dependent on these things:
- the distance of the meat from the direct heat source
- grilled burgers cook time
- grilled burgers internal temp
Next, we’ll review all these items regarding time and temp for grilled homemade burgers .
The Distance of the Burger Meat from the Heat Source
In the case of burgers, you’ll want the usual distance to be anywhere from 3 to 8 inches from your heat source on a charcoal or gas grill. Although this isn’t a steadfast requirement, this is referencing a common distance when referring to direct heat. For indirect heat, of course, you’re not directly over a heat source, and the distance doesn’t apply as long as you’re still cooking off to the side (and the grill lid is on).
Grilled Burgers Cook Time
Cook times vary a lot but here is a generic guideline that might help you. It does vary with the temp of your grill grate and the distance from your direct heat source. For about 1/2-inch thick burgers, the following is a total estimated burgers on the grill time, including when you turn the burgers over.
- 2-4 minutes: Rare
- 6-8 minutes: Medium-Rare
- 8-10 minutes: Medium
- 10-13 minutes: Medium-Well
- 13-17 minutes: Well-Done
There are cooking timers (some include probe thermometers) based on better reviews or sales from Amazon. You can also find these routinely at your big box stores or Wal-Mart.
With experience of grilling burgers, you can tell based on the feel of the resistance when pressing a spatula down on a burger. However, to retain the burger’s juiciness, you don’t press down using the entire spatula. You can angle your spatula so that just a corner tip is used when pressing.
A well-done burger will give the most resistance and doesn’t press down very far. A medium burger will press down a fair amount. All pressing down with a spatula will release a lot of juices usually. The best confirmation of doneness is performing an internal temp check with a grill thermometer.
How long to cook hamburgers on Weber charcoal grill?
With about 1/3-inch thick patties, you’ll want to turn them usually in about 1-3 minutes if on direct heat (over the coals). For those that might be on indirect heat (grilling lid covered, vent open), it may be around 3-5 minutes.
Total time (both sides) will be about 5 to 10 minutes to cook. It will be closer to 5 minutes for direct heat cooking and 10 minutes for indirect heat. If cooking on indirect heat, you can use the cover to speed it up and it will also infuse more of the charcoal smoke flavor into the burgers.
Temperature for Homemade Burgers for the Grill
Here’s a good guide and some tips regarding temperature for burgers on the grill. If the hamburgers aren’t too thick, it might be difficult to test the internal temp. But you can angle the tip of the thermometer when testing the meat’s center. Angling it gives you more meat contact. Also, it’s a good idea to test more than just one burger in order to get a more accurate “sampling size” of your set. However, it’s generally not necessary to check them all. I usually only check about 2 and sometimes 3 max.
Here’s a good grilled burgers internal temperature guide regarding doneness. We’ve used the top end of the temps instead of a range for safety reasons. The USDA reported a safe internal temp for burgers to be about 158°F in 2017 but, as of 2013, it’s 160°F minimum.
- Rare: 125°F
- Medium-Rare: 135°F
- Medium: 145°F
- Medium-Well: 155°F
- Well-Done: 160°F
Controlling the Grill Temp
When you first place each hamburger patty on the preheated grill on direct heat, the typical initial temp might be around 375-500°F. As you continue to cook, it may drop to about 350-425°F. All of this depends if you have a charcoal grill, a pellet grill, or a more consistent gas or electric grill.
Controlling the Grill Temp Using the Grill Vents and Lid
You can control your grill temp using available vents by opening or closing them. You can also use the grill’s lid. Or, you can remove it to let the upper heat quickly escape. Or, you can use it to snuff out some air (lid vent closed). Read “How To Use Weber Performer Charcoal Grill” and understand how to use this responsive grill with its 2 sets of vents.
Vent Settings Weber Kettle Grill
For burgers, you can set the vent settings of the Weber Kettle Grill to be wide open on the cover and on the bottom, if your grill has that. If cooking regular burgers, you won’t be using the lid but, you’ll probably already have the vents wide open.
But, if you have thick burgers where you’re going to cook them with the cover on, you’ll want the lid vents to be at least half way open to fully open.
Controlling the Grill Temp Using a Water Spray Bottle
If your grill allows it, you can also have water in a spray bottle handy for quickly putting out excessive flames or mildly toning down a hot charcoal area. If using charcoal, you can spread out any charcoal that might be piled up a bit too high, which was causing higher heat. With gas or electric, it’s easy enough to turn the temp down.
An excellent reference work and study on time, temps, and food safety for cooking burgers was done by ThermoMeat.com.
When to Flip Burgers on the Grill
When sides become slightly browned and surface starts to show juices, it’s time to turn the burger. If flames were excessively a long time, you’ll need to turn them before this.
Also, manage flames, if any, to not become excessively long periods on burgers. Try to avoid flipping burgers for first 1 to 3 minutes, but don’t risk burning for this.
When flipping a burger, especially the first time for each one, you especially want to angle the spatula to scrape deeply into the grate’s surface. This idea is to reduce the burger falling apart. Also, on the very first turn, the burger will want to “pull itself together” due to the shrinking process. Sometimes, I’ll just scoop a little bit in and back out. So, I do this repeatedly and change direction moving around the patty as it pulls itself together. Then, when I decide it’s good enough, I’ll finish scraping it completely off the grill and flip it over.
More Grilling Ideas and Tips for Burgers
For generic cooking on a grill, check out below for the below for homemade burgers for the Grill and it includes the best grilled burger recipe and ideas for toppings, keeping burgers warm, and other tips like these:
- Turn a burger on the grill only once.
- Don’t mash down on a burger with the spatula when grilling.
- Also, if your patties are frozen, here’s an article on how to cook frozen burgers on the grill.
- Finally, if you’re cooking burgers on the grill, you might also be grilling hot dogs or Brats. Here’s a good posting for efficiently grilling hamburgers and hot dogs together. You can use those ideas for cooking Brats on the Grill.
Homemade Burgers for the Grill Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1.2 lbs ground beef
- 4 servings hamburger buns
SEASONINGS for Ground Beef
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder optional
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Optional TOPPINGS
- 2 leaf Romaine Lettuce
- 4 slices tomato
- 4 slices onion sweet or purple
- 8 slices dill pickles
- 4 tsp sweet pickle relish
- 4 slices American cheese
Optional CONDIMENTS
- 4 Tbsp mayo
- 4 tsp yellow mustard
- 4 tsp ketchup
- 4 tsp BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Start to preheat the grill. Temp can be between 375-500°F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine thoroughly the ground beef and seasonings.1.2 lbs ground beef, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- Forming the Burgers: For every 1.2 pounds, divide and roll ground beef into 4 balls. Then, gradually flatten them to desired thickness while compressing inward the outer sides of each patty. If available, place each between patty papers, or keep somewhat separated on a plate.
- On The Grill: Place each hamburger patty on the preheated grill on direct heat initially. If temp control exists, maintain between 350-400°F. After initial 1 to 3 minutes, turn each burger. Monitor to ensure no side gets too charred. A typical 1/3-inch thick burger (this recipe) will take about 5 to 10 minutes to cook. However, if grill is too hot (or flaming a lot) for continued cooking on direct heat, you can opt to move patties to side for indirect heat and close the grill lid. When burgers are done, remove from grill onto a plate or platter for serving.
- Serving: The buns can be warmed, if desired. It's easiest if condiments and toppings are laid out for making each sandwich. Here are several popular example burger combinations that you might make.4 servings hamburger buns
Notes
Nutrition
Conclusion of Homemade Burgers for the Grill
In conclusion, now you know all things possible of how to make good homemade burgers for the grill. We provided all of this information in one article so you don’t have to click around for expanded details on cooking burgers on a grill. Also, try grilled hot dogs with lots of ways to cook and prepare them. And, here’s an article that covers grilling both hamburgers and hot dogs together.
I’m very interested in how you cook burgers on a grill. So, plan it, cook ’em, and send me a comment on how it went.