Best Way to Cook Burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill
There are several good ways but there are certain methods to use to guarantee the absolute best way to cook burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill. This is listed in our Grilling on Charcoal article and also is a part of our Food Guides & Resources category.
What is The Best Way to Cook Burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill?
Learning the best way to cook burgers on a Weber charcoal grill is easy with knowledge and practice. In summary, the best ways involve the following:
- Hamburger meat preparation
- Weber Charcoal Grill Preparation (charcoal used, preheating)
- Grilling Burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill
- Venting Settings (before and during grilling)
- Cooking Times (quantities, and when to flip them)
In detail of the best ways to cook burgers on a Weber Charcoal Grill, here is a table. You can use it to easily tap to quickly get to an area you’re interested in. So, read on to get the full set of best methods, specific to the Weber Charcoal Grills.
Hamburger Meat Preparation
We start with the basics of preparing the burger patties. This involves the following:
- Meat selection
- Seasoning the meat
- Shaping the patties
1. Meat Selection
We have tried multiple types and have settled in on 80/20 Ground Beef. It’s significantly different from the others. The 73% beef produces a lot of grease and shrinks down to where you need to add more meat. So, getting that cheaper grade gives no cost savings. However, the 90% and higher beef content lacks basic burger flavor and is priced a lot higher.
I do use the higher percentage beef when I’m wanting to make a gourmet item like a steak burger. Or, I use it when I’m wanting a large burger to be the main course and not as a sandwich.
Meat Options – Turkey & Sausage
You can also change it up a bit and add in some ground turkey. I generally have tried it and found that not going over 50% will still taste fine. Also, I’ve changed it up a bit further and have narrowed down adding up to 25% ground pork sausage for a different flavor.
2. Seasoning the Meat
You can mix these seasonings into about 1¼ pounds of raw ground beef. Then, read further for shaping the patties.
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder optional
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
3. Shaping the Burger Patties
Below is a summary of how to shape the meat into patties. For more details and options, see our article “How To Form Burger Patties“.
- Separate the seasoned meat into 4 portions or less.
- Then, roll one into a ball.
- Gradually compress it to flatten it.
- If using patty papers, you can press down to even it out and make it a more even and thinner.
Weber Charcoal Grill Preparation
In preparing your Weber Charcoal Grill, you’ll want to ensure you have loaded it with plenty of charcoal before lighting it to get it preheated. Do you use Charcoal Briquettes or Lump Charcoal on the Weber Charcoal Grill? You can actually use whichever type of charcoal you prefer. I’ve used both and wrote about the differences between briquettes vs lump charcoal.
Planning The Best Way to Cook Burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill
Planning the best way to cook burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill results in a fantastic flavor. The skill rests with managing the heat during the cooking process. All grills are different so here are some basic concepts to address while using your own techniques for your grill. It’s also a learned skill of vents and when to flip the burgers, which are discussed; read further.
And, if you have frozen patties, here’s how to cook frozen burgers on the grill.
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.
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
What temperature to cook burgers on Weber charcoal grill?
The best temperature to cook average and thick burgers on a Weber charcoal grill is around 350-400°F (lid cover temp). Initially, the lid cover temp might be 450-550°F for a fully preheated Weber grill. But, when you remove it to load the raw burger patties, it will, of course, plummet.
The internal temps for a burger are as follows:
- Rare: 125°F
- Medium-Rare: 135°F
- Medium: 145°F
- Medium-Well: 155°F
- Well-Done: 160°F
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.
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.
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.
And, if you’re cooking burgers on the grill, you might also be grilling hot dogs. Here’s a good posting for efficiently grilling hamburgers and hot dogs together.
And if you’re thinking of Brats, Hot Dogs, or Ribeye steaks on the grill, try these. They’re all done using a Weber Charcoal Grill.
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Conclusion to The Best Way to Cook Burgers on Weber Charcoal Grill
You can cook burgers quite easily with some specific knowledge about the Weber Charcoal Grill you may have. We covered loads of planning tips in this guide. And you now have a lot of options as shown as well. Also, read our article on “How To Use Weber Performer Charcoal Grill“.
The Weber site shows many models of the Weber Charcoal Grills. You can look for yours if you forgot its size, need the manual, or are looking for accessories.