Why You Should Never Add Mix-Ins To Burger Patties

When you're early into learning the craft of making good burgers, you might be interested in making special patties featuring mixed-in ingredients like onions, cheese, eggs, or breadcrumbs. However, that may not always be the best course of action. One of the biggest mistakes to avoid while making burgers is to over-complicate things, so some people believe it's better to keep things simple. That means just using beef, salt, and pepper in your homemade patties.

Christie Vanover (girlscangrill), the head cook and award-winning competitive pitmaster for Team Girls Can Grill, corroborated the stance that simplicity is key when The Takeout grilled her on how she felt about mix-ins for burger patties. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Grand Champion of Food Network's "BBQ Brawl" Season 4 doesn't think any mix-ins at all are necessary to make a great burger. 

"Personally, I don't add anything to my beef patties except for seasoning," Vanover told us. "If you start adding ingredients like onions and cheese, you're creating a burger that is more like meatloaf." And while there's nothing wrong with a hearty meatloaf boosted by extra ingredients, a burger is quite different in terms of taste and texture.

Pitmaster Christie Vanover likes to keep things simple when making a great burger. But she told us that instead of adding alternative ingredients to your patties, there are other ways to ensure that your dish is absolutely delicious. "There are four tips to a juicy patty," Vanover revealed: "Use ground meat that is 20 to 30% fat. Keep it as cold as possible before grilling. Don't overwork the meat. Form loose patties." Try mixing a variety of meats for the perfect patty — ground chuck, lean beef, and brisket make up the beef blend that Gordon Ramsay likes for burgers.

While some of Vanover's four tips, like the ideal lean/fat ratio, are fairly well-known, some burger makers may not realize that keeping your patties cold ahead of cooking them is an absolute must. "As you handle the meat, the fats start to melt," she explained. "If the fat is partially melted when you add it to the grill, it will melt out of the patty. If, however, you keep it really cold, the fat is more likely to stay in your patty, which will add more flavor and juiciness." 

So, while you might think adding things to the patties themselves is the key to making juicer, chilling your beef in the freezer before grilling can get that job done even more efficiently. To take things one step further, some people also like to add ice cubes to burger patties to keep them moist.