Temperature measured with thermometer more important than times a burger flipped

There’s a website devoted to all things hamburglery that decided to tackle the question – is it better to only flip a hamburger once or several times on a grill?

Author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt purports to have tested the 1-flip-versus-multiple flip hamburger by preparing a dozen 1/2-pound burgers into equal-sized patties, seasoned them just before cooking with an equal amount of kosher salt and black pepper, then seared them in a steel skillet pre-heated to 450°F (which was temped with an infrared thermometer before adding the patties). The ambient air in the kitchen was at an unbearably hot 76°F. Each patty was cooked to an internal temperature of 125°F, and was then rested for five minutes at room temperature before being autopsied for examination.

The author then applied intact beef roast info to ground hamburger which is wrong and dangerous.

• 125°F (or 51.7°C) is the temperature at which beef is medium rare—that is, hot but still pink, cooked but still moist and able to retain its juices. Any higher than that, and muscle fibers start to rapidly shrink, forcing flavorful juices out of the meat, and into the bottom of the roasting pan.

Make my burgers a thermometer-verified 160F. They’re plenty juicy and won’t make your guest barf.
 

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time