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When it comes to deciding on the best grill, I have both a charcoal grill and an electric grill sitting in my backyard right now. It's safe to say I am firmly set on keeping the latter, as I'm someone who looks for convenience in any cooking appliance — the electric grill, in my opinion, is the easiest way to cook food outside.
Before you ask: the food cooked on the electric grill tastes exactly the same as a charcoal grill, and even the smell is second-to-none. In fact, your neighbors wouldn't even realise that you're cheating and using your electricity rather than coal to cook your dinner.
The only issue with it, other than the need for an outdoor socket, is that it can be harder to achieve those perfect grill lines on your food on an electric grill. In the case of my electric grill, the Weber Lumin Compact, its grates are chunky, and the lines on them are thicker than those of the thinner grates that usually come on charcoal grills.
But, there is a way to achieve that cartoon-like criss-cross pattern on your patties, still. And after several tries and some embarrassing attempts, I think I've mastered it.
Whether you're hosting backyard gatherings or already thinking ahead for the 4th of July, here are my tried-and-tested steps to master cooking your burgers on an electric grill this summer.
It's all in the preparation
First, there are a few things you need to do before you even place your patties onto your grill plates.
Your burgers need to be dry. You need to use a paper towel to pat them dry when taking them out of the packet. Let them air dry a little and breathe, and then go in with some oil and give your patties a light coating — this way, you won't risk them sticking to your grill plates. Don't over oil them, though, as too much moisture will prevent browning and ruin the sharp lines that you're hoping to achieve.
Onto the grilling
1. Pre-heat your grill to high
First, heat your grill to the highest temperature it can go (in my case, this was 600°F).
Once it's hot, place your patties at a 45°C angle to your grates. Leave them for a few minutes and use one of your burgers as a dummy to check on the grill lines. It's important that at this stage, you keep the grill lid open, as closing it could risk these lines blurring and your burgers burning.
You might find that the center of your patties starts to lift off the grill slightly. If this does happen, gently press down on the center of the burger, pushing it lightly onto the grates. Be careful not to push too hard, or this could also blur the lines as you want them to stay thin so they're more visible.
2. Turn your burger (and not flip)
Once you're happy with the definition of these lines (check your dummy burger!), go ahead and turn your burgers (not flip) them 90°C. This will mean that you achieve the criss-cross burger pattern. Don't forget to lightly press their center again, if needed.
3. Flip your burger
Again, leave your burger for the same amount of time that you left it before. Using your dummy burger, check those lines, and when you're happy with the definition, it's time to flip!
Do the same on the other side, turning from 45°C to 90°C. Then, you'll need to grab a meat thermometer to check if they are cooked on the inside to how you like. If not, carefully flip them once more, ensuring that the patty lines meet the grill plate.
Next, close the lid briefly, depending on how much longer they need to cook. Flip them once more, again being careful about where you place them on the grill plates so that you don't ruin the pattern. This ensures even cooking.
When you're happy, you're ready to serve!
What not to do
- Don't place your food on a warm-ish grill. It needs to be very hot! If not, it will give your burgers pale stripes, not dark ones.
- Don't use the flat plate of your grill, as this won't work. It will only work on rigid plates.
- Don't over-oil your burgers, as too much moisture means that you won't achieve grill lines.
- Don't close the lid until the burgers need to be cooked through to finish. Closing the lid might make them burn, especially as the heat is on high, which will ruin the criss-cross pattern.
What I thought
Initially, this method of cooking burgers did feel like a little bit of a faff. But once we nailed it, it was totally worth it. I tend to dry and oil my burgers anyway, and would only ever put them on a very hot grill. So that's half of the work already done!
I probably wouldn't focus on doing this method if I were in a rush and needed my food to cook fast. It is a nice added touch for when you have guests over for an al fresco dinner, though.
I'll definitely be doing this again, especially now that I know how simple it is once you know what you're doing, and with an electric grill instead of charcoal, it just gives that added extra special look to your food.
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