The question on how long does it take to cook hamburgers on a grill is an important one because eating undercooked meat puts you at risk of food-borne diseases. The Salmonella and E. coli in undercooked meat can make you suffer from various kinds of symptoms such as headache, fever, chills, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea.
One way to make sure that you have cooked the hamburger long enough is when there are no longer any pink parts even in the inside. However, you wouldn’t want to damage each hamburger patty by piercing each one open with a fork. A better alternative would be to purchase a meat thermometer and check to see that the innermost part of the burger is at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. This is the temperature required to kill the bacteria and ensure food safety.
This technique has the advantage of not requiring you to cut the hamburger into half or piercing it to see if there are still any pink parts left. These methods of checking if the hamburger has been sufficiently cooked are not recommended because they will make your hamburger dry because most of the juice will drain out.
The length of time that you will need to cook a hamburger on a grill will be approximately five minutes per side if the patties are about 3/4 inch in thickness. You may want to add a few more minutes if the burger is one-inch thick or more. However, it would be advisable to avoid thick burgers especially if you are using an outdoor grill because the outer parts of the burger may cook much faster than then interior, resulting in a well-done exterior but the inner portion of the burger would not attain the temperature required to kill the bacteria.
Another problem with outdoor grills is that it is quite difficult to accurately adjust the temperature because just a slight twist of the control could result into a substantial change in the temperature. It would be advisable to test your grill with some hot dogs to determine the setting that is most suitable for you.
Remember, you have to check them – so don’t just throw them on and come back in 20 minutes. This would not be prudent because of the variations in the heat of the grill and the thickness of the burgers might surprise you with a burnt or raw patty. It would really be best to watch the upper surface of the patties and immediately check the underside if it has been appropriately seared once you see the first signs of liquids coming up to the surface. You might have a dry burger if you wait until a pool of liquid has already accumulated on the surface. Use a long spatula to give the burger a slight nudge once you see the liquids starting to emerge on the surface. If the searing of the underside is sufficient, it will be easy for the burger to release from the grid.
