In a nutshell, says Velie, it all comes down to controlling heat and controlling moisture. We labeled Chef VelieвЂ™s burger the вЂњPlainвЂќ method. His preferred method? Simple and straightforward: Salt and pepper seasoning beef with an 80/20 lean meat/fat content ratio cook in a cast iron pan on high heat in a cast iron pan for a few minutes on each side until the meat gets up to temperature.

We asked him how he would teach a student to cook the perfect burger to a safe temperature. This вЂњBernieвЂ™s MethodвЂќ involves making a very thin вЂњbeef pancakeвЂќ that is quickly seared in a super-hot pan.ДЇor the fourth method, we spoke to Chef Howie Velie, Associate Dean of Specializations at the Culinary Institute of America. The third method came from a reader, Bernie, who also happens to be a colleague of ours at Consumer Reports. This entails placing individual patties into sealed bags and then placing them into a water bath to slowly and evenly bring up the internal temperature before a final quick sear in the pan. The second method involves the use of a sous vide bath. The first, which we dubbed the вЂњmeat loaf method,вЂќ combines bread, milk, and steak sauce. In the end, we went with two ideas submitted by multiple readers. Consumerist readers made a variety of recommendations involving everything from adding non-beef meat - like veal or pork - to the mix, to fiddling with temperature settings on the stove, to tricks for flipping patties.

Medium rare burger temp