The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends cooking ground meat to at least 160 degrees. To get that precise, you’ll need a meat thermometer. If you’re not that much of a stickler for rules, here are a couple of guidelines: cook the burger for five to seven minutes per side for medium, less for rare or medium rare, and seven to nine minutes per side for burgers cooked all the way through. If you like, you can poke the burger to determine its doneness. When it’s well-done, it will feel very firm; the less done it is, the less firm it will feel. You can also visually gauge a burger’s doneness by looking at its juices – it’s approximately medium when the juices start coming from the top of the burger, medium well when the juices are clear instead of pink, and well when the juices start to coagulate and look grayish or “cooked.” When the burgers are finished cooking, make sure you put them on a clean plate to avoid contamination with bacteria from the raw meat.
Getting your buns in gear ...
Whatever variety of bun you use, be it a sesame-seed bun from a bag or a fresh bakery Kaiser, it will taste better if it’s toasted. Lightly butter both cut sides and place them around the perimeter of the grill for a minute or two, until they’re slightly browned. From there, it’s up to you to decide how to top off your masterpiece. The varieties of condiments and toppings are virtually endless, and you have the perfect burger canvas on which to experiment.