Cooking Hamburgers on a Griddle: How To Do it Right!

The great American hamburger is a cornerstone of world cuisine, and one of the easiest ways to cook this delicious staple of American food is on a griddle!

It's a simple meal, and it takes just a few minutes to prepare and a few minutes to cook your delicious griddle burgers. Choose your burger patty, choose your cheese, and choose your buns and filling. Turn up the heat and start cooking on your cast iron griddle! 

How to cook hamburgers on a griddle

Cooking up your hamburgers on a flat griddle is a great way to get all the flavor you can out of both your burger patty and your cooking surface.

Griddles have a great reputation among burger chefs. These flat, smooth cooking surfaces can take a lot of heat, and they can give your hamburger the perfect sear, and a well rounded, even cook. We love griddles because they are so versatile, and while traditionally they are used on stovetops, we regularly cook burgers on a griddle in the oven, or even over an open campfire. At the same time, you can cook up some grilled onions, brown your buns, or melt your cheese, making griddles all-purpose, hamburger cooking machines.

Using your griddle on the stovetop

If you're using your griddle on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the campfire, there are a few universal rules to follow when you're cooking burgers:

• Preseason your griddle: If you have cast iron griddles, they are going to need a layer of seasoning to protect the surface. This makes it non-stick, and also protects it from rust. Some griddles will come already seasoned, but most will require you to heat up some oil on the surface of the pan, to allow a protective layer to form. You need to do this before cooking your burgers, of course.
• Start cooking: Once your oil has heated up and starts spitting, it's time to slap on the burgers and get cooking (more on that to follow!).
• Clean your griddle: Immediately after cooking, you need to clean your griddle. Scrape off any residue or burn food, and then wash it under hot water before leaving it to dry (you don't need soap for this).
• Season your griddle (again): When you're done cooking and cleaning, it's great practice to reseason your griddle again. You can do this by leaving it face down in the oven to bake for an hour, with a layer of oil spread over the surface. This helps to build up a solid layer of seasoning over time, to protect your griddle and to help you when you're cooking.

Cooking hamburgers on a stovetop griddle

There are plenty of ways to make the most of cooking burgers on a griddle, but let's start with the classic stovetop, hamburger, and griddle combination.

It's a simple methodology, but the beauty of hamburgers is how customizable they are. Once you've got the griddle cooking down, for perfectly cooked meat, you can add in all the extras you love, from bacon and cheddar cheese to onion rings and hot sauce.

First of all, season your griddle with a little oil and place it on the stovetop to heat up. You need high heat, and when the oil starts to lightly spit, you're good to slap on the burger patties.

Place each pattie firmly on the hot griddle surface and push them down with a burger flipper or similar utensil. This helps to get the juices flowing and the flavor bursting. For beef burgers, you want to cook each side for 3 minutes, until the outside of the patty is nice and brown.

Once you've cooked the first side, flip the burger over and continue.

It's that easy!

If you're melting cheese onto your burger, you can add it on top of the patty once you've flipped it. It should melt nicely.

Once your hamburgers are cooked through, remove them from the griddle and add them to your bun (alongside any other tasty additions you've already prepared).

If you prefer your burgers to be well done, then leave them to cook on the griddle for 5 minutes on each side of the patty.

Many griddles are double-sided these days, giving you a flat surface on one side and a grill surface on the other. If you're wondering how long to cook a burger on the grill surface, then you can use the same principles as for the griddle.

Hamburger griddling instructions

So, to quickly summarise our rapid stovetop burger griddling recipe:

1. Oil up your griddle.
2. Heat the oil at high temperature on the stovetop until it spits lightly.
3. Slap on your hamburger patties and cook for 3 minutes on one side.*
4. Flip over your burger patties and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side.
5. Remove burgers and add to your buns.
6. Enjoy your tasty, delicious, griddled burgers!

*3 minutes is perfect for cooking thin burgers, but if you have much thicker burger patties, you will want to leave them on the griddle for longer to ensure they are cooked through.

Cooking frozen burgers on a griddle

Hamburgers always taste best when they are freshly griddled. But what happens if you're craving a juicy hamburger but left your patties in the freezer and forgot to thaw them?

The good news is that you can still cook those frozen burgers on the griddle, but be careful. The trick is not to use such high heat. Go for a medium heat instead. Heat up your oil on the griddle and let the burgers cook much slower, and for much longer!

Your frozen burgers need to be cooked all the way through, so slowly griddle them for around 25 minutes. Every few minutes, you want to flip them over, so they cook evenly on both sides. Some burgers can't be cooked from frozen on the stovetop and need to be oven cooked instead, so check the packaging!

We recommend thawing your burgers before griddling them, so only cook from frozen if you haven't got time for that!

Can I use my griddle in the oven?

Griddles aren't just confined to the stovetop, and you can use them in the oven to cook hamburgers too. Rather than searing your burger patties though, your oven is going to be baking your hamburgers.

It creates a bit of a different flavor to the stovetop, and it can be a bit dry in the oven, so make sure you've added plenty of oil to the griddle and to the burgers to keep them moist.

Preheat your oven to 350°F (the optimal hamburger cooking temp) and place your oiled up hamburgers on the griddle to cook for around 20 minutes. Check the burgers halfway through and flip them over, so they cook evenly. A few minutes before you bring them out of the oven, you can add some slices of cheese to melt on the top.

Can I cook hamburgers over the campfire?

You can even take your griddle out camping with you. As we said, these are really versatile pieces of cooking equipment, and they are great for cooking on open fires.

Get your campfire started and wait for the flames to die down. Oil up your griddle as you would in the kitchen and then let it heat up over the hot embers. Add your fresh burger patties and let them cook on either side until they are a golden brown color.

Hamburgers cooked on the griddle make for a quick and easy campfire meal, especially if you're cooking for all your friends and family. Toast your buns over the fire, and don't forget your favorite sauce!

It's that easy to cook your burgers on the griddle. Griddle on the stovetop, griddle in the oven, or griddle over the campfire! Why not bookmark this article and save it for your next round of burger griddling?

Want more recipe ideas? Download this Cast Iron Griddle recipe e-book: