How To Grill Frozen Burgers

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Sometimes you may buy burger patties from the store and not cook them right away, and you can freeze the burger to prevent bacterial growth. You should thaw the burger meat before grilling, but you might find yourself grilling the frozen burgers if you are in a hurry.

Fortunately, you can safely grill the frozen burgers, and you may need to tweak your cooking techniques to cater to the fact that the meat is frozen. So, how to grill frozen burgers? These grilling tips and strategies will help you grill your frozen burgers.

How to Grill Frozen Burgers?

Assemble Your Cooking Tools and Ingredients

You can achieve the desired cooking techniques with the right cooking equipment and ingredients; thus, you may need to find the right ones for grilling frozen burgers. You may need frozen burgers, hamburger buns, salt pepper, other seasoning ingredients, desired toppings, a grilling spatula, and an outdoor grill.

You would need to grill the frozen burgers during the warm season if you use the outdoor grill, but the indoor gas and electric grill will efficiently work on the burgers. Thus, assembling all the ingredients and tools is better to ensure a smooth cooking process. 

Preheat the Grill

You should turn the gas or electric grill to medium heat, but if using the charcoal grill, you may light the coals and allow them to burn until it becomes white or glows red hot. Before preheating, you should be careful to preheat a clean grill and remove food particles and grease.

Moreover, even if grease and oil are left behind, the heat will evaporate. Consider cleaning the cooking grates before putting the burger patties, and you may use the grill scraper of your choice.

Preheating the grill prevents the frozen burgers from sticking to the surface; thus, you can let the grill preheat at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. A grill with a temperature probe would be appropriate for the work since it indicates when you reach the desired temperature.

However, even if your appliance does not have a temperature probe, you can check the heat with your hand.

You can estimate the internal heat with your hand by holding the hand above the grill. If you don’t feel extreme heat in 7-9 minutes, the grill would be 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. However, if it takes 6-7 minutes to remove your hand from the grill, the appliance would be around 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the heat is too much, in less than 6 seconds, the grill would be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and above. You should be cautious when testing the grill with the technique to avoid burning your hand.

Separate the Burger Patties

Separate the burger patties and remove the papers covering the burgers; the burgers avoid food contamination by keeping off food contaminants. Moreover, it ensures the burger does not lose its moisture during storage.

Sometimes the paper would be stuck on the frozen burger, and you would need a butter knife to remove it from the surface.

Season your burger after ripping off the storage paper. Sprinkle the burgers with salt, pepper, and seasoning, but you should reduce the spices infused as they may overpower the beefy flavor in the burger. You should sprinkle both sides of the patties to achieve uniformity; they will be ready for seasoning.

Place the Patties on the Grill

You can place your patties on the grill once the grill is at the right temperature and the patties are adequately seasoned. The patties will not stick on the preheated grill, but you may need to flip it after a few minutes to avoid burning the outer crust.

Depending on the patties’ thickness and the grill heat, you may flip them every three to five minutes. You may add barbecue sauce after flipping the patties for the first time as it infuses flavor while maintaining moisture.

Grilling has its limitations, such as flare-ups, and if the parties are caught in a flare-up, you could move them from the grill to avoid scorching, as scorching affects the patty taste.

You may periodically move the patties on the cooking grate to increase heat distribution and avoid grill surfaces with extreme heat, which causes flare-ups. Moreover, the hot spots may impact the burgers cooking efficiency, and moving the burgers around leads to proper heat distribution and better cooking outcomes.

Sometimes monitoring the internal grill temperature while cooking the patties might be difficult, and a meat thermometer would help check the internal temperatures and ensure the burger is cooked efficiently. You should avoid checking the temperature when the burger when the grill is still on the grill, as it leads to an inaccurate reading.

Thus, you would remove the burger temporarily from the grill and use the temperature probe to ensure the burger is cooking at the appropriate degrees. The burger cooks well at about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and you should ensure it cooks at this temperature for an appropriate time.

After cooking the burgers until it is ready, you may consider tossing the hamburger buns into the grill to achieve a light toast.

You may spread butter on the fat humbler side and place them face down on your grill. However, you should ensure you toast at a low temperature to achieve the desired results. The low heat ensures you get a brown finish without burning the hamburger. You may assemble the burgers after when it is ready.

Assemble the Burger

You should ensure all the components in the burger are well cooked before assembling. You can start by spreading the sauce such as ketchup, mustard, and mayo on the burger buns.

Then put the hamburger patty on the bottom bun, and add vegetables like tomato, onions, pickles, and lettuce. You may use peanut butter, jalapenos, bacon, and cheese toppings.

Can You Put Frozen Burgers Directly On The Grill?

Although thawing the burgers might be appropriate, you might not have the time to thaw your burgers. Therefore, you could cook the frozen burgers without thawing by placing them directly on the grill. However, since the frozen burgers are likely to stick to the grill, it would be appropriate to preheat.

The burgers will not stick on the grill at a higher temperature. However, it is easy to get a well-cooked outer layer with undercooked inner layers when cooking frozen burgers.

Therefore, a meat temperature probe will ensure your meat cooks effectively in the grilling, avoiding undercooking some parts.

What Temperature Do You Grill Frozen Burgers?

The grill and meat’s internal temperature determines if your burgers cook well. Thus, you may need to preheat the grill to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes before placing the burgers. A grill temperature probe will help determine if the grill is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but you would use your hands on a charcoal grill that lacks the internal temperature probes.

You may ensure the grill remains at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the burgers are thoroughly cooked. Your frozen patties should be at 160 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the cooking process.

How Long Do You Cook Burgers On A Gas Grill?

Depending on its thickness, you may cook the frozen burger on the grill for about fifteen minutes while flipping it every three to five minutes. You should make sure the burger cooks at 160 degrees Fahrenheit and keep an eye on flare-ups as they may occur due to the high temperatures.

If the grill is flaring up too much, you may lower the temperature slightly to reduce the flares and increase the temperature. If you want to add cheese slices into your burger, you may do so in the last few minutes as the cheese will melt and flow into the grates leading to flare-ups.

Your burgers might undercook without thawing as you would be exposing them to high temperatures leading to the cooking of the external layer while the internal layers remain pink.

Therefore, it would be better to check for doneness before removing the burgers from the grills. You should ensure the burger has consistent cooking and no pink layers, indicating undercooking.

Related: How Long to Grill Frozen Burgers

Do You Eat Frozen Burgers Medium Rare?

It might not be safe to eat frozen burgers medium rare, significantly if they were thawed during the cooking process. Thawing the burgers may expose them to bacterial growth, leading to food poisoning.

Moreover, burgers made in the factory are exposed to bacteria during the preparation process. Although companies ensure their products are free from harmful bacteria, you should confirm the burgers cook at 160 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any bacteria in the food.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Do You Grill Burgers At 400?

To make sure the meat cooks effectively, you can grill the frozen burgers at about 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about fifteen minutes.

Since the frozen burger can stick on the grill grates, it would be safe to turn them every three to five minutes, depending on the burger thickness. Moreover, the burger’s internal temperature should be 160 degrees Fahrenheit during the cooking duration.

Should I Thaw Frozen Burger Patties Before Grilling?

It may be wise to thaw the burger patties before grilling as it reduces the cooking time and ensures your burger cooks well. You may remove the burger patties from the freezer and let them thaw in the fridge for one day or place it under the running cold tap water.

However, if you don’t have the time to thaw the burger patties, you would cook them when frozen. However, you may need a few changes to the everyday burger patties cooking techniques when cooking frozen patties.

Should You Cook Burgers With The Grill Open Or Closed?

You should cook the burgers with the grill closed, thus ensuring the grill maintains the internal 350 degrees Fahrenheit during the whole cooking process. Moreover, when using an oven, you would have it closed.

Closing the grill ensures the burger patties don’t lose their moisture and ensures it reaches the 160 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperatures. However, you may need to keep turning the burger patties every few minutes to ensure it does not stick to the grates and cook at the proper temperatures.

How Long Does Cooked Hamburger Last In Fridge?

The burger hamburger might last for four days in a fridge, and you can cook it within these days. However, storing it in the freezer increases its longevity, and if you buy the burger patties and don’t have the time to cook within the four days, you would store them in the freezer.

Is It Okay If My Burger Is A Little Pink?

It is not okay to eat a burger that is a little pink since the pinkish color indicates the meat is not well done. Moreover, the medium-done burger can significantly expose an individual to food poisoning if you had thawed it before cooking.

The patties might be exposed to bacteria during the manufacturing process in the factory, and these bacteria multiple during the thawing process.

What Are The Best Frozen Burgers?

The patties are the best-frozen burgers. However, they should be thinly sliced to speed up cooking. Thinly sliced burgers are easy to cook as the heat quickly penetrates the internal layer, and you are least likely to see a pinkish layer after cooking the burgers.

How Long Do You Wait To Flip A Burger?

After preheating the grill for about 10 minutes, you can place the burgers on the grates and let them cook. However, the burgers can quickly stick on the grates, especially since they are still frozen, and it would be better to start flipping within three to five minutes, depending on the burger thickness.

The thicker the burger, the more time you may need before flipping it.

How Do You Know If A Burger Is Undercooked?

An undercooked burger will have a pinkish middle layer; you should ensure the patties cook for fifteen minutes at 160 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid undercooking.

Conclusion

Cooking burger patties requires some skills, especially if frozen; however, it is better to cook the patties after thawing. But if you don’t have the time to thaw, you can throw the patties directly into a preheated grill.

Before placing the frozen patties, you may preheat the grill at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes. Make sure the burgers achieve a 160 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature and cook for fifteen minutes. After a few minutes, you may flip it to ensure it cooks well and does not stick to the grill grates.

Good luck learning how to cook your patties.

Bobby Johnson

When he's not writing about barbecue, you can find Bobby smoking meat for friends and family. He's been a backyard pitmaster for roughly half his life, and has worked with nearly every cut of meat. Not everyone has a hands-on guide to teach them BBQ, but that's what Bobby hopes to do with Electric Smoker HQ. He wants to help people create amazing food that they can be proud of.