Sous Vide Hamburger (taste test)

With a bit of experimenting and research, we’ve come up with some great tips for making a sous vide hamburger. We’re aiming for juicy, great texture and the medium to medium-rare temperature we like. Nailed it!

The taste test included different ways to season the burgers and two different cooking temperatures. We also scanned the best sous vide sites and summarized what you need to know to make a delicious sous vide burger.

The soft texture and pure meaty flavor are the highlights of a sous vide hamburger. Your favorite toppings will elevate it even more.

Sous vide is a cooking method that cooks food in a sealed bag, immersed in a water bath, at a precisely controlled temperature. The food is cooked to an exact doneness and texture based on the temperature and time chosen. It takes all the guess work out of cooking (after a bit of experimenting). 

The Taste Test

Cooking temperature

We tested two temperatures: 134F/56.7C and 138F/58.9C for medium-rarish.

Results

Seasonings

We tried 3 different options (see picture below):

1. Montreal Steak Spice (left) on surfaces.
2. Salt, garlic powder and pepper on surfaces plus 1 tbsp ketchup and a sprinkle of garlic powder and pepper mixed into each burger patty (middle).
3. Montreal Steak Spice on surfaces plus 1/2 tbsp ketchup and a sprinkle of garlic powder and pepper mixed into each burger patty (right).

All 3 burgers were cooked at the same 138F/58.9C temperature for the same 1 hour time.

Results

Taste Test Conclusion

I encourage you to do your own experimenting with temperature, amount of time and seasoning. So much has to do with personal preference. The first time you make a burger, it may not be perfect, but the next time it will.

For me, the perfect temperature is 138F/58.9C if seasoning only on the outside. And 136F/57.8C if using a bit of ketchup or BBQ sauce mixed into the ground beef.

As far as seasoning goes, I recommend fairly aggressive seasoning on the outside before sous vide and re-seasoning before grilling. If you do choose to mix some seasoning into the meat, add no more than 1/2 tbsp ketchup or BBQ sauce per patty and use any dry seasonings you like except salt.

My first choice is #1 (burger on the left) which had the purest beefy flavor – with #3 (burger on the right) as a very close second. The middle #2 burger is not recommended.

Expert Tips for Sous Vide Burgers

Anyone who has dabbled with sous vide cooking has undoubtedly crossed paths with Serious Eats (Anova/Food Lab/ j. kenji lópez-alt and Chef Steps (Joule). And perhaps Sous Vide Everything (youtube), Amazing Foods and us (!) Two Kooks In The Kitchen.

Here are tips to make a great sous vide hamburger – from these and other sources.

Burger size: for sous vide, it’s best to make burgers that are 6-7 ounces (170-198g) and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick burger or just slightly thicker. As with other cooking methods, there will be some shrinkage with cooking.

Don’t overhandle the patties: When making burgers (and this is true for any burger), don’t over handle and pack the meat. Form the patties as lightly as possible to avoid dense burgers. I don’t bother with a ring mold. Some do.

Bagging: Interestingly, vacuum sealing a burger is NOT a good idea. It packs the meat too much making the burgers too dense. For sous vide burgers, the water displacement method with plastic bags (e.g. zipper lock) is best.

Seasoning: Most experts advise that sous vide burgers should only be seasoned on the outside. Apparently, salt mixed in with the meat draws out moisture, making the burgers drier. I tested the seasoning theory (without salt) – see below.

Fillings: I haven’t tried this, but Sous Vide Everything filled their beef patties with red pepper and mozzarella cheese (use only low moisture). Maybe worth a try?

Timing: Most blogs agree that 40-45 minutes is the minimum time needed for the sous vide cook. One said they cooked the burgers for 3 hours and there was no difference from the 40 minute timing. I personally find the longer time less juicy.

Temperature: Surprisingly, there is quite a variation in temperature recommended for the same medium-rare doneness as I mentioned above. I believe the reasons for this variation are:

• what people perceive medium rare looks like, and
• how some chefs taking into account the 10% increase in temperature that will take place in the finishing step (grilling or pan frying) – perhaps this is why they start with a lower temperature.

Rest time: Don’t skip this. Rest your burgers for at least 10 minutes after the sous vide process and before grilling to maintain juiciness.

Achieving a rich crust on the surface: The best way to do this is to plunge the cooked sous vide burgers in the bag into ice water (1/2 ice, 1/2 water) for 10 minutes. This cools them down and allows an extra minute or two for searing to get the surface more charred. (I usually don’t bother with the chilling as I don’t find it makes a huge difference to the taste and, of course, the burger goes straight into a bun with toppings, so you don’t see much anyway.)

Step by step instructions

Make Ahead

You can sous vide the burgers, cool them, then transfer to a sealed container or bag to freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, warm them up from frozen in the sous vide at 125F/51.7C for about an hour. Pat them dry and grill for a minute per side on high.

Sous vide burgers will also be fine in the fridge for several days until you are ready to do the final grill.

What to serve with burgers

I love to serve the burgers with grilled charred onions, fire-roasted tomatoes (as a topping), grilled corn salad, corn and tomato salad or herb potato salad. Fries and a pickle are pretty great too 🙂

Love sous vide cooking?

Check out our best sous vide recipes (and tips). And if you love sous vide burgers, you will also love this sous vide recipe for hamburger steak with onion gravy. Pure comfort food.