Burger grill times
Thickness decides time, and the flip decides the sear. Direct heat, grill hot, lid open for thin patties and closed for thick ones.
The chart (direct heat, preheated grill)
| Patty | Minutes per side | Total, approx | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smash (2–3 oz, thin) | 1–2, single flip | 3–4 min | Crusted edge-to-edge, medium center |
| ½ inch (4 oz) | 2–3 | 5–6 min | Medium with a solid crust |
| ¾ inch (5–6 oz) | 3–4 | 7–8 min | Medium, juiciest all-rounder |
| 1 inch (8 oz) | 4–5 | 9–10 min | Medium-well edge, medium center |
Times shift with your grill's real heat and the patty's starting temperature — cold patties take a minute longer per side and seize on the griddle. An instant-read thermometer beats any chart: 145°F is medium (a 3-minute rest after cooking), 160°F is well done, which is the number ground-beef guidance points to unless you know your source and grind.
The flip question
Flip once for the textbook sear, flip often for even doneness — the frequently-flipped burger cooks measurably faster and more evenly, at the cost of a slightly less dramatic crust. What ruins a burger is pressing it with a spatula: that squeezes out the fat that is carrying the flavor. Never press.
Smash burgers are the exception
A smash patty is thin enough that timing is everything: ball on the screaming-hot surface, smash flat within the first ten seconds, scrape-and-flip at roughly 90 seconds, cheese, done inside four minutes total. The smash happens once, early — pressing later squeezes out juice and gains nothing.
Size the batch first
The chart assumes you have the patties. The burger batch calculator works out how much beef your crowd needs at whichever size you picked — and burgers per pound covers the raw count arithmetic.