For Better Burgers, I Give Them the Baking Soda Treatment

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When I wrote about adding baking soda to ground beef for better browning and moisture retention, the readership was starkly divided—those who think this chemical reaction is pure snake oil, and those who want to know immediately how to apply this technique to hamburgers. Well, for those of you mapping out your Memorial Day weekend grill game, saddle up. This very real chemical reaction is indeed perfectly suited to improving your summer burgers.

How does baking soda make meat tender? 

Baking soda reacts with the proteins in meats, whether ground or not, preventing them from winding up as tightly as they normally would when cooking. This is a technique that’s been around for ages in Chinese cooking, called velveting. You’ve probably seen steak, chicken, bacon, and hamburgers that haven’t been treated with baking soda shrink dramatically after cooking. The protein network starts to squeeze and clench up as it heats, expelling the meat's natural juices. When you bite into it, the meat feels rubbery and dry because the proteins are wound tight and the juices have been left behind in the pan or down in the charcoal pit. 

Baking soda-treated meats have looser protein networks that maintain a comparatively greater amount of natural juices. To the palate, this feels like a tender, juicy, more flavorful hamburger patty with a crispy brown exterior. Oh about that: The browning gets better too.

How does baking soda improve browning?

It turns out that the Maillard reaction (the attractive and flavorful browning that happens to foods when they cook at around 300°F) happens faster in a more alkaline environment. A sprinkle of baking soda is enough to increase the PH and cause more pronounced browning to occur faster, whether it's in banana waffles or with meat. This literally creates new flavors in your food, thus your burger will actually be more flavorful by incorporating a pinch of this basic pantry item. 

To demonstrate, I split up a pound of 93% lean ground beef and added a half teaspoon of baking soda to one half of the meat. I shaped the meat into patties and griddled up both types of burgers in a light spritz of canola oil to ensure good contact with the heat. I cooked each burger to reach 140°F to 145°F degrees for medium doneness. You can see in the picture, it’s pretty easy to tell which one was treated with baking soda. 

The baking soda treated burger on the right has better browning and less shrinkage occurred.  Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

How to make better burgers with baking soda

This small amount of baking soda leaves no off flavors behind in your burger, and it reduces moisture loss, which keeps the shrinking to a minimum (you won’t end up with tiny burgers on huge buns). The result is tender meat, and you’ll be rewarded with a lovely brown crust. Here’s how I do it.

1. Season the ground meat

I add the ground burger meat to a large bowl and season it with salt. Go ahead and add any other seasonings you like. Then dust baking soda over the surface of the meat. For every eight ounces (half-pound) of ground meat, I used a half-teaspoon of baking soda. 

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

2. Mix it thoroughly

Then you need to get your hands dirty. I’m sure you could do this with a spoon but I find it much quicker to do it with my hands. I find that the seasoning gets more thoroughly distributed this way too. If you want to keep your hands clean, don some vinyl food-safe gloves. Squeeze and toss the meat in the bowl until it’s well mixed.

3. Shape the patties and cook

Form the patties with your hands and have them ready on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, or a plate for a small batch. Let them rest in the fridge while you get the pan or the grill ready. Cook as usual. 

I recommend testing for doneness with a meat thermometer rather than by color. With the accelerated browning of the exterior, you don’t want to remove the burger too soon. I use the Thermapen One and I love it. Try to insert the probe end at a side angle toward the center as much as possible. You want a reading for the center, not to poke through to the other side. Once done, let your burgers rest for a few minutes off the heat—which I think happens naturally as you plate them and dress them with fixin’s—and enjoy the first bite of summer grill season.

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