A bulging burger that overwhelms its bun • Dry Matter This symptom is too gruesome to show in photographs It occurs when the griller notices that the burger is beginning to acquire a golf-ball-like shape halfway through cooking He responds by pressing down on it with the back of a spatula Fat and juices fall into the flames and ignite The result is a flat patty, squeezed dry, and singed on the outside with a heavy deposit of black soot from the burnt fat Here’s why all of these problems occur As we know, when meat cooks, it contracts With very thin patties that cook through quickly, this contraction is fairly even—they shrink equally from all directions, remaining relatively flat With a thick burger, however, while the edges seem to get smaller and smaller, the center bulges farther and farther out Why? It’s all got to with the amount of rare meat left in the center of the burger Since a burger cooks from its edges as well as its flat faces, the sides of the burger tend to cook much faster than the middle—so a large amount of uncontracted rare meat remains in the center At the same time, the edges contract not just in terms of thickness, but also circumferentially This tightening action is a lot like a belt being cinched around a fat waist that has nowhere to go but up and over—the center of the patty is squeezed out The simple solution? Just compensate for the bulging and shrinking before you start cooking the patties by making the patties slightly wider than your buns and using your fingertips to create a slight depression in the center of each patty The burgers will end up flat, and you and your guests won’t be forced to squish them into place as you eat, losing valuable juices ... smaller, the center bulges farther and farther out Why? It’s all got to with the amount of rare meat left in the center of the burger Since a burger cooks from its edges as well as its flat faces, the. .. belt being cinched around a fat waist that has nowhere to go but up and over? ?the center of the patty is squeezed out The simple solution? Just compensate for the bulging and shrinking before you start cooking the patties by making the patties slightly... its flat faces, the sides of the burger tend to cook much faster than the middle—so a large amount of uncontracted rare meat remains in the center At the same time, the edges contract not just