Why do my hamburgers smoke?

Question

Whenever I fry hamburgers I can't help but notice that they create a lot of smoke. I have brand new non-stick pans, and an electric stove. I cook them on setting 6, where the stoves max is 8. I don't add any oil because if I do it pops and goes everywhere.

I have a thermometer that I use when cooking, and I keep cooking until they reach 170 all around. I think I'm doing it right, I put the burgers down, let them cook for about 4 minutes, poke the thermometer in to create some venting holes, flip them over. Repeat this process until they reach 170. Usually about half-way through they start to smoke pretty bad. Am I cooking them too high? It already takes what seems like forever to cook them through.

Answer 1

There are a couple of things that jump out at me:

• 170 F (77 C) - This is overkill for ground beef. The USDA guidelines recommend 160 F (71 C).

• Venting holes - This is unnecessary. There is no need to "vent" a hamburger. What you're doing is creating holes for the juices to flow out of and get vaporized on the pan. This is likely a significant source of the smoking you describe. Keep those juices in!

I'm not familiar with electric stoves, so I'm not sure if 6/8 is too hot or not, but it might be. I cook my burgers on a gas stove at medium-high flame and generally do 5 mins per side for a medium burger (I grind my own beef). My burgers are about an 3/4" - 1" thick too. So you might have your stove too hot, try turning it down a smidge.

Update

I want to clarify regarding the "blood" you are worried about. It's a common misconception that the red liquid packaged with beef is blood. It's not. Beef is drained of virtually all blood when it is slaughtered. Beef is 75% water, so the liquid you see is mostly water and the pink hue comes from the iron & oxygen binding protein myoglobin which exists in muscle tissue. When cooking, the juices you are releasing are taking a lot of the flavor with them. This liquid is a combination of liquified fat, water, and proteins. You can verify this at the USDA site for beef.

Another common misconception is that a completely grey-brown interior indicates well done. According to the USDA, 25% of burgers turn brown before being fully cooked; this can happen as low as 135 F (57 C). The inverse is true as well, some beef can be cooked to the USDA recommended safe temperature 160 F (71 C) and still retain some light pinkness in the center.

If your concern is merely safety, cooking the beef to an interior temperature of 160 F is sufficient, regardless of it's hue. If you you're cooking it beyond that just because you don't like the sight of pink meat, well you're overcooking your burgers and doing yourself a bit of injustice. :)

Answer 2

Even if your pan isn't way too hot and you don't poke holes in your burgers, if your pan is a lot bigger than your burger, the pan where there's no food soaking up heat can get a lot hotter, and any fat or juices that wind up out on the hot zone can burn/smoke. Use a pan that fits your food better, or better yet, cook more burgers at once!

Also, a lot of what looks like smoke is atomized fat mixed with steam. If it doesn't smell like burning, it's more likely that than actual smoke. It's not ideal to have all that floating around your kitchen and settling on surfaces you'll just have to clean, and it'll still set off your smoke alarm sometimes, but it's not smoke.

Finally, I would not use a non-stick pan for a burger. Too much risk of the pan getting overheated, which can make the non-stick coating brittle (and some people worry about dangerous gases being released too, but I don't go that far). I only use non-stick when I'm cooking with moderate heat or there's enough food to cover the bottom of the pan pretty completely. For a burger I get the pan quite hot before putting the meat in--far too hot for an empty non-stick pan.

Answer 3

I like to make crispy smashed burgers and I use a cast iron skillet on an electric stove. These thin burgers are a nice change of pace from the thick, pink burgers many enjoy. You need high heat to get them crispy, but If the heat is too high, the fats and moisture from the beef turns to a lot of smoke and steam.

Your range may be different, but a temp setting of 4.5-5 (highest setting is 8) is sufficient to get the pan to searing temp on my range. I have to wait a a few minutes for the pan to heat up, but if I set it higher the center gets way too hot. I use this extra time to toast some buns in butter in another pan.

I've also noticed that frozen ground beef that has been thawed seems to have a lot more surface moisture, which creates extra steam. When using thawed beef I pat down the raw burgers before applying the salt pepper.

Answer 4

Maybe they're nervous ;>) - Hobodave is right on the money, it's all about the temperature and absolutely not poking holes in the poor things. Hamburgers should only be flipped once, if you are cooking a thick burger, but a lid on top for a few minutes to make sure the middle cooks and then when you see the bottom edges turn the color you want, flip it. Generally speaking when you gently poke the middle and it is getting more and more firm, that's how well its getting cooked, that technique will do away with the Thermo'.

Lastly, if you're pre-oiling the pan with Olive Oil, that can cause it to smoke as well, but, again usually if the temperature is turned up too high.