Miami Chefs Reveal What Makes a Burger Fail Completely

In honor of Burger Week, we've surveyed local chefs all about burgers, and we'll share their responses throughout the week. First we asked chefs what makes a perfect burger and then who makes it in Miami. Today we're going the opposite route and finding out what screws up a burger.

WHat's the Biggest mistake restaurants make with burgers?

Conor Hanlon (The Dutch) Using poor quality meat, under seasoning the burger.  And my least favorite, putting way too many toppings on a burger, it’s gross.

Nicole Votano (Fooq’s) Making the patty too thick and not using good quality produce.

Josh Capon (Lure Fishbar) Overcooking and overthinking.

Thomas Griese (Michael Mina 74) There are two common mistakes people often make. The first is over-mixing the patty. If you over mix, you won’t get a good texture from your meat. The second is not achieving the right meat to bun ratio.

Scott Conant (Corsair) They are not thoughtful about preparation due to lack of fresh ingredients, overcooked meat, bad bread, etc.

Roel Alcudia (Cypress Room) Not seasoning the burger enough.

Kris Wessel (Oolite) Over-cooked, under-seasoned, too lean, too fatty.

Danny Serfer (Blue Collar) The biggest mistake is too much focus on toppings not enough on quality patty

Reuven Sugarman (Buns & Buns) Over-cook their meat, choose the wrong bun, open face burgers with uncooked onions, and tomatoes and salad on the side.

Jorgie Ramos (Barley) Bigger is not better! Not sure what makes a two-pound burger attractive to some. I want to be able to taste all the components of the burger.

Jason Pringle (db Bistro Moderne Miami) When you overwork the meat (patty) in a way as you would be to make meatballs or meatloaf you can tell in the flavor after the burger is cooked. Another common mistake is when you don’t find that balance and add too much fat, or not enough.

Aaron Taylor (STK Miami) They buy patties that are overworked and not hand pressed, which make the burgers hard.

Alex Chang (Vagabond Restaurant)  Overcomplicating burgers. I don't want to see any nonsense like bacon, avocado, blue cheese, pineapple anywhere near my burger. Keep it simple.

Giorgio Rapicavoli (Eating House) Most common mistake is that people press the burgers during cooking to help the process. It just leaves them dry and crumbly. Only thing worse would be putting yellow mustard on a burger.

Jacob Anaya (Swine Southern Table & Bar) Putting too much stuff on the burger. All you really need is four components including the bun. If you add too much, you lose the integrity of the burger.