Stovetop Cheeseburger

There's a good reason that almost every restaurant has a burger on the menu. They're incredibly delicious! But if your home-burger experience is limited to cooking it on the grill, then you'll want to give this a try. We recommend using a cast-iron pan or griddle, which holds heat well, but any good pan can work. Skip the olive oil and go for something more high-heat, such as canola, or even neutral-flavored peanut oil.

But let that pan get fully preheated—don't hurry the burger on while it's still warming. You'll also want to leave the burger alone until it fully crisps on the bottom. That char is delicious. We also recommend against forming the meat into patties. Instead, drop a loose ball of meat onto the hot pan, and then press it firmly together with a stiff spatula. The cooking will hold the meat together plenty, and the more you attempt to form the raw meat, the tougher the burger will end up being.