Gordon Ramsay's Melted Cheese Hack For Perfectly Juicy Burgers
For decades, Gordon Ramsay has provided home cooks and professional chefs with the tools necessary to take their skills to the next level. When he's not saving struggling business owners on television, he often responds to bizarre TikTok trends or espouses wisdom on how to cook the best burgers or easily cut an avocado. Ramsay's kitchen tips have become an invaluable asset to his loyal followers, though some have lovingly chided the chef for overusing butter in his burger videos.
When it comes to burgers, Ramsay has provided us with recipes that blow store-bought frozen beef patties out of the water. This expertise makes him the perfect mentor for aspiring burger aficionados. In a video shared to TikTok, the master chef gives instructions on how to achieve perfectly melted cheese on a deliciously juicy burger. To follow along with Ramsay's easy stovetop method, place a few slices of your preferred cheese on your burger after cooking it through and flipping, season with a bit of salt and cracked black pepper, place the lid on the pan, and then turn the heat completely off. This allows the pan to steam up a bit, melting the cheese to a wonderfully gooey consistency.
Why does the lid method melt cheese so well?
The Gordon Ramsay method for melting cheese on your burger utilizes steam buildup from the moisture created in the pan. Once the lid is placed over the top, the moisture has nowhere to go, resulting in a sauna-like environment that manages to melt cheese without turning the entire affair into a drippy mess. Other chefs who endorse this method sometimes recommend splashing a small amount of water into the pan to accelerate the process, as the water will rapidly turn to steam when it encounters the grease from the burger patty.
@mastercheftfan Gordon Ramsay makes a Perfect all American Burger #ramsayreacts #gordonramsay #foryou
At its core, cheese is an emulsion of dairy with water molecules, making a proper melting cheese such as American or Monterey Jack highly susceptible to this steamed method. When the water begins to cook out of the cheese slices in the steamed environment, this allows the dairy to break down into a floppy, melty composition, draping its edges perfectly over the sides of your burger. It is important to turn off the heat under the pan, as the residual heat from the cooking process will continue to cook through the burger and any other additives in the pan, such as onions. As demonstrated in the video, the time it takes to steam-melt your cheese allows you to toast your burger buns and slather them with a delicious sauce, so you can enjoy your perfect burger as soon as it's ready.