Deep-fried dishes can be made a little healthier with air fryers. Preparing foods like hamburgers that are grilled, is one thing that people think air fryers are not good for.
Nothing makes you happier than a delicious dinner cooked on the barbeque. Except that if you are based in New York where the windchills in winter months can get minus forty degrees which isn’t ideal for grilling.
When I started craving hamburger patties, I thought to make hamburgers in an air fryer to check whether it gives the same result as grilling or not, and to my surprise, they turned out so perfect and juicy.
Hence it was a win-win for me in winter as making them in a frying pan would keep all the fat in them unlike the grill and the air fryer that let the fat drip in the bottom to make it healthy.
Though you all must be aware of making hamburger patties on the grill and how long to cook them but very few people know the technique of making them in the air fryer.
So here I am to guide you about its cooking time with the easiest and most delicious recipe so you can also enjoy the taste of grilled burgers in winter too with the help of an air fryer without any confusion.
Cooking hamburgers patties in an air fryer don’t take too long as it entirely depends on how you want your burger patty for a medium rare burger, it takes 7 minutes on each side at 360° F.
For making it more simple, check the following guideline for the cooking time for different levels of doneness of hamburger patties.
| Doneness | Temperature | Appearance |
| Rare | 120°-125°F for 4 minutes | Bright reddish pink |
| Medium rare | 130°-130°F for 5 minutes | Pink |
| Medium | 140°-140°F for 6 minutes | Slightly pink |
| Medium well | 150°-155°F for 6-12 minutes | Mostly brown |
| Well done | 160°F for 10 minutes | Full brown throughout |
Note: You must check the internal temperature of the burgers before eating them as it is just a guideline and temperature may vary according to the model of the air fryer and the thickness of the patty.
Now that you know how long to cook hamburgers patties in the air fryer, let’s get you a unique and easy recipe for air fryer hamburgers.
Air Fryer Hamburger
Ingredients
Instructions
- Step 1- Take a large bowl, put ground beef, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in it, and mix them.
- Step 2- Mix them until the mixture is well combined, then divide it into 4 equal-sized balls.
- Step 3- Now make the patty from the ball and preheat the air fryer at 360° F.
- Step 4- Put the burger patties in an air fryer basket in a single layer while leaving space between them at 360° F for 7-8 minutes for medium rare.
- Step 5- Once the patties are done, take them out and put them on the hamburger with your favorite toppings, and enjoy.
If you want to make a cheeseburger, put the cheese on hamburger patties and turn off the air fryer, let the cheese sit on the patties in the air fryer for 2 minutes or until it is melted.
You can also check the following video as a guideline on how to make air fryer hamburgers.
Why do air fryers keep smoking when cooking hamburgers?
As discussed before, the air fryer works on the convection heat method which means it circulates air around the food in 360° motion to cook it.
When you cook hamburgers in the air fryer, the fat liquid drips off which goes on top of the air fryer by air circulation and gets in contact with the heating coil, which causes smoke.
It is not safe to cook while the air fryer is smoking because fat builds up in the heating element of the air fryer which eventually reduces its performance until you thoroughly clean it.
But, there are two ways to avoid it
- Just place 1-2 pieces of bread underneath the basket of your air fryer and press it down to let the basket sit properly in the air fryer. Bread acts as a sponge and would soak all the fat that drips down beneath the basket and your air fryer will be smoke-free.
- If you don’t have any bread around, just put a little water underneath the air fryer basket and then air fry food normally. This method also prevents smoke that comes from the air fryer when it works.
Why does my hamburger shrink while cooking?
Hamburgers release their fat in the form of liquid when they are cooked and this causes the hamburger to shrink. So, if your hamburger is more on the fattier side, it will shrink more.
The best idea is to take 80/20 ground beef (80% beef / 20% fat) as this amount of fat would be enough to make the burgers juicy and would be much healthier than fatty patties.
Also, if you want to use 90/10 ground beef then I would suggest you don’t use that because it would make the hamburgers dry, and to avoid inevitable shrinkage, make the patties bigger than the burger buns.
Can I make hamburgers into sliders?
Yes, you can make hamburgers into sliders. All you have to do is make smaller patties than normal burger patties and size them a little bigger than intended as they would shrink during the cooking process.
Remember, sliders would cook quicker than hamburgers so flip them in 3 minutes into cooking as they should be fully done in 6-7 minutes.
Time to cook air fryer hamburgers
350°F is the ideal temperature for cooking hamburgers in an air fryer.
And the temperature isn’t so high that the patties sear or so low that they overcook at the top at this time. So, for eight minutes of cooking time at 350°F, flip the patties after four minutes. However, keep in mind that this time only applies to burgers one inch thick; thinner burgers will require less time.
What about freeze-dried hamburgers?
If you’ve made hamburger patties and frozen them, you can cook them in an air fryer.
Furthermore, you won’t have to defrost them; if you’re in a hurry, they’ll cook directly from cold storage. However, depending on when the 160F safe doneness is attained, consider extending the recipe by one or two minutes. Also, keep in mind that this only applies to one-inch frozen burgers.
Conclusion
Hamburgers in an air fryer give you the same healthy taste as you get on the grill but cooking time may vary on how you like the doneness of your hamburger.
- Cooking time and temperature should be adjusted according to your desire for the doneness of your hamburgers.
- The cooking time of hamburgers also differs from air fryer to air fryer and the thickness of the patty.
- The hamburger shrinks because it releases the fat liquid during the cooking process. To avoid it, make the burgers bigger than the size of the buns.
- The air fryer gives smokes when fat liquid drips off from the hamburgers and goes on top due to air circulation and reaches the heating coil. You can use bread slices underneath the basket to avoid this issue.