Smoked Hamburgers
On January 31, 2023 (Updated December 06, 2024)
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Smoked hamburgers are a killer way to prepare a burger. By smoking the hamburger, you end up with a juicy result, and the smoke creates crispy edges and great char. You’ll never go back to regular old hamburgers again. And drive-thru burgers? Forget about it!
Smoked Hamburgers
Cooking hamburgers on the grill is a BBQ staple, and it always results in a delicious burger. But smoking those hamburgers adds a whole new level of flavor and dimension that will blow your mind.
The key to a great hamburger starts with the right mix of ground beef. As often as possible, I try to grind my own meat for hamburgers. I personally love the flavor of ground chuck roast the most. It is just the right ratio of meat to fat.
If you’re buying from the grocery store, make sure you’re buying meat that was ground in-house, preferably that day. Aim for select ground beef that is at least 85% meat 15% fat. If you want your burger even juicier, I recommend 80% meat 20% fat.
How to Smoke Hamburgers
Let’s get into the process of how to smoke hamburgers. It’s a fairly simple technique of seasoning, smoking, searing, and serving. For a detailed, printable recipe card, scroll to the bottom of this post.
- Preheat. Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees F. My preferred wood for smoked hamburgers is hickory. It’s strong enough to give you good smoke flavor in the limited time that the burgers will be exposed to smoke.
- Prep. Press the meat into patties, working the meat as little as possible. Shape your burgers so they are about 1/2 inch thick and wider than the buns you’ll be using.
- Season. Next, season the outside of your burgers on both sides with Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub. If you don’t have any Beef Rub on hand, you can use equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Smoke. Once your grill is preheated, place the burgers on the grates and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 135 degrees F. Depending on the thickness of your burgers, aim for this first step to take around 1 hour.
- Sear. Increase the temperature of your smoker to around 400 degrees F. Sear the patties for 2-3 minutes. Flip the hamburgers, top them with cheese (if desired), and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Dig in! Once your burgers are smoked and seared to perfection, serve them on toasty buns with whatever condiments you like!
How Long to Smoke Hamburgers
I’ve found that it takes a little over 1 hour to smoke hamburgers with the smoker running steady at 225 degrees F.
Make sure to use this 1-hour timeline as a gauge only and pay attention to the temperature of the burgers. Smoke until they reach 135 degrees, then sear until they reach a final temperature of 165 degrees F.
Tips for Smoking the Best Burgers
Smoking burgers is easy and straightforward, but these tips will help you get that perfect, juicy burger every time.
- Make sure you use ground beef with a decent fat content. The heat and the smoke can dry out the meat, so aim for at least 15% fat in your beef.
- Use a stronger wood for smoked burgers, such as hickory, oak, or mesquite. These burgers are not on the smoker for very long, so you want the smoke to influence the meat for the entire time it is on the smoker.
- Cook to temperature, not to color or time. Smoking causes a chemical reaction with the meat that turns it slightly pink. If you smoke your burgers for an hour, they may be pink throughout the entire burger! If you are using an instant-read thermometer, you will know that they are perfectly cooked, so don’t stress about them being too pink once they reach 165 degrees F.
More Burger Recipes
Are burgers your favorite go-to dinner item? If so, check out even more amazing burger recipes below!
Smoked Hamburger Recipe
Follow the recipe and I’ll show you step-by-step how I make these smoked hamburgers at home. I’m all about helping you make memories with your loved ones through amazing backyard BBQ of your life, so check out more of my smoking and grilling recipe videos on YouTube, Instagram, or our Facebook Page. Follow along and let’s make awesome food together!
This post was originally published in May 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Smoked Hamburgers
Equipment
- Smoker I highly recommend this one!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground chuck 80/20 preferred
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub or equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- 4 slices cheddar cheese optional
- 4 burger buns
- assorted burger toppings
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F using your favorite hardwoood.
- Form the patties. Shape your ground beef into 4 equal-sized patties, about 1/2 inch larger in diameter than your burger buns.
- Smoke. Place the seasoned patties on the grill and smoke until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 135 degrees F. This will take around 1 hour.
- Sear. Increase the heat in your smoker to at least 400 degrees F. Sear the burger patties for about 2-3 minutes on both sides. Add cheese after the first flip, if desired. Sear until the meat reaches a final temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Enjoy. Remove the burger patties from the grill and place the buns on the grill grates to toast. Assemble your smoked burgers on the toasted buns with any desired toppings and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m actually going to try these on my SG this week. Do you take them off after the smoke session while the grill heats up or just leave them on? Thanks for the great content and recipes!
Thanks Allan! I just leave them on the grill while it comes up to temperature.
Excellent recipe!! Added a little of my own flavor but highly recommend your recipes
So I am a new electric smoker owner….and Ive been slowly getting the hang of it… I made these burgers this past weekend and my kids were ohhing and awwing over these! My husband naturally thinks the smoker and grill are his domain abut he loved them as well.
I kept the recipe exactly as close as I could..I used ground sirloin that I had our local butcher grind for me…
By far the BEST burgers I have ever eaten!
Way to nail it Kerri!!! You just made my day!!
I used this recipe yesterday…excellent!
It was the second “hamburger” recipe I’ve used on my new Pit Boss Pellet Grill. The first turned out hard and dry. Your recipe turned out much better and was immediately put into my “Grill Journal” collection of recipes. LOW AND SLOW IS THE WAY TO GO! Plus, I was able to do some baked potatoes at the same temperature (I did them for 4 hours).
Thanks Don!! I’m so happy they came out so good for you!
Just got my new SG and fired it in. Can’t wait to get started.
Sometime soon, I will need to cook 20-25 burgers. Can I smoke them all at the same time using the warming racks? I also bought the jerky rack, maybe that would be best.
What are your recommendations?
You can smoke them all at the same time. The jerky racks would probably make it easier to smoke that many burgers.
Excellent recipe. All of your recipes make me look like a hero.
Thanks so much, so happy to hear you are mastering them!!
Thank you for the recipes. cant wait to try them
I’ve spent a good portion of my life in my commercial kitchens, (many years ago), as well as my residential one. I just “burned in” my brand new Woodwind, and I’m about to try out your burger recipe. Just reviewing it, I know it’s a winner, so I can hardly wait. I will surely follow up here! Thanks for sharing, Susie!
Thanks so much William!! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!!
I really enjoyed these burgers. First time ever smoking them, and hands down the best I’ve made.
As for the unrelated and inaccurate comment on trimming brisket, I do it just like you mentioned in your aticle – “Using your super duper sharp knife, trim the fat cap down to approximately 1/4-1/2 inch thick.” And if 1/4″ is good enough for Aaron Franklin, it’s good enough for me 🙂
Thanks so much Jason!! I am so happy you enjoyed these!!!
You lost all credibility when I saw your brisket video and you cut off all the fat before you smoked it. No grill master would ever advocate removing the fat before it is smoked. That should be done after.
I didn’t cut off all the fat. I trimmed the top fat to an even thickness. And I honestly have only met a handful of pitmasters who don’t trim at all. All of them are cooking in restaurants where they need to produce brisket in massive quantity and they simply don’t have time. I’ve been in this game for years now, and everybody has their opinions. You’re welcome to yours. Not sure it warrants a recipe rating when you obviously didn’t actually cook it, but that’s fine too.
I’ve used your recipe and while I am a huge fan of fat (on a keto diet), I fully agree with you. Cutting the fat to an even thickness makes the meat SO much better (and I just keep the extra fat and fry it up for myself later!).
Don’t listen to this person, you NAILED that recipe.
“Fry up the fat for…” WHAT???
How rude. And ridiculously ignorant of him. Wonder what his brisket is like?
Everyone who knows anything about smoking a brisket will cut the fat cap to consistent thickness.
Totally agree with Susie!/Hey Grill!!!
Like your spunk. He hasn’t seen many cooks if he says No Pit master would trim fat.
What?? You’re supposed to trim brisket before it’s smoked…
It’s a good idea! You can check out all my trimming tips here…https://heygrillhey.com/how-to-trim-a-brisket/
You tell em.
Funny thing. I followed her Texas brisket recipe and methods to a “T” for the first and so far only brisket I’ve done. That included trimming the fat as she did. That brisket came out absolutely perfect. I’ve never heard of anyone not trimming the fat. But do what works for you. I’ve followed several of Susie’s recipes and they’ve all had great results.