Bobby Flay’s Labor Day Burger Tips Include a Surprising Ingredient and a Cheese to Skip

Bobby Flay knows a thing or two about making the ultimate burger, and just in time for Labor Day, the celebrity chef is sharing his best tips for your holiday cookout. The Food Network star and restaurateur has perfected the art of the burger, from shaping the perfect patty to his surprising use of water for melting cheese. And yes, he’s also revealing the one cheese he refuses to use on his burgers — ever.

Bobby Flay’s Tips for the Best Labor Day Burgers

According to Flay, the secret to a flavorful burger starts with the meat itself. “You don’t want to spend a lot of time shaping your burger,” he explained in his “Burger 101” class. “Basically, you want to get the burger shaped until it just holds together… Otherwise, it gets like meatloaf and I don’t want that.”

He prefers patties that weigh between 5 ½ and 6 ounces for the perfect mouthfeel. Another Flay-approved trick? Make a shallow well in the center of the patty. “When a burger [without a well] cooks, it plumps up like a football. But when I put a well in the burger… it plumps back up to the original shape that you want,” he said.

For indoor cooking, Flay advises skipping the grill pan in favor of a stovetop griddle, heavy cast-iron pan, or large skillet. “It releases the fat, it releases the juices and it keeps it really nice and moist,” he explained. And when it comes to flipping, less is more: “Let the griddle do its job.”

The Food Network Star Shares a Melty Trick and the Surprising Cheese to Avoid

Flay swears by one unexpected ingredient when making cheeseburgers: water. By squirting a bit onto the griddle and covering the burger, steam forms, ensuring the cheese melts evenly and the patty stays juicy.

“When it gets right down to it, I want American cheese on my burger, because it melts well and it reminds me of my childhood,” Flay said. He also favors fontina and Monterey jack. But cheddar? That’s a hard pass.

“I’m not into cheddar on burgers,” Flay revealed in his “BBQ Burgers” class. “I don’t like the way cheddar melts. It kind of sweats. It doesn’t really melt nicely.”

Flay also believes in keeping burgers simple. “Chefs like to put a lot of things on burgers, but to me if you put too many things on a burger, all of the flavors start to get muddled and it doesn’t taste like anything,” he said. Instead, he suggests classic toppings like lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles, or a “crunch” element like coleslaw, potato chips, or tortilla chips.

Tell us! Will you use any of Bobby Flay’s burger tips this upcoming Labor Day weekend? Let us know in the comments below.