How long should you grill Frozen Burgers + how to do it!

by Joost Nusselder | Last Updated:  August 8, 2021

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If you’re like me, you probably like preparing your burgers in advance and then freezing them (or maybe you just bought some frozen).

Anyway, there are lots of situations where you find yourself grilling frozen burgers.

There’s nothing wrong or weird about that. Personally, I often grill hamburgers prepared much earlier this way. Sometimes I don’t even have time to slowly defrost burgers in the fridge, which is why I taught myself how to grill frozen hamburgers.

Does it still taste good?

Here’s the trick I use to get perfect burgers.

How to grill frozen burgers

Are frozen burgers any good?

Fresh hamburgers are definitely the best, but very often we don’t have time or even motivation to prepare them. Properly pre-prepared hamburgers can be frozen and then grilled whenever you like.

An upside to this is saving time, you can prepare a lot of such hamburgers on your day off and then freeze them all. In such condition, hamburgers have a long shelf life, which means you can take out few such burgers once in a while to make a quick and delicious meal.

The main downside of frozen hamburgers is the longer time required to grill them. On top of that, it is a must to take care of all the conditions required to grill evenly so that you don’t end up with raw meat on the inside.

When it comes to the flavor on the other hand, the difference isn’t really quite that huge compared to fresh burgers. Sure, someone experienced may feel the difference, but they will also admit that grilled frozen burgers taste nice.

How to Grill Frozen Burgers Properly

So after a fairly long introduction and quite a lot of theory on the topic, I can now move on to the essence, which is discussing how to properly prepare frozen burgers.

First preheat the grill to a medium temperature, preferably about 300 degrees F. Never start grilling frozen burgers patties on a cold grill, and do take this advice really seriously. All the information in this guide was based on a warmed-up grill ( time of frying etc ).

If you have a charcoal grill then it’s better to do this first. When it comes to certain types of grills, achieving the right temperature takes a lot of time.

Next take the frozen hamburgers out of the freezer and use a wooden spatula to separate them. If you have some spare time, then wait few minutes for the hamburgers to thaw a little. It will be much easier to get them separated and the condiments will stick to the meat much better. So put some salt and pepper on the hamburgers or whatever else you like.

Once the temperature inside the grill is just right, you can start grilling. Place the hamburgers on the grates and close the lid if your grill has one.

Check out our smoked burgers on a pellet grill recipe to see how to make these in an instant

How long to grill frozen burgers ?

From now on, try to flip the hamburgers every 3 to 5 minutes over the next 15 to 25 minutes. It all depends on the freezing level of the meat and on how thick it is.

Normally, burger patties will need between 15 and 25 minutes to cook properly. The cooking time is largely determined by the thickness of the meat. Thicker patties will take longer to cook compared to slimmer ones.

how-to-grill-frozen-burgers

In case you are not sure whether the patties are properly cooked, you can actually use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature. A patty should be considered fully cooked if the internal temperature is 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Burger on the Grill
Time 25 min approx.
Temp. 300 – 350°F

Now that you are clear on how long to grill frozen burgers, here is a step-by-step process on how to actually cook them.

Related: Best Way to Reheat a Burger Without Losing Their TasteHow to Cook Burgers on Pellet Grill

Also look How to Grill Frozen Burgers on Gas Grill

How Long to Grill Frozen Burgers?

  • As mention above It takes about 25-27 minutes to cook frozen burger patties thoroughly. The oven needs to be preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The burgers are then placed in the baking tray in the middle shelf. Allow them to cook until the juices run clear.

What Temperature Do You Grill Frozen Burgers?

  • Preheat the grill about 325°F and grill frozen burger until the internal temperature of the patty reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit for the burgers to be fully cooked. Make sure you have also washed your hands very well after handling raw beef patties before you start cooking. Also, don’t place the grilled burgers on the plates that carried the frozen ones. This way you will prevent contamination.

How Long Should It Take to Grill a Burger?

  • For medium-rare meat, the patty should cook for three minutes on one side and four minutes on the other side. Medium-cook patties should cook for three minutes on each side on the charcoal grill.

How Long Do You Cook a Bubba Burger on the Grill?

  • Make sure the butter is sizzling first before adding the Bubba burger patty. Each side should cook for between 4 and 5 minutes. Add three slices of cheese on the meat too during the final cooking minute and cover with a lead.

You also look together

To make sure, check the temperature inside the meat using an instant read thermometer, which should show about 160 degrees F. ( When making the measurements, take the beef patties off the grates, and also try to insert the thermometer from the side and not from the top ).

Meat takes 15 to 25 minutes so all that is left for you to do is wait and in the meantime get the buns and other things ready. You can warm up or grill the buns right before taking the meat off the grates if you prefer.

With the meat done and with hot buns, all that is left to do is prepare delicious hamburgers using your favorite toppings.

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Lakeside Smokers is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with BBQ Smoking (& Japanese food!) at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.