Will poking a hole in the middle of your hamburger meat stop it from shrinking during cooking?

No. Poking holes in your burger will cause loss of moisture and flavor. .

Hamburgers
“Shape hamburgers by pressing portions of ground meat between two plastic tops of margarine tubs; then remove and cook (or freeze) the hamburgers.”

“For juicier hamburgers, add one stiffly beaten egg white to each pound of ground meat.”

“Poke a hole in the middle of hamburger patties while shaping them. The burgers will cook faster, and the holes will disappear when done.”

I’ve found putting a hole in the center makes the meat cook quicker and there’s less chance of moisture loss and shrinkage.

No, But buying better meat will

it makes it taste like a really yucky doughnut;)

Poking a hole or holes in the patty will control the dimensional shrinkage as the “hole” will allow for shrinkage to occur from the inside as well as the inevitable shrinkage of the perimeter but that hole will reduce that perimeter shrinkage significantly. Hence all the perforations of the slider patty of White Castle.

Now the bagel burger idea is complete.

Poking holes in meat causes to juice to drain out, which will make your burger dry.
Bill’s right, buy better quality meats. You’d be shocked at what the big chains will try to sell you.

@Cruiser Hmm, I never would have guessed that. I would have thought it was to insure that the patty is cooked through, less worry for ecoli infection.

The shrinkage is due to how much fat there is in the meat, not the shape of the patty.

@Cruiser is correct that small holes will help some, just because the burger will shrink on the inside as well, but the best way to keep a burger from shrinking is to buy a leaner ground beef.
I personally use 90% lean ground beef and have very little shrinkage, and as long as you’re careful not to overcook them, nice juicy hamburgers, too.

It applies to doughnuts but not hamburgers

i suppose that statement qualifies since if it did make the hamburger delicious, McDonald would have.

I don’t know about a hole in the middle, but I watched Bobby Flay, on some grilling show, put a dent in the center of his burgers to keep them flatter while they grilled.

That works really well

I don’t see why it would;

@thriftymaid Me either. Which is why I asked. And, BTW, @all, I was NOT complaining about hamburger shrinking! It was a curiosity question only.

I hat when my hamburger (steak) shrinks.