You’ve Been Putting Cheese on Your Burgers All Wrong

If you grill burgers and love to top them with melted cheese, you're probably doing it all wrong.

I'm a grilling lunatic. Once the weather warms up I pretty much close up our kitchen and cook everything out on the deck. From veggies, chicken and pizza to the classic burgers and dogs, there's nothing I don't cook on the grill.

A photo that I posted to my Instagram account this weekend gained lots of attention after I revealed what I believe is the best method for topping your burgers with cheese.

Through the years I've always been frustrated when grilling cheeseburgers. I'd put that thick piece of cheese up on top and helplessly watch as the corners melted right off into the grill below, bringing even more cheese from the top of the patty with it. In the quest to get as much cheese to stay on the burger as possible, I finally stumbled onto the best cheese placement; the criss-cross.

Simply folding the square of cheese in half and crossing both pieces over the burger will get coverage over the entire surface of the patty without losing any over the sides. Here's how it works:

Those pieces of cheese that usually dangle off the side of the burger will begin to melt and start a waterfall of melted cheese, bringing much of the melted cheese on top of the meat right down into the grill with it. Since the criss cross method keeps all of the cheese on top of the patty, there's no chain reaction of cascading cheese. Additionally, the double layer of cheese in the middle will begin to melt and ooze, perfectly filling in the four bare spots on the patty without dripping off of the sides.

I'm sure there's a lot of geometry and science going on here, but I honestly just tried it by accident and was shocked at how perfect it came out. What I think happens is that the amount of cheese in that double layer in the center is equal to the surface area of the center square and the four bare spots made by the criss-cross. When the cheese melts, it instantly levels itself, filling in all of the bare spots, but never dripping off the sides.

Give it a try the next time you're grilling cheeseburgers and see for yourself. You'll never go back to throwing clumsy cheese squares on your burgers ever again.