Salmon and Tuna Burgers - Cooks Illustrated

Published February 6, 2007.

Grilled fish burgers can be a welcome alternative to the usual summer fare—if you can keep them moist and prevent them from falling apart.

The Problem

Executed improperly, fresh salmon or tuna burgers can dry out until they’re virtually inedible.

The Goal

We wanted a compact fish burger with a moist, tender interior and a crusty exterior.

The Solution

We chose salmon and tuna, as these rich, oily fish have enough flavor and fat to make decent burgers. To keep them compact and intact on the grill, we found that the fish needed to be hand chopped into a 1/8-inch dice; any coarser and they fall apart. (A food processor reduced them to a mousse-like pulp that was unpleasantly gummy.) Grill time was tricky; we needed to stay diligent, as they dried out if cooked past a medium-rare stage (still pink in the center). We also found that oiling both the spatulas and cooking rack and refrigerating the burgers before grilling kept them from falling apart when flipped.

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