Are You Absolutely Sure You're Stacking Your Burger In The Correct Order?

In theory, a burger is a simple concept. It should be comprised of a bun, patty, then a few other toppings added to your own taste. A simple concept — that is, until you take a bite and the middle falls out, and you realize there is an art to stacking the perfect burger. I feel strongly about this because I used to run a sandwich business, so anything that lives between bread matters to me on a personal level. In my professional opinion, a burger is just another member of the sandwich family (proven by the way you can turn some classic sandwiches into juicy burgers). This means that stacking order is just as important to burgers as it is to sandwiches when it comes to nailing texture, balance, and how well the whole thing stays together.

The argument I'll give for a thoughtful burger stack is that all the ingredients that go into a burger will behave differently once there is heat, moisture, and pressure involved. For example — a soft bun needs something sturdy against it to stop it from falling apart, and a tomato slice needs a barrier to stop it from dripping everywhere. Once you start considering the role each element is playing, the stack starts to make more sense, and you can build something that stays together when you pick it up between two hands. Because any burger can taste good, but it's a properly stacked burger that tastes incredible.

Firstly, the bottom bun of your burger needs to be toasted, because if it gets soggy straight away, then the whole thing's doomed. The patty then goes right on top — beef, chicken, or vegan, doesn't matter. Once those two are sorted, the middle can be a bit of a chaos zone. Think cheese, sauce, tomatoes, onions, pickles — all the slippery little characters. It's imperative they sit somewhere where they are not touching the bun, to prevent it from getting soggy. 

The sauce should go directly onto the patty, so it clings rather than slides off. Save the wetter toppings — like tomatoes — to be layered above toppings like pickles and onions, which tend to stay put more easily. There's no single "correct" order here, but try and stack your toppings from stickiest to slipperiest to help prevent everything from shifting as you bite into your burger. Finally, put a layer of lettuce on top of the softer, wetter toppings to act as a barrier before the top bun. If you're making a cheeseburger (aka Bobby Flay's favorite comfort food), the cheese will act as a bit of a glue for your burger. You want to melt the cheese over the patty so that it stays put and also grips onto the ingredients you put on top of it. 

The question of whether there's such a thing as too many burger toppings comes up every single time someone builds a tall burger. The answer is honestly that you can pile it as high as you want, as long as it's built correctly to prevent it collapsing. The right stack is what keeps you winning.