Not All Frozen Burgers Are Alike
Buy our air fryer e-cookbooks today If you’re a fan of air frying burgers like we are, then you know frozen burger patties are a great. But as a reminder, did you know that not all frozen burgers are like? These slight differences in size, weight and thickness changes the air fryer cooking times immensely. Readers have asked us why their burgers are burning where as others say their frozen burgers cooked perfect. Here’s some thoughts and solutions for frozen burger timing.
Check the Weight of Frozen Burger Patties
Frozen burger patties are normally sold as 1/4 pound patties. But there’s some specialty patties that are 1/3 pound each. The thickness is pretty obvious and so this affects air frying time so much. Add the additional variable of different models of air fryers cooking at different temperatures makes air frying burgers from frozen a little more tricky. Here’s our complete write up for time and temp on how to air fryer frozen burgers.
Solution: Check Burger Patty after first 10 min of air frying
The concept is simple. You have to check the patty, then add additional air frying time to get the patty to your liking. Usually the first 10 minutes of air frying a frozen patty gets the meat to about rare. This is enough time to thaw the meat, then start searing the outside. From there you can use a meat thermometer or pierce the patty with a fork and see where it’s at in terms of doneness. Add additional 2 minutes at a time until the meat is cooked to your preference. From there, you will have a baseline of knowing how you like your burger patty cooked based on your model of air fryer. The first time us usually a test or guessing game. After that you know what it takes on your air fryer model to get the perfect patty.
Video: Watch how to Air Fry Frozen Burger Patties
More Burger Recipes
- Check out our detailed article on air frying vegan beyond burgers
- What about cooking frozen vegan burgers in the air fryer?
- How about air frying frozen turkey burgers?
- Trader Joes has frozen burger patties too. Learn how to air fry those beauties.
Air Fryer Burgers from Frozen Patties
Ingredients
- 4 frozen raw beef patties , usually sold as either 1/4 lb.(113g) or 1/3 lb.(150g)
- salt , to taste if needed
- Lots of black pepper
- oil spray , for coating
Burger assembly:
- 4 Buns , + optional cheese, pickles, lettuce, onion, tomato, avocado, cooked bacon etc.
Instructions
- Spray both sides of frozen burger patties with oil. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Spray the air fryer basket with oil and place the patties in the basket in a single layer. Cook in batches if needed.
- For 1/4 lb. frozen burger patties: Air Fry at 360°F/180°C for a total of about 8-12 minutes. After the first 6 minutes flip the patties and continue to Air Frying at 360°F/180°C for another 2-6 minutes or until it’s cooked to your preferred doneness. The internal temperature should be 160°F/71°C.
- For 1/3 lb. frozen burger patties: Air Fry at 360°F/180°C for a total of about 12-16 minutes. After the first 10 minutes flip the patties and continue to Air Frying at 360°F/180°C for another 2-6 minutes or until it’s cooked to your preferred doneness. The internal temperature should be 160°F/71°C.
- For Cheeseburgers: add the slices of cheese on top of the cooked patties. Air fry at 360°F/180°C for about 30 seconds to 1 minute to melt the cheese.
- Cover the patties and let rest for 3 minutes. Warm the buns in the air fryer at 380°F/193°C for about 3 minutes while patties are resting. Serve on buns, topped with your favorite burger toppings.
Notes
If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).
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