Here’s some scientific truthiness to the age-old question, “How do you cook a burger?”

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at The Burger Lab scientifically tests the methods that I’ve described above, as well as many others in the article, and what they find may surprise you:

Flipping your meat multiple times produces meat that’s noticeably more evenly cooked (there’s about 40% less overcooked meat in a burger flipped every 15 seconds vs. one flipped once), browns just as well (just don’t expect distinct hash marks), and to top it all off, ends up cooking in about 2/3rds of the time. Faster and better? You betcha!

The multi-flippers win! Sure, you lose out on those delicious hash marks, but a better-cooked burger in 2/3 the time? That’s a win. And now you know…

via: The Burger Lab: How Often Should You Flip a Burger? [Serious Eats]

NOTE: Do your marinating in a refrigerator, steaks zipped tightly into an air-tight ziploc bag, and remove it a half hour prior to cooking (always cook steak starting at room temp).

See: The Best Damn Steak Marinade to prepare your own marinade. Here are a couple of rules-of-thumb for you, should you want to veer from my prized marinade:

1. Acids break down connective tissue which make your steak more tender. Good items to achieve this include: hot sauce, lemon juice, and vinegar.
2. Never add salt! Salt draws juices out of the meat – exactly the opposite of what we’re trying to do here.
3. Brown sugar caramelizes on the outside, acting as a great agent to achieve a well-seared outside and keep the center rare and juicy.

Check out the video below for my personal favorite verison of a steak marinade.

Cooking Your Steak:
Here is an easy easy way of cooking steaks that are .75-1.5″ thick. For anything thicker, add 30 seconds a side for every .5″ – it also might be a good idea to drop the $20 for a meat thermometer to make sure your meat is fully cooked, for steaks that thick.

Always let the BBQ warm up on high for 5-7 minutes.

Cook the steak for 2 minutes a side with the heat on high, flipping 3 times for rare, 4 times for medium, and 5 times for well done (well done – gross).

If you’re a have a meat thermometer and are a stickler for cooking temperatures (read: don’t want to get e-coli or mad cow disease), here is a breakdown of temperature measurements from the middle of the steak and what it will yield as far as desired redness (in fahrenheit):

Rare: 140° (don’t go below this – or die….possibly)
Medium Rare: 150°
Medium: 160°
Medium Well: 165°
Well Done: Never.

*Remember – the steak will continue to cook for another 5 minutes after it leaves the grill.

This should get you started. I love adding a little bit of bleu cheese crumbles to my steak on the last flip, letting it melt and brown for the last 2 minutes of cooking. AWESOME.

Anyway, as usual, enjoy, dudes!

NOTE: Makes 2 servings: 467 Calories, 16g Fat, 46g Carb, 26g Protein

Seasonings:
Basil
Oregano
Season salt
Cayenne pepper (if you want more of a kick)

What You’ll Need:
1 pan
1 pot
Strainer

TIP (click links for pictures): Shrimp still shelled? There’s a super easy way to take care of that: grab the tail of the shrimp, near the bottom. Pinch the legs, near the meaty part, as if you were squeezing the shrimp out of the shell. Voila! It’ll pop right out.

Reference Photos:

Directions:

1. Put a few tablespoons of butter, a few pinches of basil, oregano, cayenne, and season salt into a small bowl and put it in the microwave to melt it.
2. Stir and pour over peeled shrimp.
3. Boil water in a large pot. Heat a skillet with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and minced garlic.
4. Add shrimp to skillet once it gets hot, and add pasta to boiling water. Keep shrimp moving every couple minutes to brown it. After about 5 minutes, add a couple ounces of beer to the shrimp.
5. Strain cooked pasta.
6. Leave shrimp in skillet and add pasta, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a cup of spaghetti sauce.
7. Sautee for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the noodles begin to crisp.
8. Split into 2 portions and serve!

Add some green (a bay leaf, some basil) if you want to pretty it up. Enjoy, dudes.