Beef patties can be a struggle to keep together if you’re making them at home.

Because I have been cooking at home a lot more, and my boyfriend and I have been on a home-grown hamburger kick lately since his parents feed out a couple steers for meat every year, the struggle in learning how to keep them from falling apart during grilling has been tougher than I thought it should be. However, there is hope out there.

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I rounded up some of my friends’ help from social media to get a few great tips on keeping your ground beef together from forming them, to grilling them.

1. Add an egg to it! This is the most common suggestion I have been given and apparently doesn’t change the taste. One follower likes to add breadcrumbs to hers, although, it’s not proven to really do much, it doesn’t hurt anything and honestly, I appreciate the logic.
   
2. Move very minimally after you form the patty- this can cause disruption and make it fall apart. Flip them only once! This is coming from a grill master who is obsessed with “Meat Eater,” so I trust his judgment.
3. You can add some fat to it, like pork fat. This can help it be a little tackier and hold together better.
   
4. Wrap them in foil over the grill for a few minutes. This apparently gives them some form and won’t cause them to immediately fall apart. 
   
5. “Smash that sucker on a high heat flat top until it’s crispy on the edges.” There is no arguing with this guy’s logic here. The aggressiveness is much appreciated.
   
6. Add a thumbprint into your patty. This will help keep its form on the grill and keeps it from swelling and becoming that awkwardly shaped ball of beef between your buns.
   
7. This is perhaps my favorite- mix BBQ sauce and shredded cheese to your ground beef. It was found by a follower on Pinterest and has proven successful for this person.
   
8. This last method was inspired by a rancher in Kansas and tried by me. It worked well, and I’ll note that keeping the patties cold is very crucial in this method as well: 
   – Roll them into compact balls
   – While rotating in your hands, flatten the patties.
   – smush them together while you’re flattening. Cracks on the edges of your patties may be the first places they will fall apart. By pressing the meat together in these spots, it eliminates a weak spot.

There are many ways to prevent cracking and falling apart beef patties. You can use a combination of any of these if you need to. Happy hamburger making!