I finally figured out why my burger patties kept shrinking to pucks, and it was the grind

Jessica Hall · 2026-10-19T15:05:04.192859+00:00

For about 6 months I kept getting these thick, chewy pucks every time I did burgers for my family cookouts, and I was blaming the heat on my old Weber. Turns out the issue was the grind size on my chuck. I was running it through a 3mm plate because it looked nice and fine, but that smears the fat and you get that dense hockey puck texture after cooking, plus it shrinks way more than it should. Last Saturday I switched to a 6mm plate, kept everything cold, and the difference was night and day, the patties stayed flat and juicy and I only lost maybe 15 percent size instead of a third. I know some of you probably already run coarse, but I see folks at the counter asking for double ground like it's a good thing, and it isn't for burgers. What plate size are you all running for your patty blends, and does anyone bother with a mix of coarse and fine or is that overthinking it?

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I finally figured out why my burger patties kept shrinking to pucks, and it was the grind | Butchers - SMM Buzz