How Bobby Flay Perfectly Melts Cheese On Burgers

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When Bobby Flay isn't teaching us how to organize our kitchen pantry in a shockingly sensible way, he's whipping up food that makes our mouths water, like flawless cheeseburgers. Is a burger a sandwich? The jury is still out, but you won't want to waste time quibbling over culinary semantics when you have a melty, gooey burger like Flay's staring you in the face and just begging for you to take a big bite.

On TikTok, Flay whipped up a "bacon crunchburger" featuring crispy pan-fried bacon, a pile of potato chips, and a horseradish-mustard mayo. To our discerning eyes, however, the star of the show wasn't the thick beef patty — which he cooked in bacon grease on a stovetop cast iron skillet, putting to bed the charcoal vs. gas grill debate, at least for burgers — but the abundant, molten cheese cascading down the sides of the meat. Flay achieved this by layering two slices of cheese atop his cooked patty in the skillet, adding a dash of water to the hot pan to create steam, and putting a lid atop the pan for a few minutes to let the cheese melt. The resulting dairy component is almost like queso, it's so incredibly viscous and melty. Best of all, this hack is accomplished in the same pan you use to cook your patties, meaning that there are no extra dishes to wash.

Bobby Flay's crunchburger features American cheese, which is a superior choice for melting because it contains emulsifiers that help it melt gorgeously when exposed to heat. Even the most snobby gourmet chefs have been known to keep some American cheese on hand for this reason. Flay's method of melting by steaming it is actually a long-beloved pro method for melting cheese overall, because it introduces moisture back into the cheese. No wonder his burgers are the ideal handhelds!

On the other hand, American cheese doesn't completely hold the patent on meltiness. In general, the pH of cheese matters – you want something that is neither too acidic nor too basic — as well as the age, since the proteins in more mature cheeses tend to decompose over time, leading to cheeses "splitting" into solids and oils when heated. Colby, Havarti, and Swiss are all champion melters. Shredding cheese increases its surface area, which can improve the meltiness of almost any specimen. On the other hand, a crumbly cheese like blue cheese or feta may resist melting — which doesn't mean it won't taste good, as many a "black and blue" burger will attest! Of course, flavor should be your most important criterion. What else are you planning on putting atop your patty? The "right" cheese for your burger will tie all the flavors together, providing a gooey canvas for your veggies, sauces, and other toppings.