In this article by Kenji from serious eats he discusses forming the patty to a bare minimum so the strands of ground beef are still visible. He also recommends only salting the beef just before making it. Both strategies to avoid toughness.
In this video by Gordon Ramsay (and other burger videos by him) he completely mushes up the mince to turn make it completely consistent. He also adds salt and a bunch of other flavourings, which a lot of people don't recommend.
So who's right? Assuming Kenji is right in his assertions, why would Gordon do that to his burgers? Is it true that the meat should be just formed and otherwise left alone?
Best Answer
There's no right or wrong answer as there are advantages to both and it's about what you want out of a burger.
The advantage of the minimal disturbance method is that the strands of the meat give the burger structural strength. It also gives a pure beef flavor as you aren't adding anything to it. The mix up method breaks up the strands of meat which come out of the grinder which makes patties more fragile, however flavorings are distributed evenly.
Some people add binding agents like egg and breadcrumbs to hold it together when using the mix up method in which case it becomes more of a flat meatball than a burger.
My personal preference is the minimal disturbance method as it is fast, the patties hold together, and I like the flavor of pure beef. After forming the patties I salt them on both sides. After the final flip I grind fresh pepper on the cooked side - pepper gets bitter when burned. If I did want to add flavorings I would grind my own meat for the burgers and add the flavorings then.