---
title: '50 Home Cooks Try to Make the Perfect Burger'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=X7ZDVmec1hc'
video_id: 'X7ZDVmec1hc'
date: 2026-07-22
duration_sec: 1459
channel: 'Joshua Weissman'
---

# 50 Home Cooks Try to Make the Perfect Burger

> Source: [50 Home Cooks Try to Make the Perfect Burger](https://youtube.com/watch?v=X7ZDVmec1hc)

## Summary

In this video, 50 amateur cooks compete to make the perfect burger in 10 minutes, with the top three advancing to a final round for a $5,000 prize. The challenge tests their creativity, technique, and ability to deliver a delicious burger under pressure.

### Key Points

- **Challenge Introduction** [00:00] — 50 random people are given 10 minutes to make their idea of the perfect burger. No professionals or chefs allowed. Each burger is judged on texture, flavor, appearance, creativity, sear, and toast.
- **Contestant Confidence Varies** [01:11] — Some contestants are confident, while others admit they've never made a burger before. One contestant says they looked up how to cook a burger on YouTube on the way to the challenge.
- **Smash Burger Trend** [02:32] — Many contestants opt for smash-style patties, but one contestant decides to go with a thick patty, noting that not everyone wants a tall burger.
- **Bun Selection** [03:40] — Contestants choose from classic sesame, brioche, English muffin, potato, pretzel, and Kaiser rolls. Some toast their buns with mayo or butter for extra flavor.
- **Techniques and Mishaps** [04:12] — One contestant makes homemade mayo, another uses green food dye, and several forget to season their meat or add cheese. Time management is a common struggle.
- **Final Assembly** [07:44] — With minutes left, contestants scramble to assemble their burgers. Some salt their tomatoes, a technique praised by the host. One contestant drops an egg, another loses bacon.
- **Top 10 Announced** [11:42] — After tasting all 50 burgers, the host selects the top 10. Neither the brothers nor first-time burger makers make the cut. Vikram initially takes #1 but is removed for being a host, leading to a revised top 10.
- **Final Three** [12:16] — The top three finalists are Cole (pickled vinaigrette burger), David (sleeper burger with Sriracha sauce), and Jackson (best executed simple burger). They advance to the final round for $5,000.
- **Final Round Rules** [13:12] — Finalists have 20 minutes to make three identical burgers for three judges. They can use new tools and ingredients. The judges are Chef Christian and Chef Fermin Nunez.
- **Cole's Strategy** [16:38] — Cole makes an Oklahoma-style smash burger with onions, smoked American cheese, and a homemade sauce with MSG and Worcestershire. He toasts buns on a cooling rack for crispiness.
- **David's Approach** [19:25] — David uses potato buns, makes a cheddar crisp, and seasons his tomatoes. He initially plans a single patty but adds a second. His burger is criticized for underseasoned beef and lack of sear.
- **Winner Announced** [22:43] — Jackson places third. Cole wins first place with a score of 113.5, praised for simplicity and precision. David takes second place. Cole receives $5,000.

### Conclusion

The video demonstrates that simplicity and attention to detail often outperform complexity in burger making. Cole's winning burger was simple but elevated, with perfect technique and balance.

## Transcript

the number one most common food that anyone in  the world can make is a hamburger so simple meat   cheese bun it's not really that hard or is it  we're on fire baby oh my god I'm so scared right  
now what if you took 50 random people and put them  in the same challenge to make their idea of the   perfect burger in just 10 minutes each person gets  their own ingredients no rules no restrictions no  
professionals or chefs allowed every single burger  I'm going to take a bite of and they will get a   score but only the top three contestants will move  on to the final round to battle it out for the   grand prize of $5,000 only one burger will take  that crown let's see what happens here's how this  
works you have 10 minutes on the clock to make  ideally what you would think is the most perfect   burger we're not judging off what I like we're  judging off of what's the most tasty delicious   least get this in the top three oh yeah i mean  I'm going to go for gold i got it man i got it  
uh fingers crossed i think so yeah I can do it  sure why not i'm pretty sure I can yeah I think so   we'll see what happens hell yeah i got heart i'm  banking 49 other people don't i have no clue but  
not everyone was so confident i haven't really  thought about it too much cuz like I've been   dealing with school and other stuff can't promise  that I'm going to be top three burger but it's   going to be memorable or at least like horrifying  i've actually never really made a burger before  
oh I don't think I've ever made a burger before  honestly I've never made a burger before by myself   so by yourself well actually just ever i haven't  made a burger countdown starts now it'll be on go   so three two one go all right we're going to go oh  my god this is like so many pants for me okay what  
out my meat going straight for the meat i like  that starting off strong but some had a different   approach that looked like a big mouthful of Goju  John that's phenomenal the sink's functional sink  
is functional that's it that's all you need to  know now some people were devising a game plan   let's see 10 minutes i'll spend a minute just uh  brainstorming we're going with a Cajun persuasion   burger rodeo burger you look like you've got a  pretty good game plan and others did not i have no  
idea what I'm doing you think you're going to beat  your brother absolutely i don't know i'm going to   kick his ass and this crew of competitors from our  spicy challenge videos are all seeking redemption   one to get out if that's the first one that So um  let's just say I'm going to do my best now while  
we're underway the perfect burger may be different  for all 50 contestants but I have a feeling there   might be a style that many prefer smash smash  smash smash smash smash smash smash not the first   person to think of that i'm imagining everybody's  probably doing the smash patty i'm trying to  
of going to go my own way with I like that that's  what you should do i usually do pretty thick   nobody wants a tall burger like you got to unhinge  not everybody's built like that guys hannes is  
I'm not so far it looks like we have some burger  enthusiasts and some that may not quite be experts   if you will fun fact I never even tried a burger  until a few years ago looked up on YouTube today   how to cook a burger i was debating like looking  up how to cook a burger on the way here and I was  
like you know what i already haven't done it i'm  just going to wing it wow now fortunately after   30 seconds some people were seasoning their meat  but with a wide set of strategies i'm going to   season it with salt and pepper hopefully not too  much on the salt just to make sure that doesn't  
overpower the MSG the exact amount of seasoning is  going with the pinch that I feel that God gave me   signed me today i'm just thinking of like what  my dad makes when he makes me a burger but if   it turns out bad I'm not doing what my dad did  the next big decision buns and there were a lot  
to choose from we wanted to keep it fair and  give them lots of options classic sesame bio   English potato pretzel and Kaiser wow you got you  got those like right off the bat well no i just I   i'm not sure that that's where I would have  started but they're claiming the meat will cook  
quickly i say that with air quotations feels a bit  risky with only 10 minutes 1 minute in so how's   everyone doing so I usually make a homemade mayo  we're making our own mayo folks you got plenty of   time you're so encouraging i wasn't expecting it i  don't know that's going to be I think the largest  
smash burgers i got goblin hands please don't  judge me i'm like my technique unfortunately I   literally have to no well actually we don't have  a ranking for technique we only have rankings for   texture flavor appearance and creativity and  also the sear and the toast that's it you got  
this yeah with 8 minutes to go many are smashing  their patties try not to light myself on fire that didn't burn any facial hair off  you look great oh thank you thank you  
got to of course season them we had a lot of  classic salt and pepper but we also had a few   outliers put some good peppers in there so we're  going for a seasoned smash little garlic butter   base that's fun while some were making great  time others were falling behind crunchiness is  
important my reaction 8 minutes are you serious  you've already lost 2 minutes dude you better   start cranking i just feel like it can't be  that hard we're going whole burger i forgot   to put salt on it can I have green food dye i did  this wrong is this like some sort of Mayard trick  
middle ain't the best but I'm definitely not going  to be the worst here with 4 minutes gone burger   started to take shape for better and for worse  i don't even know if I would make a mayo in this  
competition so this could be our best sauce ever  the sauce the color is weird it's almost turning   green okay the green burger ooh it's looking kind  of crazy oh okay hold on this is crazy give people  
time to spare the last time that I was timed doing  something has to be a test in high school wow you   really do lose track of everything honestly this  is kind of great it's showing how difficult this   is cuz Vicram is a very good cook i will say it's  different cooking not in your own kitchen there's  
always another layer of stress when you cook in  a place where you don't know where anything is i   made I'm I'm so scared right now time management  i like to say I'm good at it but let's be honest   with ourselves i'm going to get it there  probably 5 minutes on each side well you  
don't have 5 minutes on each side you are right  yeah I feel so rushed let's flip these onions   rushing is always the enemy of cooking you're  looking good dude the rain did my hair earlier   now some folks are starting to throw down oh snap  am I the cleanest so far i feel like people are  
pretty messy you are not the cleanest no all  right patty down that is the corner of death   if you go near that area something will fall  over look a lot of unique cooking styles and   honestly some pretty great techniques so far i'm  proud how would you rate your cooking skills on a  
scale of 1 to 10 five out of 10 five and a halfic  maybe like a six probably around a six seven give   it a solid seven seven and a half seven or eight  probably like an eight and while some people seem   to back up their high rating others with love not  so much patty is not cooked enough my cheese are  
the pit of despair do you cook a lot of burgers  i used to and then I saw myself in the mirror and   I'm like I should stop picasso says no mistakes  just art patty's looking nice very good in my yard   i was seeing some great Mayards let's go all right  that's our best Mayard my guy love it and some you  
know not perfect now there were some buns that  were straight up burnt and abandoned i burnt the   buns and some buns were beautifully toasted but  these folks went the extra mile with their buns   steaming toasting on both sides using mayo instead  of butter and even garlic bread type situations we  
could do mayo on buns or we could go Sriracha  mayo here come no toast we're going to toast a   Sriracha mayo toasting the Sriracha mayo I have  never seen in my entire life there was unmelted   cheese which can happen and perfectly melted  cheese great technique was on full display nice  
seasoning of tomato key have to i was shocked and  truly couldn't have been more proud to see that   many people salted their tomatoes thank you vicing  our tomato first time I've seen this i like that   how much time do I have 3 minutes remaining oh my  god all right i'm losing part of it oh no come on  
i feel one most essential part is definitely the  cheese almost forgot the cheese i forgot about   cheese completely forgot about the cheese oh we  didn't do cheese oh I did everything wrong i feel   like there's something I should add i don't know  why don't we pull like a waterburger style burger  
and just throw on two cheeses this is so not  how you do this 2 minutes remaining wa let's   mix this up i got so nervous i think I lost some  of what I was planning to do i don't think I need   to put lettuce on it do cowboys eat lettuce hell  no we don't all wrapped up now I feel a little  
more in the zone is that me sorry about that no  you're good all right we're melting the cheese   wa three pickles exactly cook cook we getting it  i'm smelling the spice look like a little charred  
maybe some people not me boom cajun persuasion on  oh no cheese all right roll with it love it boom   onion too salted little crunchy calling it drop  that sauce on i should probably taste it it's  
good thank god i kind of like a burger that fits  in your mouth if things don't fit in your mouth   what's the point of life we're almost done this is  good practice i'm trying to do some meal prep if I   can do this in 10 minutes that's what I like to  hear dude so many peopleing out there y'all got  
time 1 minute left 50 burgers 50 unique versions  and now it's all coming down to this sauces are   being spread toppings landing and kings being  crowned you said 1 minute holy i want to put on  
the arugula so that way it adds a depth of flavor  that's kind of a sick idea super creative okay   plating oh my god bang dude we still got some we  still got some got a burger being assembled upside  
down that's not against the rules he turned it  upside down he flipped it right side up just like   that i'm going to be honest with you i don't think  I've ever seen melted cheese upside down like that   burger in a pan we can't get too much sauce we  can't get lost assemble some pickles full stack  
it up ah man we got it a little extra sauce on  the top here we're done here that's how we do   it going back for the sear with 40 seconds left i  feel like Spongebob right now when he like tucks   the pickles in no mustard i don't think it'll  go with it this doesn't feel planned actually  
no i'm going to keep it simple the mustard swoosh  even it's simple there we go oh sh look at that   look at that no one's going to tell me that  the egg is sitting there the corner of death   reigns again the egg fell to the crack not the  end it was a crucial part boom burger topping  
on oh my bacon the bacon's gone dude bacon's out  beautiful that's time wonderful work i think it   looks beautiful how do you feel about it i feel  good about it without the rushing at the end I   burger that had green food dye in it i don't hate  it it has a fat patty that's all I ask for in a  
burger i'm happy with this didn't salt and pepper  the meat as it's cooking but you know I think it's   okay feeling pretty confident about this one my  yard's down we got the buns toasted didn't go too   heavy on the salt or pepper i went off vibes and  I feel strongly about it i want to eat it it looks  
like a top tier burger i feel very confident  i feel mostly good i think the patty might be   a little less done than I wished by far the most  technique intricate burger we've had so well done   really yeah no one's made a mayo that's really  hard i feel good about it as long as it beat  
Shayen that's the way to go honestly I'm pretty  impressed cuz I came in here with absolutely no   i would actually demolish that burger right now  i feel really really good i feel good i hit the  
simplistic tones I wanted to hit with it to be  honest could have been better there's always going   to be room for improvement but I'm content this  was an emotional roller coaster and it was finally   time to taste every single one of these creations  i carefully evaluated every burger based on these  
categories and gave each one a total score out  of 50 total points and after a grueling battle   of mind and stomach I finally selected our top  10 neither of the brothers made the top 10 but   in this battle the Burger by Kashave did take the  edge none of our first time burger makers made the  
cut either but seriously shout out to them for  even attempting here are our top 10 and somehow   our very own Vicrim took the number one spot  with a Go Jong Patty Melt inspired burger it's   was just for fun it's not really fair because he  quite literally watched every burger get made so  
we have a new top 10 this is the real leaderboard  and these are our top three finalists moving on   in the number three spot we have Cole returning  to the final three in yet another challenge his   pickled vinegrett propelled not only his burger's  flavor but creativity points to secure a top spot  
in the number two we have David with a sleeper  of a burger despite the appearance not the most   beautiful I'm honestly shocked with how delicious  it was the beef flavors shine through quite well   with the topping choices that he had on there  with the sweet heat from his Sriracha sauce i  
love that he didn't make an aioli out of it it  was actually just spicy sweet heat really kicked   it up to another level and finally also in the top  three for the second time ever Seeking Redemption   Jackson now I thought he had the best executed  simple burger in this entire competition dang  
near perfect sear the beef flavor came through  beautifully the acidity and salt levels were   borderline perfection $5,000 is on the line for  our winner second place gets $1,000 and third  
place walks away with absolutely nothing in this  round we've increased the time limit to 20 minutes   and we'll give each contestant access to tools and  ingredients that they did not have before however   they need to make three burgers this time for  three separate judges all with different pallets  
will they remake the burger that got them here or  are they going to switch it up at the last minute   it's all to play for and it starts right now with  the man in pole position Jackson i feel like if my   burger was good enough to get me to the top three  I don't feel like I need to change up anything if  
patties you know it takes like a minute i know  the last time I forgot to season both sides of   that I made there were some sweetness elements  to it but also like savory with the mayonnaise  
and with the mustard kind of added like a little  extra tang this guy's probably ready to flip by   now that's looking good almost forgot what kind of  chef would I be if I didn't have cheese okay sauce   is done feels like I'm working at McDonald's right  now we're going to give this a smash again just  
any other Tuesday yeah I'm making burgers i used  these last time little bio bun action kids never   forget your salt and pepper see buns in give this  guy a flip this guy's kind of up so we're going to   scrap this one in life mistakes happen just got to  pick yourself up and just go again thinking back  
to the last time the spicy chicken sandwich video  the thought of coming in second place it's haunted   me to this day i'm not going to lie so I'm hoping  today that we land the plane and and we take it   golden brown with a little extra side of brown the  beef is ultimately the star of the show right so  
need to elevate it oh can't have that all right  redo on the buns ooh the pressure's on you can   feel it this one's not my best work but this one's  better and that's it feeling pretty good let's do  
it we're looking good but what will our judges say  i'm joined by Chef Christian and Chef Fermy Nunees   now remember we're judging on many things: texture  flavor sear and toast appearance and creativity   like it's no toast beautifully toast half toast  immediate thought i got a lot of texture in mine  
but I got a lot of char in mine got a lot of black  pepper not a lot of sauce where are you getting   the texture then the onions and the charred bread  yeah your your bun is not toasted so you're not   getting anything i have like good notes and bad  notes i feel like we all got a different burger  
how do we judge that so part of this challenge is  consistency across the board and because everybody   got a different burger the scores may be different  inconsistency in product equals inconsistency in   output mine was a little bit on the drier side it  didn't have much texture and there was not a lot  
of sauce compared to what I tasted in y'alls it  was juicy it was okay seasoned it wasn't perfectly   seasoned mine had a great amount of texture i  will say on mine the texture I thought was very   good the patty was a little overcooked but it was  well compensated with good sauce amount juicy and  
crunchy pickles and the toast on my bun withtood  all of this juicy fatty saucy burger without   falling apart and getting mushy and it still  had crunch on the toast which I wasn't expecting   flavor wanted to be there it was masked by char  i think it was too hot whatever he cooked it on  
for the flavor overall was tasty it wasn't like  the most flavorful one mine didn't have a lot   of sauce it was very dry the meat was a little  bit overcooked and lots of heavy black pepper  
not a lot of texture on mine it's almost like all  the sauce that was made just went into my burger   appearance they were related but you could tell  they were different the technique needs to be top   tier to win so on to the next our next finalist  is Cole who like Jackson suffered a heartbreaking  
loss at a top three finisher in our spiciest  chicken sandwich video so can he finally put the   defeat behind him it was a little inspirational  to lose the first time but to be back and try to   get a chance at redemption is something I live  for i'm going to do the OK City style i'm going  
to throw down some onions to press the burger in  cuz that way the onions will start to carromise a   little bit to be inside the burger i was studying  a lot last night lots of videos lots of tutorials   i'm toasting my buns i like to set them on  a cooling rack so they keep their crispiness  
sometimes simplicity is the best thing which is  not necessarily what I might go for but we'll see   i'm about to smoke the cheeses i don't know what  flavor this is i'm still as confident as I was   before going for number one i'm going to take this  out now we have smoked American cheese it's going  
to be single patty cuz I don't have enough time to  do a double patty we're going to make the classic   burger sauce of the planet i think my burger  will stand out because of the amount of different   sauces I learned last night who doesn't like MSG  shout out Uncle Roger and a little bit of worisher  
to be honest with you I have no idea what the  hell that does but it goes in a lot of stuff go   trying stuff for the first time i've done some  things in my home kitchen but there's a lot more  
to work with here oh that's fire i've never tried  black truffle oil by itself gives it a little bit   of depth balsamic vinegar is a mix so I'm going  to put the sauce on the bottom i hope that's   not cold over the top this is going to come down  to the wire i'm panicking again cuz I thought I  
had so much time i hope that my burgers were well  cooked enough i wish I waited a little bit to cook   them but I'm very confident the creativity and the  depth of flavor that this is going to have there   should be a good balance will altering the recipe  that got him here earn Cole his $5,000 prize or  
heartbreak yet again mayard caramelization i see  excitement in our eyes good sauce quantity on both   sides i love that the arugula is dressed son of a  [ __ ] i can smell the smoke now really good meat  
to bun ratio i'm going in you get a little bit  of sweetness i think it needs a little bit of   acid i agree it's a sauce that has MSG in it it  has way too much MSG I've noticed has an adverse   effect on acid i could be wrong about this but  like in my personal experience when I add too  
much MSG to a sauce that's acidic you round  the flavor if you get a bite of this pickle   though there's pickle in the sauce i think diced  pickle ah it's good now the buntoast is great i'm   getting like crunch texture really really solid  juicy no dryness salt levels I think are almost  
there i appreciate the little bit of smokiness to  it that's nice sear on the meat is better visually   I think this burger pristine as a burger it's  not over complicated which is great creativity   it's up there it's well executed i think it needs  finetuning i think it would take it for an oil  
change for tuneup the question is can the final  one beat this our last finalist is David the man   who he thought would never even start his burger  let alone finish he really surprised me but will   he bring another winner and possibly a new burger  style to the finals it's going to still have the  
same elements hopefully improvements that the  judges can appreciate preparing section i've met   my plaus so I'm going to start doing the cooking  i remember I used potato buns before we're not   here for health we're here for good tasting so a  lot of butter time really flies when you're very  
nervous this was never about me going against  other people the root cause of the stress is   cooking in front of a camera is very different  from cooking at home this is where I'm going to   do a slight deviation i'm going to try to make a  cheddar crisp by frying this in the pan and as a  
lactose intolerant person you know I love cheese  so I like to pile that on there i think I'm going   to do a single patty i usually would do double but  I'm too scared to do a double i'm going to add a   little bit of the seasoning i'm just here to cook  food and the addition of that not looking like an  
idiot and look at that nice golden brown so I'm  feeling a lot more in control now i have a plan   this is where preparing at the beginning really  does help everything down the road so now I'm feel   confident enough to do a second patty do I want to  put more stuff no those are distractions i have a  
plan and I'm going to stick with the plan but it  looks like the patties are near to completion so   I'm going to start assembling my burger i'm fine  with doing it a little bit overcooked cuz I don't   want to give food poisoning to the judges gun to  my head if someone asked me what did I learn from  
Joshua Wiseman video it is season your tomatoes i  love onions with burgers like that duet between a   fatty patty and like the slight bite of a fresh  onion three banana peppers some crispiness and  
finally the sauce okay every kid has a hat that  is done i think we just dive in dude all right   part of me took thinks I took a bite of a cheese  it the layering of cheese could be a little bit   more well distributed this is supposed to be a  $5,000 burger we're going to be critical i was  
surprised how good the flavor was despite the  fact that the beef was pretty underseasoned all   the salt in mine is coming from the cheese not the  meat the sear is what dropped it down the most the   only sear on there was the cheese everything else  was a little bit lackluster on a positive note  
I love the cheese skirt i think that's a cool  ad i think that is a good technique the sauce   is adding the seasoning that you need it's sweet  spicy you didn't get any banana pepper i got you   based burger sauce for once I love it the only  texture I got was the crispy onions and the cheese  
the meat to bun ratio is a little off to me cuz  like when you pick this up these potato rolls are   so soft they kind of shrink into nothingness and  you've got like two sheets of paper and like all   idea of what this could be was there the execution  was a little bit lacking the appearance it looked  
fine but it's not a burger that I'm like rushing  to take a picture of and putting on my Instagram   and now the moment of truth we will now score  our top three and decide who cooked us a $5,000   burger okay so we've made it you really made it to  the finale out of 50 people that to me is already  
a win and I think all three of you guys should  be super proud i think everybody that is on the   docket right here made fantastic burgers through  and through both the first time you made one and   the second time you made one but we must truly  pick an ultimate winner now before I give these  
scores we enjoyed all the burgers so this is not  a question of what was good what was bad this is   a question of the highest level of precision down  to the finest detail the toast the way the burger   looks what's the meat to bun ratio how much sauce  in it so we're starting with third place could be  
anybody so in third place with a still pretty  strong score was unfortunately my dear friend   Jackson i'm sorry it was close still a delicious  burger i will say a good toast on the bun patties  
tasted good all the burgers were different we  didn't have the exact same burger crust it kind   of skewed our rankings i think if the burgers were  more consistent there would have been a better   battle that said seasoning flavor burger was nice  moving on now it's down to the final two all those  
scores were close in general that said these two  scores were even closer first place gets the grand   finale prize of $5,000 for a singular burner with  a score of 113.5 across the board first place goes
to Cole with 113.5 the winning burger weirdly  enough one of the most simple burgers out of the  
three and the thing that won it I think for all  of us was the fact that it was simple but elevated   and all the smaller details in the burger from  the toast to the patty to the meat to bun ratio   the precision the technique was the closest to  what we were looking for so congratulations Cole  
second place David you still get a little bit  of a prize jackson I'll give you a kiss on the   cheek cuz you're still a beautiful man and I love  you very much you killed it subscribe bye [Music]  
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