The Chopstick Burger Hack You Should Use This Summer

For many in the United States, the arrival of summer means burger season has arrived. Whether you like your burger patties thick or thin, beef or veggie, with or without a plentiful array of condiments and toppings, there is one trick that can not only make your patties more visually pleasing but save you some time as well. It's pretty simple, too.

The necessary tool is one of the oldest eating implements, the standard chopstick. History says records of people using chopsticks to assist their food preparation goes back as far as 1200 B.C. and the tools became popular across Asia by 500 A.D. Although they originally were used to prepare meals instead of eat them, they persist to this day as eating utensils throughout the globe.

While there is a food you should never chopsticks to eat, this hack doesn't recommend actually using chopsticks to consume your burgers. In fact, you probably never imagined using a chopstick in this way.

Food Network lays out this chopstick trick that should stick in your mind. Any experienced griller knows one of the keys to pretty burger patties is getting them as close to identical in size as possible. That's where a chopstick (yes you only need one for this hack) comes in.

According to Food Network, all you need to turn ground meat or vegetable protein into identical portions is a resealable plastic bag and a chopstick. After placing the protein into the bag and flattening it out, simply press the chopstick across the bag in a grid pattern to separate the meat into equal portions. You'll end up with spectacular patties that are exactly the same size, which you can either grill up immediatly or freeze for use later. If you're looking for ideas on how to use your fresh or frozen patties, there's a fantastic burger recipe you've never tried and a simple smash burger recipe you might crave.

After you portion out your patties, you can also use a chopstick to perfect any fried food you might want to make to go with your burgers as well. If all you're using a chopstick for is to dine on Asian cuisine, you're seriously underutilizing the tool.