Easy Pellet Grill Smoked Burgers

By James Kimble May 6, 2025 7 mins read 69 Views

Once you try a smoked hamburger, regular grilling just won’t cut it. These patties are ridiculously juicy, loaded with rich, smoky flavor, and finished with that signature smoke ring.

Smoking burgers is way easier than you’d think. especially when cooked on the pellet grill. There’s no flipping, no flare-ups, just pure beefy magic with a side of bragging rights.

Burgers on the pellet grill

This has become my absolute favorite way to cook burgers after a busy day.

This method removes the guesswork from burger-making. Cooking on the pellet grill, you don’t have to worry about flare-ups, overcooking, and dry patties. Smoking burgers is a foolproof method, and once I started doing it this way, I never looked back.

a burger patty on the smoker looking juicy

Ingredients for Smoked Burgers

Ground Beef – I used Snake River Farms American Wagyu ground beef.
Burger/Steak Rub – We love our homemade steak rub! A simple SPG blend is all you need for the perfect burger.
Bacon – Thick-cut bacon makes a delicious, crispy, smoked bacon for the ultimate burger topping.
Homemade Burger Sauce – This homemade burger sauce is going to be on repeat. It’s a simple combination of mayo, ketchup, dijon mustard, pickle juice, relish, and SPG rub.
Burger Toppings – I went classic my burgers with American cheese, red onion, tomato, and butterleaf lettuce. You can check out other topping suggestions below.
Brioche Burger Buns – I used brioche burger buns in this recipe. However, your preferred burger buns will work fine.

Tips for the best patties

Don’t handle the meat too much – doing this will overwork the proteins in the meat and risk your patties falling apart on the grill.
Keep the seasoning simple – our simple steak seasoning in the burgers brings out all the flavor.
Be gentle when forming your patties.
Chill the patties – Chilling the patties before cooking helps the burger keep its shape on the grill.
Smoking – Smoking the burgers over low heat really helps them retain moisture. Anytime you increase the temperature of your heat source the fat from the protein tends to escape faster. Especially on burgers, when grilling them on high heat and flipping them back and forth, you can dry them out quickly.

What type of ground beef is best for burgers

Most people will buy their meat already ground at the store, which is what I usually do. Of course, if you have a meat grinder at home, making your own burger blends can produce excellent results.

What’s important here is choosing the proper fat-to-meat ratio. For me, I like an 80/20 blend.

That means 80% of the ground mixture is beef, and 20% is fat. This ratio tends to provide enough fat for flavor while keeping enough moisture throughout the cooking process to keep your burger juicy.

I don’t recommend making this recipe with grass-fed ground beef.

How to make smoked hamburgers

1. Fire up the smoker

Preheat your pellet smoker to 250°F.

I used my Traeger Grills Ironwood Pellet Grill with the Traeger Signature Blend Pellets. You can also use hickory, oak, or cherry pellets.

2. Make the rub (SPG)

Place the peppers, salt, and garlic in a bowl or lidded jar and mix well to combine.

The rub will be used as seasoning for your burger patties, burger sauce, and bacon.

3. Prep the patties

Add the ground beef to a mixing bowl and generously season with the SPG blend (remember to keep some for the sauce and bacon).

Start by gently forming the ground meat into one large ball. For ½-pound burgers, divide the meat in half. For four smaller patties, split it into quarters. You can also divide into thirds if you want a good middle ground between size and cook time.

Pro Tip: The larger ½-pound patties hold up better on the smoker, absorb more smoke, and give you a juicy interior with a flavorful crust.

Roll each portion into a ball, then flatten into patties. Press a slight dimple into the center of each one. This helps the burger cook evenly and prevents it from puffing up in the middle.

four uncooked beef patties on a wooden board — Be gentle when forming your ground beef into patties

Place the patties on a plate with parchment paper and chill for at least 30 minutes before hitting the smoker.

3. Prep the Bacon

Place bacon on a wire rack over a baking sheet. The bacon can touch, but do not overcrowd. Season with the SPG blend on both sides and place in the smoker.

a tray of bacon cooking on the smoker — If you like your bacon extra crispy, you can start smoking it before smoking the burgers.

4. Smoke the patties

After chilling, place the burger patties in the smoker and smoke until 135°F-140°F internal temperature.

Smoke times for different-sized patties

½ burgers will take about an hour to cook,
⅓ pound burgers will take 30-40 minutes, and
¼ pound burgers will take 25-30 minutes (you can smoke the smaller patties at 225°F for one hour if you would like to impart more smoke).

a tray of bacon cooking under thre burger patties on the smoker — Once the burgers are on the smoker, you really don’t need to mess with them.

When it comes to smoked burgers, it’s best to serve them at least 135°F so they’ve had a chance to pick up some smoke flavor, smoke ring, and a little bit of a “bark” on the outside. The burgers will have a natural pink color from the smoke, so have no fear, just use a meat thermometer to accurately temp the meat.

5. If using cheese

If you’re putting cheese on your burger and want it melted, place it on the burger patties near the end of their cook time, or melt the cheese with a culinary torch.

6. Prep the burger sauce

Combine the mayo, dijon mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, relish, and the burger rub in a mixing bowl. If you want to add some heat to the sauce, add your favorite hot sauce, chipotle, or cayenne powder.

a bowl of orange burger sauce with a spoon scooping some out

7. Toast your buns

Toast the burger buns on the smoker when the burger patties are just about done smoking.

8. Build your burger

There are no rules here, people, but this is how I do it:

I like to sauce the bottom half of the bun, then put the patty and bacon on.

burger buns with a patty, cheese and bacon on it and a bowl of sauce

On the top half of the bun, I sauce again and pile it up with pickles, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

burger assembly. one half patty, cheese and bacon, the other half sauce and pickles

burger assembly. one half patty, cheese, bacon. the other half sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion

Then, carefully place the top half on the bottom bun. I like to secure it with a bamboo toothpick; this is optional, but it helps keep everything together while transporting it to the table.

Once you taste a smoked burger done right, there’s no going back. The slow smoke and juicy center turn a simple patty into something unforgettable. Fire up your smoker, grab your favorite toppings, and get ready to make the best burgers you’ve ever had.

Try one of these flavor-packed toppings or mix and match to build your own stack

Classic – American cheese, pickles, onion, tomato, and lettuce.
Bacon and Egg – fry up an egg and sit it on the bacon.
Aussie – Pickled beets and cheddar cheese.
Spicy – Pickled jalapenos and chipotle mayo.
Sweet and tangy – Caramelized onions and blue cheese.
Fungi – sauteed mushrooms and blue cheese

Keep burger nights going.

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If you try this recipe or have a great topping combo, we’d love to hear from you, so please leave a rating and comment below.