And to make sure yours turn out perfect every time, the Good Housekeeping Institute's food director, Susan Westmoreland, offers some advice. Tip number one: To barbeque a “better burger” – don’t be afraid of the “fat.”

“A lot of the fat is going to drip off anyway," says Westmoreland. "So your grilling-your final product-will be a leaner burger than what you start with. That’s the good news.”

The bad news is most people don’t know how to “shape” the patty.

“We tend to want to really shape it and over handle it. When I make a burger, I really don’t like to touch the meat too much. I like to just get it, shape it and let it go. That’s about it. That’s what I would do," says Westmoreland. "And if you want, some people love to do this little indentation in the middle so you don’t get that little “bounce” on the top. Smashing the burger is going to give you a really tough, condensed burger.”

Then when you get to the grill, to keep your “stuff” from sticking:

“It’s often because your griddle isn’t hot enough when you put the meat down. And if the cold meat starts cooking on a “not so hot” griddle, they kind of seal together. So you really want a hot grill that you’re going to put the meat on and hear it sizzle,” explains Westmoreland.

Now’s the time to try some new toppings.

“Everybody loves ketchup and I’m a ketchup fan. But I also love to “go a little further”. So we tested mustards and chutneys and relishes and one of our favorites was the Silver Spring wasabi sauce. It was really delicious. Don’t be afraid of the color. It’s that classic Japanese mustard. It was delicious on beef. And then the Tobasco Caribbean Style Steak Sauce also works really well on a burger.

And I loved Patak's Brinjal Eggplant Relish. You would never taste eggplant in it. It’s a really nice thick, almost like a pasty spread that was delicious with beef. It’s sweet and tangy with a little bit of heat. Very, very nice,” says Westmoreland.

More tips? Good Housekeeping says don’t keep ground meat in the refrigerator for more than two days. If you want to freeze ground meat because you don’t plan to cook it anytime soon, rewrap it in freezer wrap and plan to use it within three months.

And one mistake people sometimes make when they’re making hamburgers to grill is over mixing them with other ingredients. The burger doesn’t have to be a crazy concoction to taste good.

For more outdoor grilling tips, check out the June issue of Good Housekeeping or visit www.goodhousekeeping.com.