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Thanks to everyone for commenting. Of course, "best of's" or "favorite" lists are bound to spark some controversy, but we've all fallen victim to those search terms when seeking out a a meal.

@jimmyjojo - you are welcome. I too don't find Father's Office a revelation as many others have, but more than that I find my colleague Nick summed it up best in his review of the place. It doesn't really qualify as a burger for this kind of a list.

@ChefJeffSD - Certainly Apple Pan is a classic eatery, but it's just not the kind of quality to warrant a mention here in the top five.

@Paula Maack - So glad that you enjoyed the list. Comme Ça is certainly a treat. Make sure your visit is a lunchtime one. Last I checked there's no burger available at dinner.

@simonmarkley - I understand your sentiment, but see above for my take on it.

@WikiAdam - You did recant, but you shouldn't have. I'd certainly hold these five up to FO and Applepan any day. No need to apologize for being passionate about burgers. I certainly am.

@Nebagakid - You are not alone in your love of Umami. I'm not on the bandwagon with it being the definitive new Los Angeles burger, but it's certainly part of the conversation about the best.

@sinosoul - Well, first off. So sorry to have lost you. A few quick things about your comment:

Comme Ça uses iceberg on its burger and while I don't find that it enhances it (I prefer mine sans lettuce) certainly that isn't a limp weed. Also - I think you put some stock in Jonathan Gold, his opinion, and a mention he made of you... I think he might agree with me on this one.

Umami is certainly full of schtick, but the grind is superior and I simply disagree about the meat to bun ratio.

As for my taste for Pie N Burger and what it has to say of my travels and where I get "grilled" burgers... Two things about that: First off, Pie N Burger is griddled so it would never be classified as a "real grilled burger."

Secondly, I have indeed made it south of 105... I reviewed a burger in Redondo Beach just a couple of weeks ago. It was really good, and like Mom's in Compton, is south of the 105. Another thing a burger in Redondo has in common with burger Compton? Neither is actually in Los Angeles so they wouldn't qualify for this list.

As for the other three you mentioned. All are good, but, would occupy the bottom half of my top ten. Again, sorry to have lost you.

@iheartcheese - Thanks for having my back. I appreciate it to be sure. That said, I know I am tapped to have an opinion and that means folks are gonna get riled up when they disagree. I guess I would say: I see my role here as not simply some arbiter, but rather, someone with a practiced and thought through method for forming his opinion and (hopefully) the skills to communicate it in a way that entertains and helps folks determine if they'd like to try a particular burger.

@mangabanga - Thanks so much for the support. I know not everyone will agree with me, but I did labor over my determinations.

@iheartcheese: You're absolutely right, iheartcheese. I am totally guilty of skipping past the word "favorite," and instead inserted "best" in its place, believing this to be a definitive list of L.A.'s best burgers instead of just Damon Gambuto's personal picks. Forgive my rash response!

@bgruber

Thanks to SeriousEats convenient comment subscriptions, I get comments forwarded to my inbox, so yep. Still reading them.

As for the answer... em... because Cook's Illustrated readers like their salmon more well-done than I do?

shh... don't tell Chris!

@ScoutinSpokane - sounds like something that might be good for the toaster oven.

Kenji,

The heat transfer rate/area = (coefficient of thermal conductivity)*(T_bath-T_egg)/distance

The equation is the same regardless of the medium. The dependence on the medium comes from the thermal conductivity coefficient.

Also, I agree with you that we are the only two involved in this conversation right now :)

@pookay

p.s. All of this is starting to remind me why thermodynamics was my second least favorite class in college :)

Kenji,
The contradition I pointed out still stands no matter what constants are involved since any constant divided by zero is still infinity.

The rate of heating per area is proportional to the temperature difference and inversely proportional to the distance (this actually means that in the instant right after the cool egg is put in the boiling water, the rate of heat transfer to the outer surface of the egg is infinite; note that this is not a paradox since an infinite rate times an infinitely small time interval is still a finite amount of heat). The temperature itself is not inversely proportional to the distance (or the square of the distance); solving the rate equation, the temperature approaches that of the boiling water exponentially fast with time so that if you wait long enough the whole egg will be the same temperature as the bath. The distance to the heat bath appears only in the exponent, so that the closer to the bath, the faster the temperature changes.

@J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Awesome write-up, I disdain cooking but am a scientist at heart... First thing I did was cruise down to the kitchen to give it a shot. When doing HB (but also SB) are you putting/leaving the lid on? That significantly changes the rate of heat loss to the environment and can make a big change in the water temperature variation over time...?

As a scientist, I'm glad that someone is starting a series focusing on this aspect of cooking. However, I would like to point out an inconsistency:

"when a mass is exposed to heat for a given period of time, a temperature gradient will form within that mass, with the area closest to the heat source being hottest, and the area furthest from the heat source being coolest. With very few exceptions, the temperature of a given spot in the food is proportional to the inverse square of its distance from the surface exposed to the heat source."

If this were true, since the distance from the heat source at the surface of the egg is zero, this would imply that the surface of the egg has infinite temperature. I think you mean to say that the RATE of heat conduction depends on the distance from the heat source (as well as the temperature difference). Also, the rate of heat conduction is proportional to the inverse of the distance from the source, NOT the inverse squared (Newton's law of cooling).

I will beg to differ on the instructions given here.

You *can* have more control and reduce the variables involved in cooking your eggs. First of all, starting with cold eggs right out of the fridge is a mistake. You are maximizing the temperature difference between the egg's starting temperature and its final temperature. You will have much more control if you warm the eggs first. I place them in a bath of hot tap water for 10 minutes while I heat my water.

Secondly, I place the eggs directly into boiling water. The reason I put the eggs directly into boiling water is that waiting for a boil is a "soft target". What you consider a boil or a simmer could be as much as a minute different from someone else.

Lastly, I stop the cooking after a prescribed period of time by pouring off most of the hot water and replacing it with water and ice.

In summary: 1) I reduce the temperature change that will be required from the starting point of the egg to the end point of the process by warming the eggs up. 2) I avoid soft milestones by placing the eggs directly into boiling water at the beginning of the cooking process. 3) I stop the cooking (and improve the peel of the egg) by using an ice wash at the end.

BTW, if you want hot eggs, pull them out after only 10 or 15 seconds. The ice water will have already improved the peel by cooling the membrane and surface of the egg without cooling the inside of the egg. You can even peel the egg most of the time before the heat rebounds and makes the egg too hot to hold. A neat trick!

We did an entire series on "how to eggs" back in July. From getting the basics down we moved the egg out of its normal breakfast role into dinner as well as methods were really fool proof, we tried and tried until, well, perfect! http://www.chezus.com/?s=incredible+egg&x=0&y=0

I tried but could not get the "perfect soft-cooked egg" by placing an egg taken straight from the fridge into 180F water, despite meticulously maintaining the water bath at eggsactly 180F for the six minutes the egg was immersed. The egg was considerably undercooked, with the whites fairly liquidy. I'm going to try egg-en.