What makes a burger smashed?

A smash burger is a burger that is made by smashing the ground beef onto the grill or griddle with a spatula . Smashing the burger results in a sear on the outside of the meat, which locks in all of the juices and flavor.

Why are smashed burgers so good?

Minced chuck steak is gold for Smash Burger. Secondly, it's the smash that really makes it. When you smash the burgers down on a super-hot grill, the fat has nowhere to go but back up into the burger patty meaning you're essentially cooking your burger in its own beefy juices .

What is the best meat for smash burgers?

To make good smash burgers, it's important to: Use ground chuck, or 80% lean ground beef; anything leaner will make the burgers dry. Be sure the patties are very cold before cooking. Smash the burgers immediately when you put them in the pan, and don't smash them again. More items... Apr 20, 2022

What is the best beef for smash burgers?

Ground beef . The magic of the smash burger (that crisp, caramelized crust) comes from the combination of high heat and the high fat content of the burger. Because of this, smash burgers don't work as well with a leaner ground beef, so aim for an 80-85% meat to fat ratio. Ground chuck would also work wonderfully here.

What oil does Smashburger use?

What oil do you use in your kitchens? We currently use butter on the grill, beef tallow/canola oil in our fryers, and a blended oil on our Smash Fries . To see the full list of offerings, please visit www.smashburger.com and select the “Menu” tab at the top of the page and then select "Nutrition".

How unhealthy is a smash burger?

With 70 percent of your daily max of recommended sodium, 113 percent of the daily fat max and 145 percent of the daily saturated fat max (based on a 2,000-calorie diet), this seemingly healthier burger is way out of calorie, fat and sodium control!

What temperature do you cook smash burgers?

Position your Baking Steel or Baking Steel Griddle on the stovetop or grill. Preheat on high heat for 10-15 minutes, looking for a surface temperature of 400-425 degrees F .

What is the difference between smashed burgers and regular burgers?

The traditional hamburger is typically cooked on a grill or griddle, and may be flipped once or twice during cooking. A smash burger, on the other hand, is made by smashing a meatball-sized portion of ground beef onto a hot griddle or frying pan, which produces a thin patty with a crispy exterior.

What is the difference between smashed and not smashed burgers?

While a basic grilled burger is great, the benefit of a smashed burger is that since you're literally smashing the burger down, you end up with a greater surface area and more opportunity for a Maillard reaction, which means more flavor.

Why are fast food burgers always smashed?

People aren't just smashing their burgers because it's fun, although it looks pretty fun. They're doing it because it makes them taste really, really good . Smash burgers are generally made with a good meat-to-fat ratio, ideally 80% ground beef to 20% fat.

The Food Lab's Ultra-Smashed Cheeseburgers Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Genius Recipes

October4,2022

2 Ratings

The Food Lab's Ultra-Smashed Cheeseburgers Recipe on Food52 (1)

Makes 1

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

These are a pretty straight-up, classic cheeseburger—except that they defy one of the most notorious myths of burger-making: to never smash the patties down while they're cooking, or the juices will run out and they'll go dry and tough. But if you smash your burger as soon as it hits the skillet—while the meat and fat are still cold—there won't be any juices (yet) to lose. You'll maximize the points of contact with the raging hot pan, so it all sears into a salty, beefy crust. But even more than the noted benefits of smashing, I love this burger because it also takes out pretty much all guesswork. As long as you have an extremely hot pan and you follow the protocol, this all happens so fast that you don't need to test anything for doneness, you just need to move.
Adapted slightly from J. Kenji López-Alt and Serious Eats. For more on Smashed Burgers and many many more brilliant recipes, check out The Food Lab, —Genius Recipes

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

1 soft hamburger roll, buttered and toasted
Condiments and toppings as desired, such as mayonnaise, mustard, shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, or pickles (or nothing—the burger's that good)
4 ouncesgood quality, freshly ground beef chuck, divided into two 2-ounce balls
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 slice good melting cheese, such as American

Directions

Prepare burger bun by laying toppings on the bottom bun. Have it nearby and ready for when your burger is cooked.
Preheat a large stainless steel sauté pan or skillet over high heat for 2 minutes (this can be done on a grill, or a stovetop burner). Place balls of beef in the pan, and smash down with a stiff metal spatula, using a second spatula if needed to add pressure. Smashed patties should be slightly wider than the burger bun.
Season generously with salt and pepper and allow to cook until well-browned and top is beginning to turn pale pink/gray in spots, about 45 seconds. Using a bench scraper or the back side of a stiff metal spatula, carefully scrape burger patties from pan, making sure to get all of the browned bits.
Flip patties and immediately place a slice of cheese over one patty and stack the second directly on top. Immediately remove from pan and transfer to waiting burger bun. Serve.
Note: The burgers are not good cooked in advance, so you do have to cook to order. Fortunately, with high heat they literally take a minute to cook from start to finish. But do have everything else ready—meat portioned, toppings sliced, buns toasted (just before guests arrive and keep them under a cover or foil so they don't go hard) so that you can minimize last-minute work.

Tags:

Sandwich
Beef
Cheese
5 Ingredients or Fewer
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T

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

Popular on Food52

16 Reviews

Alexandra S. August 31, 2016

Made these last night. They were spectacular! Felt like such a treat to have such a good burger. My husband was in heaven. I used grass-fed beef (15% fat), which I just found at my little co-op, and it was so tasty!

Tommy August 12, 2016

Been making these for some time.
Use a large cast iron frying pan or cast iron griddle.
450-475 degrees - I use a cheap laser temperature sensor from Harbor Freight.
Heat source is a blue hot kerosene or propane burner stove appliance.
Do this outside or in the garage since this billows smoke.
Another special touch is a pat of butter in the middle of a 6 ounce burger for
a Wisconsin butter burger flavor.
One minute on each side for medium rare and flip again for 30 seconds for medium but not as tasty.
Grilled buns also keep the bread from getting soggy.
Even average hamburger mixes taste great !!

jodyrah June 4, 2016

I've made these numerous times. Just follow the recipe. The burgers will be cooked and the cheese will be melted. The burgers are very thin. I don't see how you would be able to get them "less done" other than increasing the patty weight, which would defeat the purpose.

brodieb666 June 4, 2016

The recipe says to flip, immediately add cheese, stack and immediately remove from pan-is the second side supposed to cook at all? Seems not, so why not add the cheese on top of each patty when cooking? Then the cheeses will melt during cooking, and maybe give you a less well done center.

Bobjackson3 May 31, 2016

So if you're grilling, would it work the same if you were to smash the burgers before you put them on the grill

pjcamp May 31, 2016

Doubtful. The point is to push it hard against the cooking surface. If you want to grill, you could stick a griddle on your grill and press them on that.

Ginger June 2, 2016

Bobjackson3, I saw this very thing on The Food Network. Jeff M, from The Kitchen, put a griddle on the grill. He let the griddle get really hot
He, then, put the cold ball of meat on the griddle and smashed it. He seared it on the one side, flipped it over and seared it for a minute on the other. The smoke from the grill would get in to the burger.