The Best Smash Burger Recipe
Today we are talking SMASHBURGERS. Look at this beauty. Have you had one? Of course you have. You may not have known it. But probably any burger that you have eaten and thought to yourself, “That was exceptional,” it was made using this method. They are incredibly juicy, not too thick, and have perfectly crispy edges that are the star of the show. You get this effect by throwing some 80% ground beef on a hot pan, sprinkling with salt, and smashing the heck out of it. So I counted…5. Five sour creams. And one of them was a huge 3 pound tub from Costco. Sour cream is the thing at the store that I’m always like, “Hm, do we have any sour cream at home? Probably not.” And then I add it to the cart. (Five times.) But I don’t have a taco recipe for you today. (In fact for Taco Tuesday my rule is NO SPECIAL RECIPES. Just regular ol tacos. Less stress.) Two years ago my mother-in-law came to visit and told me that she wanted to try a new hamburger recipe for dinner. She smashed up these cast iron skillet burgers and I’m not kidding you, we have never gone back. Every burger that has come from my kitchen since that day has been a smash burger.
Smash Burgers Recipe variations
How do you smash a burger without a smasher?
Yes, you need something to smash the burgers with and, yes, a grill press is best. Here’s one for sale that is similar to the one I have pictured here, but here’s the kind I wish I had; it’s round and the perfect shape for a burger. You can see that some of the burgers I made today are a bit oval.
1 pound 80% ground beef. Not 95%. Not 90%. 80 PERCENT!! Vegetable oil. To brush the pan! Salt. Kosher salt is what you want. American cheese. Don’t be an American cheese hater, see more below! Soft buns. Not too big! Mayonnaise. LOTS. not optional.
(quantities listed in the recipe below!) BEEF. Salt. Mayonnaise. People. Subtract nothing from the above! Did I mention you need mayonnaise? I didn’t say you might want some; I said you NEED IT. (again: “add ketchup if you want, I couldn’t care less.”)
Put a cast iron skillet on your grill or stove. Drop a chunk of ground beef directly onto the skillet. Salt the meat. Salt is your friend. Smash the meat, obviously. I feel like this is an 80’s song. Smash it, smash it real good! Smell the frying beef and drool. Have wipes on hand.
The heating surface for burgers should be about 400-425 degrees F. Wet your fingers and sprinkle a bit of water on the greasy surface. It should sizzle and pop. A cast iron skillet or griddle is what you want. All the fat drips into the fire if you put it directly on a grill, and remember what fat is? So instead we are cooking the meat in its own juices, which is the secret to getting those delightfully crispy edges. You can cook this in a skillet on your stovetop, but I actually like to cook it on the grill so that I don’t heat up the whole kitchen. Like this: I have a flat griddle, but I’m thinking of buying this one from Lodge. It is nice and big so you could fit a bunch of burgers at once, and it has raised edges so all the fat doesn’t drip into the grill. It would be great for making bacon when camping too, I’m always starting grease fires with a flat griddle. But, hey, no press, no problem! A heavy spatula will do. Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram Get yourself some nice soft buns. Not too big. Update: The day after I published this recipe my cousin Alice texted me…”Karen, I read your post about the sour cream. I went to the fridge and counted how many open jars of pickles I have. 6.” HA!
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