SMASHBURGERS.... Ever made them?

K

Kimchee

Guest
So everyone rants about big, fat juicy hamburgers, dripping with flavor...

Anyone else out there like their burgers flat and crispy, like you get at Steak and Shake? (Apparently there is a chain called Smashburger, too).

Gonna make some tonight, first time.

Found one blog with a methodology...

Make a 3 inch ball of burger, put it in a hot skillet, let it cook for a minute.
Flip, smash, cook 1 more minute.
Flip, add cheese if you're gonna, cook another minute, serve.

I'm drooling already!
(If anyone has a TNT cooking method better than this, let me know!)
 
Adillo303

Adillo303

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I haven't made them, but, if you have a tortilla press, you could start out with a burger just about as thin as you please.
 
M

mhend

New member
I actually prefer a thin burger, Kimchee. I don't have any gadgets to use, I just usually press them as flat as I want them with my hands. The tortilla press sounds like a good idea! :)
 
Keltin

Keltin

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I like 'em thin on occasion as well. I use two 8" salad plates (or saucers), spray them with Pam, then mash the meat between them. You stack then together for the mashing the same way as if you were stacking them to store in the cabinet. Works very well; uniformly thin every time
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
I watched the cook at the Steak and Shake, and they used a similar method.. the meat cooked a bit, then got squashified. I'm gonna try that, but I think super thin and in the panini grill might work just as well....

Maybe I'll remember my camera, LOL!
 
Keltin

Keltin

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What I like about forming them first is that I can mold them to take care of the splits and cracks that appear at the edges. If you mash it in the pan as you're cooking, you'll probably get splits and cracks. Not that it really matters; just my OCD kicking in. :biggrin:
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
I understand that OCD completely, oh yes.
Gosh, hadn't thought of that... hmmmmm.....

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... cracks are not good things at all....

well, gonna try it anyway, we have backup leftovers just in case, LOL!
 
Leni

Leni

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Wouldn't you squeeze a lot of the juice out? Doesn''t sound like a juicy burger to me.
 
Guts

Guts

New member
I use a Hamburger press. you can make them any thickness you want, or make two thin pattys put some thing in the center to make a stuffed patty, if doing you this the press needs to be readjusted to a thicker setting though. I have also cut some sandwich paper onto squares to put top and bottom of the press. This helps with clean up and general handing of the pattys. I like this thing and it works good for me.
 

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buzzard767

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
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I think those fat guys would work best for me because I like to infuse them with minced onions, green pepper, and garlic.
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
So, I rate these a definite YUM!
I had juice running down my hand, so there goes another myth about
squishing all the flavor and juice out of the burger. :)
Just for kicks, after I cooked one, I mashed it up in my colander... and got
a good tablespoon of "juice" out of the patty. Used an 80-20 ground beef mix.
Got 8 patties out of 2 pounds of meat, so they were quarter pounders.
 
Keltin

Keltin

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Kimchee said:
So, I rate these a definite YUM!
I had juice running down my hand, so there goes another myth about
squishing all the flavor and juice out of the burger. :)
Just for kicks, after I cooked one, I mashed it up in my colander... and got
a good tablespoon of "juice" out of the patty. Used an 80-20 ground beef mix.
Got 8 patties out of 2 pounds of meat, so they were quarter pounders.
Click to expand...

Did you do the ball-in-pan-and-smash technique........did the patties crack or split?
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
Made a ball, nice and tight, dropped it into the hot pan.
Let it cook for 1 minute.
Flipped it. Smashed it with a spatula...
AND I AM SO HAPPY! My crappy black plastic spatula snapped,
and I get to go kitchen shopping wooo hooo!
OK.. smashed the patty to about a 1/4 inch thickness.
Let it cook 1 minute.
Flipped, slapped on some square cheese, covered it till it melted.
Ate it.

(The smashed smashburger did not go to waste. Two extremely spoiled dogs quite
enjoyed it. Said that would be a fine addition to their meal. So would cat food. Oh,
some shredded cheddar cheese would be good too. It was funny, last time we had
chicken on the bone, they though I would harvest all the skin and meat from the
bones for their meals... what are these dogs, stupid? Like I'd do that... yeah.. no
way... not me... nope....) ;)
 
Keltin

Keltin

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Kimchee said:
Made a ball, nice and tight, dropped it into the hot pan.
Let it cook for 1 minute.
Flipped it. Smashed it with a spatula...
AND I AM SO HAPPY! My crappy black plastic spatula snapped,
and I get to go kitchen shopping wooo hooo!
OK.. smashed the patty to about a 1/4 inch thickness.
Let it cook 1 minute.
Flipped, slapped on some square cheese, covered it till it melted.
Ate it.

(The smashed smashburger did not go to waste. Two extremely spoiled dogs quite
enjoyed it. Said that would be a fine addition to their meal. So would cat food. Oh,
some shredded cheddar cheese would be good too. It was funny, last time we had
chicken on the bone, they though I would harvest all the skin and meat from the
bones for their meals... what are these dogs, stupid? Like I'd do that... yeah.. no
way... not me... nope....) ;)
Click to expand...


Kitchen shoppings trips are always good! Your burgers sound great.....but......did you get any splits or cracks?
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
Oh, sorry.
No, no splits or cracks that exceeded allowable parameters.
Uneven irregular edged patties, but intact and structurally sound.
When I made the hamburger balls to put into the skillet, I gave them a good
compression to stick everything together. That might've helped.
No additions to the meat, just some garlic powder, seasoning salt and pepper.
One pound of 85/15 mixed with a pound of 75/25... equivalent to 80/20 meat to fat.
Skillet was at medium hot, I would estimate. Gas stove, cast iron.
Buns, maters, lettuce, Heinz catsup, yellow mustard, dill pickle, onion.
Two burgers, I'm a pig. With a side of Ore Ida Texas Crisper oven fries.
And a Heinz worchestershire Franks Red hot sauce for dipping.
And some 211 Stack 22 oz beer that looked interesting.
By golly it was 8% alchohol with triple hops, malt and barley.
$1.49, I felt like a beer wino, LOL. Was interesting, could tell it was triple...
Have I rambled enough or should I continue? :)
I could tell you what the 211 in the beer name signified....
Bed time? me? how can you tell???? LOL!
 
Keltin

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Kimchee said:
Oh, sorry.
No, no splits or cracks that exceeded allowable parameters.
Uneven irregular edged patties, but intact and structurally sound.
When I made the hamburger balls to put into the skillet, I gave them a good
compression to stick everything together. That might've helped.
No additions to the meat, just some garlic powder, seasoning salt and pepper.
One pound of 85/15 mixed with a pound of 75/25... equivalent to 80/20 meat to fat.
Skillet was at medium hot, I would estimate. Gas stove, cast iron.
Buns, maters, lettuce, Heinz catsup, yellow mustard, dill pickle, onion.
Two burgers, I'm a pig. With a side of Ore Ida Texas Crisper oven fries.
And a Heinz worchestershire Franks Red hot sauce for dipping.
And some 211 Stack 22 oz beer that looked interesting.
By golly it was 8% alchohol with triple hops, malt and barley.
$1.49, I felt like a beer wino, LOL. Was interesting, could tell it was triple...
Have I rambled enough or should I continue? :)
I could tell you what the 211 in the beer name signified....
Bed time? me? how can you tell???? LOL!
Click to expand...


Excellent report! I think my OCD can handle this, and I'll give it a shot.....beer and all!!!! Thanks! :thumb:
 
F

FooD

New member
I used to sculpt clay so I can form burger patties pretty good. But smashing them while cooking sounds like fun. I actually like cracked edges on my finished patties.
Perhaps I can punch it down while cooking and call it a PUNCHBURGER!...:tongue: :lol:
 
L

loboloco

Active member
I tried this last week when a buddy of mine dropped a bar-bell weight on the grill. Not bad, but really flat.
 
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