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8.4BM score
Smash Burgers
Community Rating8.3 · 1 vote
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About
The shopping list that matters: hamburger buns, butter, ground chuck beef and inch squares parchment paper. The step that decides how it turns out: form meat into 8 loosely-packed balls, 2 ounces each. It scored 8.4 out of 10 here after cooking it exactly as written. The full method runs to 4 steps below, with the ingredient list above it. Read the whole thing once before you start: a couple of the steps overlap and it saves a burnt batch.
Ingredients
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- Burger bun4 hamburger buns
- Butter2 tablespoons butter, softened, or as needed
- Ground beef1 pound ground chuck beef (80% lean)
- Parchment paper4 6-inch squares parchment paper
- Saltsalt to taste
- American cheese4 slices American cheese
- Burger toppingsburger toppings of choice
Recipe
- 1Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil the grate. Set a cast iron flat-top griddle or large cast iron skillet onto the grill and preheat until smoking.
- 2Spread butter on the inside of the buns and toast on the flat-top until lightly browned. Set aside.
- 3Form meat into 8 loosely-packed balls, 2 ounces each. Do not pack the meat tightly, as this will prevent it from smashing properly. Place each ball on the hot flat-top, cover with a piece of parchment (to prevent sticking to the spatula; re-use each parchment square on a second patty) and immediately smash down to a 1/4 inch thickness using 2 stiff, sturdy spatulas that are criss-crossed to get proper leverage as you press down. You may also use the bottom of small skillet. Sprinkle the meat with salt.
- 4Grill for about 45 seconds, until the edges are dark brown and the centers are a light pink color. Using a bench scraper or firm spatula, gently scrape up the patties, flip over and immediately cover 4 of them with cheese. Grill an additional 15 to 20 seconds; stack the plain patties over the cheese-covered patties so you have 4 stacks. Move each stack to a bun and serve with your favorite toppings.
