To Make the Best Smashburgers, You Have to Break Some Rules (Patreon)

There are smashed burgers, and then there are smashburgers—and all too often, the former get passed off as the latter.

What's the difference? It all comes down to this:

Do you see that there? No? Let's get closer:

Closer...

Now you see what I'm talking about? It's those crispy, lacy, paper-thin, deeply-browned edges that frizzle out from the edges of the burger. The kind you want to crack off with your fingertips and crunch down like a beef chip before you dig into the rest of a burger.

Fat burgers dripping with juice and beef fat are all well and good, but if I had to pick one burger to slow dance with at the prom—one burger to love, honor, and cherish until death or cholesterol do us part—one burger to settle down, file joint taxes, and raise a brood of baby sliders with—I’m smashing the smash burger.

So how do you achieve that lacy crust, and why do so many so-called smashburgers fail at it?

The problem is smashburgers only happen when you intentionally break your well-trained cooking instincts. Indeed, some of the techniques and rules you've learned over the years are the exact opposite of what you want when it comes to smashburgers

Let's start with the basics: getting the right beef.

The Ground Rules: Picking the Right Beef

With a larger, beefier burger, most of the flavor will be coming from the meat itself, so the quality and cut of the beef can make a big difference in how your burger turns out. Grinding fresh using a blend of whole cuts can pay off big. (You can read my article on beef blending here.)

But with a smash burger, the flavor mostly comes down to maximizing that Maillard browning reaction. The individual flavors of the various muscle cuts that could potentially go into a burger blend don't make nearly as much difference. So long as your beef has a decent fat content—at least 20 to 25% fat by weight—you're going to do fine. (At the supermarket, this would be labeled as 80/20 or 75/25 beef.) In a smashburger, beef quality is less about pedigree and more about physics: fat + thinness + heat = flavor.

Bottom line: For a smashburger, regular old pre-ground chuck from the supermarket will not only do just fine, but most of the time it'll come out better (and cheaper) than a custom-blended, freshly ground mix from the specialty butcher.

Pressing Matters: Forming Patties

You may have read in the past that one of the keys to a great burger is gentle handling of the meat. I myself have written and taught this many times, and it's great advice—for a bigger burger. In fact, the method I use in my Extra-Crusty Burgers involved grinding the meat then gently pushing it into patties without ever lifting them in order to keep them as light and un-compressed as possible.

But with a smashburger, you want to give it the beef a little more packing, allowing the proteins to tangle up just a bit so that the lacy edge can maintain its coherence rather than completely crumbling as it cooks.

Bottom line: Rather than forming patties, for a smashburger I weight out my beef, then massage it into a coherent ball or puck.

Double the Balls, Double the Browning: Sizing Your Patties

And what about the size of those patties?

At the first burger joint I opened, Harlem Shake in NYC, we used a couple of two-ounce patties per burger, for a total of four ounces. A two ounce patty may seem very small, and it is—if you were to shape it the standard way. But a smashburger is shaped by literally smashing that beef onto a griddle, using brute force to stretch it out and thin the edges so that you can maximize browning.

Bottom line: Rather than smashing a single 4-ounce ball, smashing two 2-ounce balls gives you double the surface area—and double the browning. (It also means the burgers cook much faster—on a hot, restaurant-style griddle, it takes about 45 seconds start to finish.)

But doesn't the thinness mean your burgers end up well-done?

It sure does. Smashburgers are well-done. They’re supposed to be. But “juicy” doesn’t just come from the meat’s internal moisture. Our perception of juiciness comes just as much from our own salivating as it does from the juices physically in the meat. And the browner the beef, the more we salivate. Add a slice or two of gooey American cheese in there, and a thin, well-done smashburger is anything but dry.

Griddle Me This: Picking the Right Cooking Surface

OK, we've talked about the beef. Now we get to the real heart of the matter. The place where I see more smashburger mistakes than anywhere else: the cooking surface.

When I first started attempting to make smashburgers, I figured that my trusty well-seasoned cast iron pan—the same one I used to sear steaks, pork chops, and big fat burgers in—would be the optimal choice. It's big, it's heavy, it can get ripping hot, and from the years of seasoning I had built up in it, the surface was virtually non-stick.

And that was exactly the problem. When you smash a burger down onto a non-stick surface, no matter how thin you smash it, it will pull away from the surface of the metal and begin to contract. The thin, lacy edges you're after simply will not form.

Will you get something tasty? Sure. Those burgers I smashed in the photo above ended up as delicious onion burgers.

Browned and flavorful, for sure. But without a hint of the lacy edges that I crave.

So here's the secret: use a stainless steel pan, and more importantly, do not add any fat to it.

This is one of the rare cases in cooking where you actively want the food to stick to your cooking surface. A sticky surface is what allows you to smash and smear the beef down, and more importantly, for it to stay down as it browns. Sticking prevents a steam cushion from forming underneath the burger, lifing it off of direct contact with the metal. More recently, I've taken to adding a square of parchment on top of the patties before smashing in order to ensure that they stick to the griddle and not to my spatula.

In the video at the top of this article, I use my Balmuda Teppanyaki, which has a thick, heavy, stainless steel surface ideal for smashburgers. You can also use a large stainless steel skillet, though the sides of it will make smashing a little bit more difficult.

If you've got a flat stainless steel griddle I like using a regular old trowel from the home goods store as a burger smasher, though a good, stiff metal spatula like this one will also work well. If smashing inside a skillet, having a second spatula handy to add leverage can help.

As you smash the burgers down, work outward toward the edges in order to thin them out. A smashburger on the griddle should be thickest at the center and taper down to nothing towards the edges.

Bottom line: If there's one takeaway you should get from reading this article, it's that you should not use nonstick, carbon steel, cast iron, enamel, or any other surface that will prevent the burger from properly sticking when smashed. Use stainless steel, and do not add any fat to it before adding your patties.

Crustody Battle: Leave No Browning Behind

With most foods cooked on a griddle or in a skillet, flipping during cooking so that you cook evenly from both sides is de rigueur. But once again, for the ideal smashburger, you want to completely ignore that rule. Instead, you should let the burger patties cook until they are almost cooked through from a single side in order to get maximum browning.

Only once those browned, lacy edges have formed and the top of the patty starts to shift from red to pale pink should you even think about flipping. And when I say “flip,” what I really mean is “scrape,” because turning a smashburger isn’t a dainty wrist-flick — it’s manual labor.

What happens if you don’t scrape properly? Let me show you something I witnessed at a burger joint about 15 years ago. I’m not going to name-and-shame here, but suffice it to say: watching them leave all that gorgeous crust welded to the griddle hurt me deep in my soul.

Avert your eyes if you’re squeamish.

You need both the right tool and a good amount of elbow grease to get a proper scrape. At home and in my restaurants, I use a simple razor-edge wallpaper/paint scraper — the kind you get at any hardware store — because it guarantees I lift up every last crackly bit of crust. (Bonus: it’s fantastic for cleaning a steel griddle.) If you don’t have one, flip your stiff metal spatula upside down to get better leverage, or grab a sharp bench scraper (I use the OXO bench scraper) and work your way under.

The key is to work around the patty, loosening each edge before you commit to flipping the whole thing.

Once it’s freed and flipped, you’ve got to act fast. A smashburger only needs the faintest kiss of heat on its second side. Get the cheese on immediately, stack your patties, and get them straight onto a bun that’s already toasted, dressed, and waiting for this moment.

Bottom line: Let smashburgers cook 90% of the way on their first side, then scrape, scrape, scrape — and don’t let a single shard of that beautiful browning get left behind.

You Are Now Officially an Edge Lord

If all went well, you should be rewarded with something like this:

Or maybe this:

Or even this:

Smashburgers work because they break the rules. And once you taste that lacy, crispy edge, you’ll understand why they’re worth the rule-breaking.

Recipe: Classic Smashburgers

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I love about this recipe:

Lightning-fast—each burger cooks in under a minute

Huge Maillard flavor from maximum surface area

Uses inexpensive supermarket 80/20 or 75/25 ground beef

Crisp, lacy edges you just don’t get with any other burger style

Yield: 1 burger

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Notes: Smashburgers cook extremely fast, so prep your bun and toppings before you start. A stainless steel pan (not nonstick) and a stiff metal spatula or bench scraper are essential for developing the lacy crust. For multiple burgers, cook and serve them one at a time, unless you have a large griddle. Pre-ground supermarket 80/20 or 75/25 chuck works great for smashburgers—no fancy blending required.

Ingredients

For the Burger

1 soft hamburger roll, buttered and toasted

Condiments and toppings as desired (mayonnaise, mustard, shredded lettuce, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, pickles, etc.)

4 ounces (110g) freshly ground beef chuck, divided into 2 balls (2 ounces / 55g each)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 or 2 slices good melting cheese, such as American, cheddar, or homemade melting cheese

Special Equipment

Large straight-sided stainless steel sauté pan or flat stainless steel griddle

Stiff metal spatula or other smashing implement

Metal bench scraper or razor paint scraper.

Parchment paper.

Method

Prepare the bun and patties.Spread your condiments and add toppings to the bottom half of the toasted roll. Keep the bun nearby—once the patties are cooked, you’ll want to move fast. Season the balls of beef generously with salt and pepper. Cut out two 4- by 4-inch squares of parchment paper.

Preheat the griddle or pan.Heat a large stainless steel griddle or skillet to high heat. Do not use cast iron, carbon steel, nonstick or any other type of material. Do not add oil. Sticking is part of how you get the lacy crust. A drop of water placed on the surface should immediateley dance and sputter.

Smash the patties.Place the two balls of beef on the hot surface and place a square of parchment paper over each. Immediately smash each one with a stiff metal spatula, using a second spatula on top if you need extra pressure. Focus on the edges of the patties to press them out paper thin. Remove the parchment with your fingers. Cook without moving until the edges are deeply browned and lacy and the tops are beginning to turn pale pink/gray in spots, about 45 seconds.

Scrape and flip.Using a bench scraper or the back side of a sturdy metal spatula, carefully work under each patty to release it. Work around in a circle, releasing all the edges before releasing the center. Once loosened, flip both patties.

Stack and finish.Immediately place the cheese slice on one patty (or both if using two slices of cheese), then stack the second patty right on top. As soon as the cheese just begins to melt (this takes only a few seconds), transfer the stacked patties to your waiting bun. Serve immediately.