To recap: For pan smashing to have any advantages, you need a pan that meat will stick to—and if you’re using cast iron, carbon steel, or (heaven forbid) nonstick cookware, that’s not gonna happen. Flip it. Smashed burgers are for people that like their steaks well done. Their juicy, hand-formed burger patties, fresh toppings, and fluffy egg buns do not hold a candle to other quick service burgers! Repeat with remaining beef. Not my lovingly seasoned cast iron pans, and not my large adult carbon steel griddle son. It adds flavor and if it makes cleaning the pan later a little bit easier, I'll sacrifice a little bit of crust. Lest you think that we owe this "smashing" burgers to the rise of food science, Pulitzer Prize- and James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold provides evidence to the contrary. Smashburger for breakfast? You want to get the best-quality meat you can with some fat in it. Their unique burgers are topped with premium ingredients like … $3.84. September 25, 2015. if i wanted something like that i would take a cast iron pan, wait for it to get smoking hot, sear with canola oil, butter baste to completion and rest that thing in a warm spot. And when you add some of their unique seasoning to the mix, you’ll begin to understand just how and why they rose so quickly. Homemade smash burgers are easy and fast once the grill is hot. Squishing defenseless ground beef is by no means a Herculean endeavor, but I’m five feet, 10 inches tall, strong in both body and spirit, and I still have a hard time feeling like I’m really getting “on top” of the beef to flatten it. ), then it's plain to see why smashing a burger can improve its flavor: It maximizes contact with the pan, increasing the surface area directly in contact with the hot … Fortunately, it's not hard. creating more surface area for the Maillard reaction to take place. When your beef patty meets some heat, the amino acids and sugars within it begin reacting, which results in changes of flavor and color. Press down for several seconds. Now for the fun part: smashing that sucker. A good cheeseburger is synonymous with everything from backyard barbecues on the Fourth of July to the dinner celebration after winning the Little League game on a Saturday afternoon. Follow him on Twitter and he will reward you by never tweeting. Once you have combined the onions and Worcestershire sauce, just barely form them into blobs. Burgers have gotten out of hand. Classic Smash® Burger. Next, he uses a special heavy metal press to sear the bottom of the patty into the heated cooking surface for ten seconds. If you have something similar, I recommend covering it in foil and using that as your smasher. This is no crime, but if we want maximum crust, thicker sections of beef mean surface area left on the table. A breakfast portion of our boneless breast of chicken, seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, hand-breaded, biscuit pressure-cooked in 100% refined peanut oil and served on a buttermilk biscuit baked fresh at each Restaurant. They stick. Pre-smashing, on the other hand, offers some advantages. It’s odd—but maybe not surprising?—for people to form such strong opinions about simple foodstuffs so central to the American culinary experience. Smash early, smash late, or smash not at all, the metal is just too well-seasoned for the burger to stick. The resulting patty should be 6-to-7 inches in diameter, and about a quarter of an inch thick. Subway. In fact, wildly successful burger chains Shake Shack and Smashburger have predicated their success on the principle that you need to press, or smash, your hamburger patty onto the cooking surface to get the most flavor. I own a small, heavy Le Creuset frying pan that I've used in the past as a makeshift panini press. And it is no wonder, because they are good. This reaction only happens at the surface of the patty, because the proteins need direct contact with the heat. The 200+ Best, Hidden & Most Powerful Features & Changes for iPhone, 22 Things You Need to Know About iOS 14's Newly Redesigned Widgets for iPhone, Best New iOS 14 Home Screen Widgets & The Apps You Need, 13 Exciting New Features in Apple Photos for iOS 14, 9 Ways iOS 14 Improves Siri on Your iPhone, 16 New Apple Maps Features for iPhone in iOS 14, 19 Hidden New Features in iOS 14's Accessibility Menu, Every New Feature iOS 14 Brings to the Home App on Your iPhone. One reason Smashburger and JFC made the deal, Schaden observes, is because the two leadership teams were on the same page about the company's growth potential. So when you "smash" your burger patty down, you're creating more surface area for the Maillard reaction to take place. Many home cooks were taught never to press down on a burger as it cooks since that would ruin your all-beef patty by getting it to release the juices it needs to stay tender and moist. Then use your spatula or a scraper if you own one to flip it over. Smash early, smash late, or smash not at all, the metal is just too well-seasoned for the burger to stick. Make sure that pan is nice and hot. But I would still smash them out pretty wide, a lot wider than you want the finished product to be. Set aside, leaving the bottom sheet of paper or plastic stuck to the patty. If a drop of water really sizzles and dances across its surface, it's ready. The tastes of the Fun Guy burger blends well. Facebook. By Adam Rapoport. Fat and fluid loss and protein linkage are inevitable, so I want to get the most crust I can before things get shrinky. Step 1. Kitchen stoves get nowhere near as hot as restaurant ones, so you might need up to thirty or even forty-five to get a really dark crust going. And everyone knows you need a lot of surface area touching the griddle-that's why all hamburgers are in the shape of patties instead of perfectly spherical balls. But when you smash a burger right after it hits the skillet (this is the only time you’ll smash the burger during the cooking process), when the fat is still cold and solid, it won’t lose any more of its juices than a non-smashed burger. Oh, you should smash your burgers alright. 1 pound ground beef, divided into four 4-ounce servings. Certified Angus Beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, Smash Sauce®, ketchup, toasted bun. Founded in 2007, in Denver, CO, the first Smashburger opened with one single notion in mind; to serve a better burger and, in the process, helped create a new category. It’s no secret why burger chains like Shake Shack, In-N-Out, and Smashburger are having such a moment. About Smashburger. And when you smash burgers, they get flatter - which means more contact area for tastier - Maillard Reaction - meals. He starts with high-quality beef that has a fair amount of fat and is packed into a loose ball, since overworking the meat can make the proteins get too tough. Turns out that is total hooey—a complete myth. About Us. For starters, you can do all your burgers ahead of time, streamlining the actual cooking process. Popularized from the restaurant chain called Smashburger, the name is derived from the method of pressing or smashing meat onto a hot griddle. But also: a cold, pre-flattened patty will stick just fine to a hot, unoiled steel pan, I promise.). That all changes today! Center a heavy skillet over the ball, and press down with very firm, even pressure. Plus, your method only works on a solid surface, not a grill or ridged surface. See All Deals How hot should the griddle be for cooking smash burgers? You’ll get a great crust and maximum flavor, plus, smashing things is fun! It works, no denying that, but it doesn't debunk a myth, just shows an alternative to making a patty. Set a ball or two in, salt side down, and cook let it cook for one minute. Shake Shack, Smashburger, ultra-smashed burger—to some of us, it will always be a California lunchroom creation. I love to smash my burgers... but strangely we never made video about them. The only debunking is : article is thinly veiled product placement for smash burger. The top smash burgers in Toronto are taking over the city, one crispy crusted patty at a time (ok, sometimes two at a time). A Smashburger is a burger unlike any other. Why not pre-smash, get just as good a crust, plan for the inevitable shrinkage, and actually enjoy cooking and eating your burgers? This caramelizes and creates a flavorful crust on the patty, and as Ryan explains, forces the juices in the meat to go upward. Spicy Chicken Biscuit. Sprinkle the top with salt. He writes about one of Los Angeles' culinary legacies, the California lunchroom burger: "The thin, slightly charred beef patty becomes basically another texture in this sandwich, more valuable for its crunch than for its juice—the lunchroom burger is essentially a short-form essay on crispness.". And if you smash right, you don’t lose any juices. Done with four ounces of beef, the result will be very wide (much wider than the palm of your hand), and about a quarter of an inch thick. Getting the right leverage is no picnic, either. The smashing technique employed harks back to the original White Castle in the 1920s and to Steak 'n Shake in the 1930s. Don’t make nice pretty balls. Smash down the ball until it is very thin. In your example you are forming the patty on the cooking surface, which is substantially different from smashing ground beef which has already been formed into a patty. 1. The Ultimate Keto Burger: The Bacon Smash Burger It doesn’t get any more American than the hamburger. Four toasted burger buns; Directions. How to Make the Best Smash Burger Ever Our editor in chief's idea of a perfect burger is simple, and all you need is a skillet. To the cooking surface. The perfect burger is simple, lacy-edged, and smashed. I know that if I pre-smash four ounces of beef to maximum (reasonable) thinness, I will end up with a finished product that’s conveniently precisely as big as a standard slice of American cheese. Turns out that is total hooey—a complete myth. Being smash burgers, you have the little crunchy edges. Realistically, most people don’t have an industrial spatula that’s wide enough to get full coverage on a smashed burger. Learn more tricks for creating great burgers: add a secret ingredient to keep them moist while they cook and use your thumb to help them cook evenly. Toast buns (if desired), and prepare toppings and condiments. And that keeps them stretched out! (Yes, I also own stainless steel cookware. Before you balk, have you actually tried smashing a burger on the stove?