Double Smash Burger
Loosely packed balls of meat, smashed just once on a screaming-hot griddle: that's where the golden crust that defines this burger comes from. With onion smashed right into the meat, double melted cheese, and a tangy, creamy special sauce.
- 320 g (11 oz) cold ground beef, with good fat content (about 20%): roast beef, sirloin cap, or a mix of both
- Fine salt and black pepper, to taste
- 4 slices cheddar or American cheese
- 1 large white onion, sliced paper-thin
- 2 potato buns
- 1 tbsp softened butter
- Sliced pickles
- Crispy bacon and fried onion, optional Special sauce
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp finely chopped pickles
- 1 tsp pickle brine
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- Black pepper, to taste
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1
Special sauce
Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, chopped pickles, pickle brine, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and pepper. Rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes so the flavors come together.
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2
Shape the meat balls
Divide the cold meat into 4 balls of 80 g each. Don't knead or pack them: the looser the meat, the crispier the crust once it's smashed. Keep them in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
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3
Onion and buns
Slice the onion as thin as you possibly can (a mandoline helps a lot): it needs to cook through in the short time the meat spends on the griddle. Split the buns in half.
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4
Toast the buns
Butter the cut side of the buns. With the griddle at medium heat, toast them cut-side down for 30 to 60 seconds, just until golden inside without drying out. Remove and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
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5
Screaming-hot griddle
Get the griddle or a heavy cast-iron pan very hot over high heat, until it's just barely smoking (around 220-230°C / 430-450°F). If it's completely dry, add a few drops of neutral oil. Place two meat balls with space between them and top each with a generous handful of onion.
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6
The smash
Cover each ball with a square of parchment paper and press down hard with a rigid spatula until you get a thin patty, about 10 to 12 cm (4-5 in) wide. Hold the pressure for about 10 seconds so the onion sticks to the meat. Remove the paper and season with salt and pepper.
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7
Cook, don't touch
Let it cook for 1½ to 2 minutes without moving or pressing it again: pressing now would push out the juices and ruin the crust you just built. It's ready to flip once the edges look dark and deeply browned.
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8
Flip and cheese
With the spatula, scrape from underneath to lift the whole crust and flip it just once. Add a slice of cheese to each patty and cook 30 to 60 seconds more, until fully melted. Stack one cheese-topped patty on top of the other to form the double.
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9
Assemble
Toasted bun base with sauce, the double patty with cheese, pickles, bacon and fried onion if using, a bit more sauce, and the top bun. Serve it the moment you build it, straight off the griddle.
- The meat needs to be cold with real fat content (about 20%): that lets it hold together through the smash and keeps it juicy.
- Smash only once, the instant the meat hits the griddle. Pressing again during or after cooking pushes out the juices and costs you the crust.
- Cook two balls at a time: overload the griddle and it loses heat, steaming the meat instead of browning it.
- Since it's ground beef, it needs to be fully cooked through with no pink: the upside of smashing it this thin is that the heat passes clean through in a minute and a half without drying it out.