Smash? Burgers


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Ok, wife wanted burgers, honestly did not even feel like opening the patio door let alone being outside grilling. So, awhile back I'd bought this large Cuisinart stainless griddle. Originally I got it for doing pizza because of it's large round size. But, this thing is a monster. It's 14lbs of copper and stainless. Apparently they're somewhat unknown and quite sought after. And I was lucky enough to find one.
Well, I made some balls of meat, (about 2.75 oz ea). Got the griddle hot. Wiped a bit of avocado oil on it, placed the balls on and did my best to smash them. Sadly I do not own a smasher so meat was creeping up through the slots and I did not have anything heavy to push down.
But, I did achieve quite the crust actually quite proud of myself. But oh boy what a mess I have to clean today. The stove, the griddle, the utensils. Yukko.
I will try this again, BUT, I intend to get proper "tools" and will likely do it on the Wolf. Which can throw blast furnace level heat and maintain a large griddle temp like that.
This is what I am speaking about https://www.ebay.com/itm/226400216325
 
Larry, I know you have a decent spatula, for “smashing” use a can of soup (Progresso chicken noodle is best) to flatten the spatula over the ball. Seriously, any can or brick will make the smash go fairly easy.
I agree about the spatter mess though, best to do it outside!
 
Yeah, actually I don't have just a plain flat spatula. I know it's hard to believe with everything I do have, but it's true. I didn't think about a soup can :D
 
Lodge make a 6.25" burger press that can be bought anywhere for < $10
And their 19" X 9.5" Griddle is just under $30 at Wally's

Don't get me wrong, Stainless Steel makes a wonderful Smash Burger, but at no less than $100
The Burger Press & Griddle is < $50 total, and Cast Iron makes a lovely Smashed Burger, and I'm very picky about my Burgers
 
All my normal spatulas have slots, I have 2 long thin ones I use on the griddle but are really not wide or heavy enough to smash, I will grab a bacon press to try to flatten out, the handle really isn't made to put a lot of pressure on so it's tough to get the thickness like I want it, also the patty will want to stick and I forget to get a piece of parchment paper out to use lol. I have a lodge griddle for my Weber Q100 that I plan to use on my off brand charcoal grill soon. Going to bite the bullet and get 1 of the heavy spats from Blackstone to use on it. Smash burgers with hickory smoke sounds like a match made somewhere lol.
 
ChuckO said:
Lodge make a 6.25" burger press that can be bought anywhere for < $10
And their 19" X 9.5" Griddle is just under $30 at Wally's

Don't get me wrong, Stainless Steel makes a wonderful Smash Burger, but at no less than $100
The Burger Press & Griddle is < $50 total, and Cast Iron makes a lovely Smashed Burger, and I'm very picky about my Burgers
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I have cast iron ones as well. I just have absolutely terrible luck trying to care for CI stuff. IDC how hard I try, or what I do, they all end up gummy, sticky and absolutely NOT "slick" in any way. I have the stainless griddles already. Again not purchased for smashers but to actually do other stuff i.e. pizzas or breakfast items. One of the griddles I got free from years ago when my mom had this Corning top stove. It came with this VERY nice SS high sided (about 3/4") very heavy SS 2 burner griddle. She never used it as such. Was her prized pizza pan (and she made a helluva pizza in it). When she passed, my siblings said they did not mind me taking it.
In any case. My cast iron stuff is likely to go "bye bye" as I despise caring for it. Mostly because I am so unsuccessful at doing so no matter how many instructions I read, videos I watch. I fail every time.
 
LMichaels said:
I have cast iron ones as well. I just have absolutely terrible luck trying to care for CI stuff. IDC how hard I try, or what I do, they all end up gummy, sticky and absolutely NOT "slick" in any way. I have the stainless griddles already. Again not purchased for smashers but to actually do other stuff i.e. pizzas or breakfast items. One of the griddles I got free from years ago when my mom had this Corning top stove. It came with this VERY nice SS high sided (about 3/4") very heavy SS 2 burner griddle. She never used it as such. Was her prized pizza pan (and she made a helluva pizza in it). When she passed, my siblings said they did not mind me taking it.
In any case. My cast iron stuff is likely to go "bye bye" as I despise caring for it. Mostly because I am so unsuccessful at doing so no matter how many instructions I read, videos I watch. I fail every time.
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It sound like CI cookware is your "White Whale" Making a good pizza on the grill is mine... 😒
 
LMichaels said:
My cast iron stuff is likely to go "bye bye" as I despise caring for it. Mostly because I am so unsuccessful at doing so no matter how many instructions I read, videos I watch. I fail every time.
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Get your oven hot (400) Scrub you CI stuff (soap & water) dry it off, spray it with a Avocado or Olive oil, and put them in the oven for an hour or so, wipe them, spray them again and let them go another hour or so. Do this as often as you're willing, it's a great (and easy) way to make you CI slick
 
ChuckO said:
Get your oven hot (400) Scrub you CI stuff (soap & water) dry it off, spray it with a Avocado or Olive oil, and put them in the oven for an hour or so, wipe them, spray them again and let them go another hour or so. Do this as often as you're willing, it's a great (and easy) way to make you CI slick
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If you knew how many times I've done and redone this you'd understand why I am so frustrated with attempting to use CI. I've just had nothing but grief with the stuff. Now add in how hard it is to store and handle and honestly I'm pretty much done with it. I've tried every method of care known to man. Tried the Kent Rollins school, the low temp long time seasoning rule, the stove top methods, oven methods, in the grill methods. I think I am "cursed" by CI cookware
 
LMichaels said:
I have cast iron ones as well. I just have absolutely terrible luck trying to care for CI stuff. IDC how hard I try, or what I do, they all end up gummy, sticky and absolutely NOT "slick" in any way. I have the stainless griddles already. Again not purchased for smashers but to actually do other stuff i.e. pizzas or breakfast items. One of the griddles I got free from years ago when my mom had this Corning top stove. It came with this VERY nice SS high sided (about 3/4") very heavy SS 2 burner griddle. She never used it as such. Was her prized pizza pan (and she made a helluva pizza in it). When she passed, my siblings said they did not mind me taking it.
In any case. My cast iron stuff is likely to go "bye bye" as I despise caring for it. Mostly because I am so unsuccessful at doing so no matter how many instructions I read, videos I watch. I fail every time.
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If gummy and sticky, there’s too much oil used in seasoning. The only fix I’ve found is to strip and reseason.
When I season a 10 inch CI skillet, I use maybe a teaspoon of oil for the whole process, start to finish.

When I clean my CI, I use a drop of dawn and a lodge scrubber. Once dry, I rub maybe a 1/4 tsp over the pan, then store.
 
Mark Foreman said:
If gummy and sticky, there’s too much oil used in seasoning. The only fix I’ve found is to strip and reseason.
When I season a 10 inch CI skillet, I use maybe a teaspoon of oil for the whole process, start to finish.

When I clean my CI, I use a drop of dawn and a lodge scrubber. Once dry, I rub maybe a 1/4 tsp over the pan, then store.
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Same. Only difference is that I heat the pan up to ensure that it's completely dry, before I rub oil on it. Thin is key. Someone told me years ago that when you oil, do it like you're trying to wipe all the oil out of the pan.
 
I did a bunch of old cast iron pans by putting them in the oven and running the self cleaning mode on the oven. Let them cool and wash them in soapy water with steel wool. After that, dry and then start the seasoning process. I used Crisco to season. Preheat the oven to 200F and bring the pans up to that temp. Rub with Crisco - it will melt as you do it - rub in really well and then wipe it off very well. Put back in the oven and raise the temp to 300F for 15 minutes. Take them out and wipe them down again. Don't add more Crisco. You want to really try to wipe all if it off. Put back in the oven at 400F for 2 hours. Shut down and let them cool. I did this 3-4 times and got a really nice slick, black shiny finish. After I use a pan I clean it up with hot running water, dry it off and then put a few drops of oil in it, wipe it all around and wipe it dry with a paper towel. Have been holding up really well and getting more of a coating with use over the last few years.
 
Jonas-Switzerland said:
As for utensils, this is my cheapest and most used utensil. A trowel:

View attachment 107235

It can smash. I can attest to that. It has a sharp edge to flip any burger. And its cheap.
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Did you get the idea from the owner of Sid's Diner in El Reno? Anecdotally known as the place where the Oklahoma Fried Onion burger was not only invented, but perfected. He cuts down trowels to his own specifications for the diner.

This is from George Motz, the undisputed expert on burgers. George credits his entire career and life around burgers because of his first visit to Sid's.

 
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And, to the original post.... What you described is the exact reason why I have a standalone griddle. lol. We do more on it than burgers, but even if we didn't, I would have it. After making all the burgers it's just spray on some water, scrape into grease trap, more water, wipe down, add oil, wipe down, then done. I do it while it's still hot before I even sit down to eats. Takes about a minute and a half.

Last night the wife made BLTs and hash browns on it. Did everything from the bacon, toasted the bread, and the hashbrowns on it. When she was done I did exactly what I described above and was eating dinner in a couple of minutes after cleaning up the griddle.
 
Mike, is your griddle inside? Larrys inside cook was borne of not wanting to venture out into the cold for it. I don’t see myself using an indoor griddle very much, I just never cooked that way and I’m too old and stubborn to start. Maybe a small black stone type thing might get used or my fathers old cast iron camp griddle when it’s not snowing. If I finish off the gasser rebuild, I can see that as a serious possibility. But, I’m not big on the “Overspray” when using one inside. I can make plenty of mess without poking the griddle bear!😁
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Mike, is your griddle inside? Larrys inside cook was borne of not wanting to venture out into the cold for it. I don’t see myself using an indoor griddle very much, I just never cooked that way and I’m too old and stubborn to start. Maybe a small black stone type thing might get used or my fathers old cast iron camp griddle when it’s not snowing. If I finish off the gasser rebuild, I can see that as a serious possibility. But, I’m not big on the “Overspray” when using one inside. I can make plenty of mess without poking the griddle bear!😁
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Oh no, definitely outside and I was kind of inferring that I don't do them inside because of the very thing he described. Not trying to be crappy or anything because I get not wanting to go outside to cook sometimes. Being in Florida, it's not the cold that is the problem, but rather the rain that can literally hit any day, any time, for any length of time. lol I'm working on getting a covered area for my grills, but we just moved in in October so it's on the list for future upgrades once my wallet recovers from the move.
 
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