Jose Suro
TVWBB All-Star
Hi All,
I said that I would write about my smashed burgers so here its. These burgers are incredibly good! People that have tried them at our home can't belive how good they are. There is a very good reason for that. As I mentioned before burgers are all about the crust. These burger patties are only 2.5 ounces, 4-inches across, 1/4-inch thick. Soo, what you get is a very thin medium-cooked burger that is ALL crust! You have to use a griddle because you can't smash them on the grates, they will fall right through. Also the griddle gets very hot so they cook VERY quickly and with an uniform gorgeous crust. The finished burgers are made with two patties each, both with cheese. Juicy an rich is an understatement!
First a disclaimer. This is not my recipe. That said execution and prep is important. I can use someone else's recipe and still screw things up.
During the lock down last year I did a lot of research on BBQ and Grilling techniques and food in general. As I mentioned before I finally perfected my steakhouse burger. Then I ran into a wild YouTube channel - Guga Foods. Wild is an understatement! The site is owned by a guy who I believe lives around the Miami area, and by his accent I think he might be Argentinian, or maybe Brazilian.
Insanity! He tries and cooks everything, from inexpensive meats to Japanese Wagyu $100 dollar burgers and even bought a $3,000 Bluefin Tuna. His other site is all about sous vide. I'll try again to post a link to his site, if that doesn't work I'll just post the title of the video and you can do a search on it.
OK, that out of the way, Smash Burgers. As the name implies they are smashed. How to do that is the key. I'll start with the stuff needed:
You will need a cast iron griddle. I chose this one by Lodge:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CMLTXG/?tag=tvwb-20
It's reasonably priced double sided, sturdy, heavy enough, it wont warp, and it's the perfect size for the kettle and allows you to cook 4 patties at a time. It comes "seasoned from the factory but I did mine again - light Crisco coating (imperceptible) and in a 450 oven for 45 minutes. Mine looks like this:
It can be used for a bunch of different things and it is relatively easy to clean and maintain.
You will also need two spatulas, a very sturdy spatula, and a specialty griddle spatula. I got this griddle spatula:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LN47VU/?tag=tvwb-20
The griddle spatula has to be 4-inches across - this is critical. When you smash the patties you will want to see exactly when it gets to 4-inches across in size (and the spatula is not transparent
). It's the size of the burger bun. The spatula is also very flexible and has two sharpened edges. You need this because no matter how good your griddle is seasoned burgers will stick here and there and they are so thin that you need this spatula to lift them without destroying them.
Optional but essential is a scale. You want to make what accounts to a bunch of exact 2.5-ounce 80/20 ground chuck meatballs, yes meatballs. I posted a link to the one I use in my last post.
Then you use the two spatulas to smash them. The sturdy spatula is used to press down on top of the griddle spatula to smash the meatballs into 4-inch patties. Pretty simple and efficient.
Again I salt the patties when they are first flattened on the griddle. and only on one side. Remember, get the griddle nice and hot. I wipe it lightly with a paper towel soaked in oil. When it smokes, its ready. Here is how the patties look just before flipping. Notice the one on the top right, its showing some grey (cooked meat) I let them go a bit too long!
Once I flip them I wait no more than 15-20 seconds to add the cheese. And drum roll, it's American processed cheese slices!!!
This one is flipped without the cheese notice the beautiful crust:
And ready to be pulled off the griddle and start another batch. Two patties per burger is what you want. Incredible taste. We use the same sauce as for the steakhouse burgers and a dab of ketchup. That's it:
As I said above, this is not my recipe. Again I was not able to post the video so here's what you need to search on, I get a kick from this guy's channel - it's insane! Copy the whole thing and paste it on a search page or in YouTube.
"This Burger CHANGED MY LIFE - So EASY to make" by GugaFoods
All the best,
Jose
I said that I would write about my smashed burgers so here its. These burgers are incredibly good! People that have tried them at our home can't belive how good they are. There is a very good reason for that. As I mentioned before burgers are all about the crust. These burger patties are only 2.5 ounces, 4-inches across, 1/4-inch thick. Soo, what you get is a very thin medium-cooked burger that is ALL crust! You have to use a griddle because you can't smash them on the grates, they will fall right through. Also the griddle gets very hot so they cook VERY quickly and with an uniform gorgeous crust. The finished burgers are made with two patties each, both with cheese. Juicy an rich is an understatement!
First a disclaimer. This is not my recipe. That said execution and prep is important. I can use someone else's recipe and still screw things up.
During the lock down last year I did a lot of research on BBQ and Grilling techniques and food in general. As I mentioned before I finally perfected my steakhouse burger. Then I ran into a wild YouTube channel - Guga Foods. Wild is an understatement! The site is owned by a guy who I believe lives around the Miami area, and by his accent I think he might be Argentinian, or maybe Brazilian.
Insanity! He tries and cooks everything, from inexpensive meats to Japanese Wagyu $100 dollar burgers and even bought a $3,000 Bluefin Tuna. His other site is all about sous vide. I'll try again to post a link to his site, if that doesn't work I'll just post the title of the video and you can do a search on it.
OK, that out of the way, Smash Burgers. As the name implies they are smashed. How to do that is the key. I'll start with the stuff needed:
You will need a cast iron griddle. I chose this one by Lodge:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CMLTXG/?tag=tvwb-20
It's reasonably priced double sided, sturdy, heavy enough, it wont warp, and it's the perfect size for the kettle and allows you to cook 4 patties at a time. It comes "seasoned from the factory but I did mine again - light Crisco coating (imperceptible) and in a 450 oven for 45 minutes. Mine looks like this:
It can be used for a bunch of different things and it is relatively easy to clean and maintain.
You will also need two spatulas, a very sturdy spatula, and a specialty griddle spatula. I got this griddle spatula:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LN47VU/?tag=tvwb-20
The griddle spatula has to be 4-inches across - this is critical. When you smash the patties you will want to see exactly when it gets to 4-inches across in size (and the spatula is not transparent
). It's the size of the burger bun. The spatula is also very flexible and has two sharpened edges. You need this because no matter how good your griddle is seasoned burgers will stick here and there and they are so thin that you need this spatula to lift them without destroying them.Optional but essential is a scale. You want to make what accounts to a bunch of exact 2.5-ounce 80/20 ground chuck meatballs, yes meatballs. I posted a link to the one I use in my last post.
Then you use the two spatulas to smash them. The sturdy spatula is used to press down on top of the griddle spatula to smash the meatballs into 4-inch patties. Pretty simple and efficient.
Again I salt the patties when they are first flattened on the griddle. and only on one side. Remember, get the griddle nice and hot. I wipe it lightly with a paper towel soaked in oil. When it smokes, its ready. Here is how the patties look just before flipping. Notice the one on the top right, its showing some grey (cooked meat) I let them go a bit too long!
Once I flip them I wait no more than 15-20 seconds to add the cheese. And drum roll, it's American processed cheese slices!!!
This one is flipped without the cheese notice the beautiful crust:
And ready to be pulled off the griddle and start another batch. Two patties per burger is what you want. Incredible taste. We use the same sauce as for the steakhouse burgers and a dab of ketchup. That's it:
As I said above, this is not my recipe. Again I was not able to post the video so here's what you need to search on, I get a kick from this guy's channel - it's insane! Copy the whole thing and paste it on a search page or in YouTube.
"This Burger CHANGED MY LIFE - So EASY to make" by GugaFoods
All the best,
Jose
