Smash Burger

Method

1. 1Make the smash sauce and prep everything before cooking. Whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pickle brine, and garlic powder. This is the smash burger sauce — a variant of Thousand Island dressing with a sharper edge. Refrigerate. Toast the cut sides of the buns in the dry skillet over medium heat for about a minute until golden, and set them aside before you turn the heat up for the beef. Slice the onion paper-thin if using. Divide the cold ground beef into 8 equal portions of about 85 g — two thin patties per burger. A single 170 g ball smashed to 15 cm would still be over a centimetre thick and would not cook through in the time the crust needs. Roll loosely into balls — do not compress or overwork. The beef must be cold when it hits the pan; warm meat spreads instead of smashing. Have all toppings, the cheese, and the sauce ready before you begin cooking. A smash burger cooks in under 3 minutes per patty — there is no time to find the pickles once you start.
2. 2Heat the griddle to smoking. Place a cast-iron skillet or flat cast-iron griddle over the highest heat your stovetop can produce. Leave it on maximum heat for 5 full minutes. The surface must be between 230 and 260°C (450 to 500°F) — this is approximately the temperature at which a drop of water vaporises instantly on contact. Add a very thin film of oil or clarified butter and allow it to shimmer and just begin to smoke. The cooking surface is the only piece of equipment that matters: it needs to be heavy (for heat retention) and completely flat (for full contact). A flimsy pan will drop temperature the moment the beef lands and produce steamed rather than seared meat.
3. 3Smash immediately and decisively. Place one ball of cold beef on the hot oiled surface. Immediately place a small square of parchment paper over the ball. Using the flat underside of a stiff, wide metal spatula — or a heavy flat object like a small cast-iron pan — press straight down with maximum force, holding for 10 seconds. The patty should spread to approximately 12 to 15 cm in diameter. Season the top surface immediately with salt and pepper. If using onion, scatter a small handful of paper-thin slices across the top and press them gently into the meat with the spatula.
4. 4Cook 90 seconds then flip. Leave the patty completely undisturbed for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Resist any urge to move, press, or check it. The crust is forming against the hot metal, and interrupting it breaks the sear. The patty is ready to flip when: the edges have gone from pink to gray, a ring of dark brown crust has crept up the sides, and the patty releases easily when you try to slide a spatula under it. Using a thin, rigid metal spatula, scrape firmly under the patty and flip it in one definitive movement — scraping up every bit of the dark crust from the pan is essential, not optional. That crust is where all the flavor lives. Immediately place a slice of American cheese on the flipped patty.
5. 5Finish and assemble. Cook the second side for 30 to 45 seconds — just enough to seal it and melt the cheese completely. The cheese will have melted into a smooth, glossy sheet by the time you lift the patty. Cook the patties two at a time and stack each pair, cheese side up, straight onto a bottom bun, so both slices of cheese end up inside the burger. Assemble while hot: bottom bun, smash sauce, the two patties with their melted cheese, pickles, shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, top bun with more sauce. Serve within 2 minutes — the crispness of the crust and the juiciness of the interior are at their absolute peak for about 90 seconds after leaving the pan.