If you have never experienced a smash burger then this recipe is a must try. Not only is it really satisfying smashing the patties on the grill but it also gives the patties an amazing sear that really helps take the burger to the next level.
I have been using my smoker a lot to cook meals for bbqs lately but a few weeks ago i got a flat top addition to use with my grill that I am pretty excited about. I want to try out making smoe hibachi, breakfast, and some different kinds of sandwiches but so far I have been hooked on smash burgers. I have made these 4 or 5 times in the past few weeks and even though it is a very simple meal they taste amazing.
You can make these without the tools I show below, it might just take a little more effort. If you dont have a flattop then you can use a cast iron pan to cook your burgers on the grill. This recipe will use direct heat to cook so you can either use a grill, flattop, or open the sear plate in your smoker. To smash the burgers you will just need something with a flat surface that has a little weight to it.
Cooking Basics
Before breaking up the burger into the amounts you need to mix a little of the rub you are going to use into the burger mixture. I have used a ton of different rubs for burgers. If you have a food scale you can use it for this recipe but if not you can just eyeball the amounts. You will want to make hamburger balls that weigh about a quarter pound each. Don’t worry about forming them into patties. You will do that when you put them on the grill. That is all the prep there is. At this point you want to go heat up your flattop, grill, or smoker. You are looking to get the temp of the cooking surface to abotu 400 degrees. If you have no way of testing temp you can sprinkle just a little water on the surface and if it dances around and sizzles you should be good.
Before putting the burger onto the cooking surface grab yourself a piece of wax paper. You will use this in between whatever you are smashing the burger with and the burger to avoid it sticking. You will also want to grab some butter. Put a little butter down where you will be cooking the burger and then put a burger ball on top of it. Place the wax paper on top of the burger and then flatten it out with whatever you are using. I usually push down for about 10 seconds. Repeat this process for all the burgers you can fit to cook at once and then sprinkle a little of your hamburger rub on the top of each burger.
Give the burgers 2 - 3 minutes to cook and then flip them over. You should see a nice sear on the burger at this point. Once they have been flipped you will want to shake on a little more rub to each burger and then top with your favorite cheese.
At this point we are just waiting for the cheese to melt and the burger to come up to temperature. You want your burgers to get to 160 - 165 before taking them off for safety reasons. This will not take long as smash burgers are pretty thin. Once they come off the grill you are ready to eat.
Final Thoughts
- This smash technique can be used on a lot of different types of burgers. We made a mixture of ground chicken, dill and a few other ingredients and cooked it this way and they were amazing as well. I just love the sear you get cooking this way.
- The flattop or cast iron is perfect for toasting some buns to go with yrou burgers as well. Just throw a little butter on the rolls and put them in for a minute and it really adds something to the burger
- One fo the things we experimented with on these burgers is cheese types. You can always go with american and they will taste great. We most recently tried to shred some chedder dill and some cheddar pepperjack cheese to use and that really added a unique taste to the burger.
- Another thing you can experiemnt with is the burger itself. The first time we tried making these we used a mixture that contained onion, egg, breadcrumbs, and some other seasonings with the burger. I find I just like the taste of just straight burger for these over the mix. 80/20 is a really good ration for taste but if you are trying to be healthy we did atempt this one time with 90/10 and the burger still held together nicely
Recipe
Recipe Information
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 20 Minutes
- Servings: 4
- Category: Main Course
Ingredients
- 2 lb 80/20 Ground Beef
- 3 Tbsp favorite steak rub
- 1/4 Cup butter
Tool
- Hamburger press (use something with a little weight and a flat surface if you do not have a hamberger weight)
- Piece of wax paper
- Large spatula
- Flattop addition for grill or smoker or cast iron pan
Instructions
- Mix ground beef with 1 Tbsp of the seasoning you choose to use (if you don’t have anything on hand use equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder)
- Break up the ground beef into quarter pound balls
- Preheat your smoker, grill, or flattop to 400 degrees (if not sure of temp make sure if you drip some water on surface that it sizzles and dances)
- If using smoker or grill put down your flattop add on or your cast itron pan so it can get hot
- Place a dollop of butter on flat cooking surface and place a ground beef ball on top. Place wax paper over burger then press down on it with hamburger press for 10 seconds. Remove wax paper and sprinkle on some rub to the burger
- Repeat this process for as many burgers as you have room to cook at once
- Allow to cook for 2 - 3 minutes then flip
- After flipping sprinkle with some more rub and then put cheese on top
- Cook hamburger until it gets to 165 degrees for safety reasons
- Remove burger from grill
- Serve and enjoy!