SMASH BURGERS

    Hello, fellow food buddies. Thanks for joining in on this culinary adventure. Today we take another trip to Flavor Town. Wait, can I say that ????

    SHHHH....don't say a word.

    Today we are making SMASH BURGERS. My favorite of all the burgers, And they are not hard to make.

    When I was growing up, I always wanted to go to Steak & Shake whenever we trekked to Indianapolis.

    It was a real treat.

    So fast forward many years later, Steak and Shake expanded. We ended up with two locations right here on Ocala FL.

    But Penny and I noticed the quality going down in recent years, so I decided to MAKE MY OWN.

    Over the past year or so, I have made this delight many times in many different ways. Now I am ready to share with the world, 'How to make SMASHED BURGERS.'

So here are a couple of ways to make you own Smashed Burgers.

RIB EYE BURGERS ON THE GAS GRILL

Start with a couple of nice Rib Eye Steaks.

Cut them into pieces that will fit into your grinder machine.

Set up your Grinder. We use our Kitchen Aid mixer with the appropriate accessary. I make sure the steak is "partially" frozen. It makes the grinder happy.

Start grinding per your machines instructions.

Here it comes !!!

Looking good !!!

Here I have switched to a coarser grind.

Then I mixed them together

Make your "balls" of meat, and weigh them until you get 4 OZ

Got a ways to go !!!

You will need 4 patties. We are making DOUBLES

Mix up some Salt & Pepper. (Amount to your taste) Stir it up.

Not the record, the Salt & Pepper !!!

Prepare your buns. Butter to taste. Then take it all out to the grill.

Get your grill good and HOT !!

That's HOT... We are using our Pizza Steel today. Do not oil it.

Place your Steak Patties on the grill.

Sprinkle on some salt & pepper. 

 Take a piece of Parchment Paper. Place it on your burger, then press down with your weight, You can also use your flipper on top of the burger and push on it.

Cook them (UNDISTURBED) for about 2 minutes or until you see the browning around the edges.

That's what we are looking for. Now with a SHARP flipper, flip the burgers over.

Nice crust !!!!

Immediately place your cheese on each burger. You are using AMERICAN right???

Let them cook for another minute or so, then remove and place on your buns. I did not show us browning the buns, as we have a BETTER way that I will show later on.

We are ready to serve. While I was grilling, Penny manned the fryer.

Don't they look SPECTACULAR ??

When I took the photo above, I didn't make it big enough to show the adult beverage, and I don't want to disappoint.

Back to the burgers....THEY WERE GREAT.

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Do not despair if you do not have a PIZZA STEEL. You can make these delights using a cast iron flat top too.

GAS GRILL and a  FLAT TOP

First, butter some buns and toast them in the toaster over. When browning buns on the grill, the cent of the bun does NOT make contact with the grill. So I tried this method and it worked GREAT

Today we are using regular 80/20 Ground Chuck. Make the the same way we did above.

Here is my flipper. You want the edge to be as SHARP as possible.

Get your grill hot and rub a bit of cooking oil on it to season the flat top.

Get your tools ready

Don't forget the balls !!!

Salt and Pepper to taste

Take your tools and food out to the grill.

My flat top only has room for two burgers. Cook these the same way we did in the first example.

We decided on one piece of cheese.

Ready to serve !!!!

They were sooooo goood. The only issue I had was I did not get the CRUST like I wanted, due to too much grease on the flat top.

If you do not have access to a grill, you can make these inside as well, but you HAVE TO have a cast iron skillet.

INSIDE ON THE STOVE

You make them the same way we did on the grill.

A little butter

Some condiments

Penny suggested a bit of Crisco

This is why I now use our Toaster Oven !!!

Keep cooking, just like in the other examples

You will need a HEAFTY exhaust fan !!!!

OK, final results. The Rib Eye Smashed Burgers were by far the BEST. But the others were good as well.

I decided a couple of things:

Use a Toaster Oven to toast your buns.

I like the Pizza Steel better than the flat tops.

Making them on the stove is fine, IF you like to clean up a lot of grease. A splash guard on the skillet did help.

But I think outside is best. Maybe next time I will try the Big Green Egg.

Don't forget to save a treat for the President.

Seriously, this was FUN. You can make these at home and they are BETTER than you can get out. Do what I did. Try several methods and use the method that is best for you!!!

You can thank me later,

God speed, Mother Nature.