Smash Burger
The American diner double: balls of beef smashed thin on a scorching pan for lacy, crisp edges, stacked with melted cheese in a soft toasted bun.
Method
Divide the beef into 60 g portions (2 per burger) and roll each loosely into a ball. Do not pack them tight, and keep them in the fridge until the pan is ready. Slice the onion paper-thin, and stir the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and chopped pickle together for the sauce. Cut squares of baking paper about 15 cm wide.
Add in this stepGround beef (about 20% fat) 240 gMayonnaise 2 tbspKetchup 3 tspYellow mustard 2 tspFinely chopped dill pickle (for the sauce) 2 tsp
Spread butter on the cut sides of the buns. Set a 28 cm cast-iron pan (or heavy stainless steel pan) over medium heat and toast the buns cut side down until golden, in rounds if they don't all fit, about in total. Lay them open on plates.
Add in this stepButter, softened 10 gBurger buns 2
medium heatWipe the crumbs out of the pan with paper towel, turn the heat to high heat and heat the pan for . It is hot enough when a drop of water skitters and vanishes instantly. Add the oil and wipe it into a thin film with paper towel.
Add in this stepNeutral oil 1 tsp
high heatPlace 2 beef balls in the pan, well apart, cover with a square of paper and press down hard with a sturdy metal spatula to about 5 mm thick and 11 cm wide (push on the spatula with your other hand or the bottom of a small pot). Smash within 10 seconds of the beef hitting the pan, then never press again. Peel off the paper, season with salt and pepper and cook on high heat without moving for , until the edges are lacy and dark brown and only the centre of the top still looks a little pink. Cook in 2 batch(es) of 2 patties.
Add in this stepSalt 3 pinchGround black pepper 2 pinch
high heatPush the edge of the spatula firmly along the pan under each patty, scraping so the crust comes up with it, and flip. Lay a cheese slice on each straight away and cook more, until the cheese melts. Stack one patty on the other and set the stack on a bottom bun. Wipe excess fat from the pan and repeat steps 4 and 5 with the remaining beef.
Add in this stepSliced American cheese (or thin cheddar slices) 4
Spread sauce on both halves of each bun. Put pickles and sliced onion on the bottom bun, then the double patty, then the top bun. Eat right away while hot.
Add in this stepDill pickle slices 8Onion 40 g
Cook's tip
Use beef with about 20% fat: leaner beef won't brown properly and turns dry. If a patty sticks, give it a few more seconds; a proper crust releases on its own. Non-stick pans and plastic spatulas can't take this heat, so use cast iron or stainless steel and a metal spatula.
Cooking it at camp
Portion the beef balls at home, stack them with paper in between in a sealed box and keep them in the cooler. Use a cast-iron pan or griddle plate on a strong burner and smash with the bottom of a small camping pot. Wind steals heat, so use a windscreen and add 30 seconds to 1 minute to the cooking time.