Ingredients: 

Makes 6 burgers

2 lbs of Ground Beef (80/20)

Hamburger Buns preferably brioche or potato

1 Sweet Onion

Romaine Lettuce, Shredded

Tomato, Sliced very thin

Ketchup/Mayo

 

I will fight you, every time, if you think that the best burgers are from a grill. Don’t kid yourself, when you grill you loose their juice and you miss out on the opportunity to smash in some onions. Our favorite sliders are made in the fashion of the original White Manna Hamburgers found in Hackensack NJ. They have been around since 1946 making sliders to order. You can see their style burgers copied around the world because, well, they are just that good.

Let’s talk burgers in general. Here are a few rules to abide by whether you are making burgers the way we suggest or if you are making any style of burgers

Rule #1: Do almost nothing to the meat. The trick is to keep it cold at all times and don’t over work it. Don’t add a bunch of nonsense to it, you are not making meat balls. If you want tender, perfect burgers every time, do almost nothing to it.

Rule #2: Don’t try and make burgers low fat. You will be upset about it in the end. Stick with a good 80/20 ground beef, 85/15 if you must. Most of the fat cooks out of a burger anyway and by having the extra dripping you are multiplying the flavor. Eat one really, really, really delicious burger rather than 2 low fat ones.

Rule #3: Bigger is not always better. As much as you might want to make something that is bigger than life, it usually doesn’t actually turn out too tasty. If your burger is too thick, it’s not going to warm through. As a firm believer in medium to medium rare red meat, there are few things more gross than cold ground beef. For cooking on a flat top, thinner is better. They cook quickly and get crispy. For cooking on the grill, think no more than 2 fingers.

Rule #4: Cook from cold. Warm hands melt fat. Have cold meat when forming the patties and chill before cooking. If they are not cold, they will fall apart.

Rule #5: Season well, but season RIGHT BEFORE you cook it. Salt and pepper baby. no need for anything more fancy than that. Wait until the last moment otherwise you will draw the moisture out of the burger and they will steam rather than sear.

Okay, now that we have some ground rules established, let’s talk about Smash Burgers.

To Make: 

1. Cut ground beef into equal sizes. Gently press into a ball. Reminder: we are not making meat balls do not pack these tightly. Refrigerate while you get the rest of your mis en place together.
2. Turn Griddle on high heat and let it get HOT.
3. Shave an onion as thinly as possible. We like to use a mandolin for this because its fast. Unwrap cheese and have buns split and ready.
4. Rub down the griddle with a little vegetable oil. Season balls with salt and pepper all around. Place a few patties on the griddle leaving plenty of room between each one. Smash away from you slowly and drag spatula back and forth to flatten until they are about 3/4″ thick.
5. Place little piles of the onion on each patty and hit with a little salt and pepper to season. Don’t move them until they are brown and crispy and ready to move. Carefully flip them over so that they are now sitting on a bed of onions.
6. Turn the flame down and place cheese on top of each patty. put a bottom half of a bun on each one to let it start to steam. Set top bun halves next to the bottom so that they can steam too.
7. Once cheese is melted, flip them off the griddle, scrape on some extra onions, top with your toppings of choice (we like lettuce, tomato, mayo, and ketchup, and eat (preferably with a side of fries).

These burgers will never let you down.

Cheers!