When the founder of the Colorado-based restaurant chain, Smashburger, told us the secret to making a better burger is to smoosh the patty while it's cooking, we called BS. It goes against everything you know to be true, reminding you of that drunk guy manning the grill during a Fourth of July party—you know, the one who intermittently pours beer on the burgers while pressing them against the grates, squishing out any juices until you're left with a graying puck of a meal.
There's a key difference, though, between that burger-bashing and the careful, precise smackdown the chain's founder, Tom Ryan, advocates, and since the burger chain has been growing at a rate of about 60 to 70 stores per year and shows no signs of stopping, we decided to take a closer look at what makes the brand's beef stand out—and what you can do to make a better burger every time.
Never Buy Pre-formed Patties.
Ryan recommends skipping the freezer aisle and going straight to your butcher to buy ground beef. It usually hasn't gone through as intense of a grinding process as the prepackaged stuff, which gives the patty a more steak-like texture and flavor, particularly if you go for an 80 percent lean blend.
"It's like having a beautiful piece of New York Cheesecake and pushing it through a screen door, scraping it off the screen and serving it," Ryan explains. "It's still the same cheesecake, but it doesn't taste the same."
Form Your Burgers into Meatballs, Not Pucks.
Gently forming the beef into loose meatballs makes for a more tender, juicier burger overall.
"The tighter the burger patty is packed, the longer it takes to cook, and quite frankly, by the time the inside is cooked, the outside is overcooked and rendered out," Ryan says. "That's why you could have this really premium beef, but since you have to cook the living crap out of it to get it done on the inside, it still doesn't taste great."
Smash That Patty Right Away.
Smashburger uses a patented burger-smashing tool that you press against the griddle, metal to metal, for 10 seconds to get the burger's signature shape. You could do the same with a spatula, but the key—other than smashing the burger on a buttered griddle or in a greased-up frying pan, so the meat doesn't slip through the grill grates—is to smash it right away, and only that one time.
"Three things are happening when I do that, from a food chemistry and physics perspective: First, I'm forming a delicious layer of butter and caramelized beef that adds a tremendous amount of flavor," Ryan explains. "Second, I'm creating a shell that holds the loosely-packed patty together, so it doesn't break when I flip it. Third, that layer is like a barrier. It keeps the juices cooking up instead of out."
Whatever you do, do not smash it again after that. You'll just force the juices out, sizzling the burger to hockey puck status.
Do This Before Flipping Out.
When you smash the patty, that caramelized layer on the bottom will stick to the hot pan, so you've got to use a thin spatula to scrape it off before flipping.
"We call that caramelized part 'meat candy,'" Ryan says. It's the most flavorful part of the burger, which is why Smashburger uses special spatulas that are sharpened twice a day to ensure it comes off cleanly.
When you start to see a lot of bubbles—just like you would making pancakes—it's time to flip. Hold the spatula at a 45-degree angle and wiggle it just a bit to loosen the patty from the pan or griddle.
Get Cheesy With It.
Once the burger has been cooked, your toppings are equally important. Break away from the standard slice of American and experiment with different cheeses. Smashburger tried countless cheeses for its original burger, finally settling on an American that's made with 5 percent blue cheese.
"It's what we call 'sub-threshold,' which means that if you hate blue cheese, you'll never know it's in there," Ryan says. "It accentuates the colby and cheddar flavors in American cheese, giving it a creamier texture."
Try mixing different types of cheese—or sprinkling a little blue on top of a slice of cheddar—to find the blend that works best for you.
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