**The Art of Crafting the Perfect Smash Burger**

When it comes to creating the ultimate smash burger, there's an art to it that requires attention to detail and a deep understanding of what makes this iconic sandwich so beloved. In this article, we'll delve into the world of smash burgers, exploring the techniques and tips necessary to create a truly exceptional patty.

**The Importance of Fat Content**

One of the key components of a great smash burger is fat content. A juicy patty needs a certain level of marbling to achieve that perfect balance of flavor and texture. Our chef carefully selected a cut of meat with just the right amount of fat, ensuring that each bite would be a delight for the senses. By incorporating this essential element, we were able to craft a patty that was not only full of flavor but also perfectly seasoned.

**The Power of Seasoning**

Seasoning is an often-overlooked aspect of burger crafting, yet it's essential in bringing out the full potential of each ingredient. Our chef skillfully seasoned the patties with a blend of spices and herbs, carefully balancing the flavors to create a truly exceptional taste experience. The result was a patty that was not only flavorful but also beautifully presented, with a satisfying crunch on the outside and a juicy interior.

**The Magic of Cast Iron**

Cast iron cookware is an essential tool in the smash burger world, providing a perfect medium for achieving those coveted grill marks and seared crusts. Our chef carefully heated the griddle to the ideal temperature, ensuring that each patty would develop a beautiful crust while remaining tender on the inside. By using this technique, we were able to create a patty that was not only perfectly cooked but also bursting with flavor.

**Smashing the Patty**

One of the most critical steps in creating a smash burger is, of course, smashing the patty. This technique involves pressing down firmly on the patty with a presser or spatula, searing it and developing those coveted grill marks. Our chef expertly smashed each patty, carefully controlling the pressure to ensure that the meat remained intact while adding flavor and texture.

**Toasting the Bread**

A perfectly toasted bun is an essential component of any great burger. By applying a small amount of oil to the griddle and toasting the buns, we were able to create a crispy exterior that provided the perfect contrast to the juicy patty inside. The result was a bun that was not only delicious but also perfectly toasted.

**The Ultimate Smash Burger Recipe**

Our smash burger recipe is a carefully crafted blend of flavors and techniques, designed to bring out the full potential of each ingredient. With four patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a special sauce all on top of a toasted bun, this sandwich is sure to satisfy even the most discerning palate.

**A Tale of Two Burgers**

When it comes to comparing burgers from iconic eateries, there's nothing quite like the thrill of the challenge. In this article, we put three legendary burgers – one from Shake Shack, another from The Burger Joint, and our own smash burger creation – up against each other in a battle for supremacy. With the help of expert feedback and a willingness to experiment, we uncovered the secrets behind these beloved sandwiches.

**Tips and Tricks**

So, how can you create your own smash burger masterpiece at home? Here are some essential tips and tricks:

* Use high-quality ingredients, including fresh produce and premium meat.

* Don't be afraid to experiment with different seasonings and toppings – the possibilities are endless!

* Invest in a good cast iron griddle or presser for achieving that perfect sear.

* Practice makes perfect – don't be discouraged if your first attempts at smashing burgers don't quite yield the desired results.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enoh yeah you definitely want to open a window when you do this at your crib take one oh it's still nice and warm burgers oh yes i know this one looks like uh fast food burgers man you only got a couple dollars in your pocket this is the way to go right here oh classic sesame seed bun looks smashed it doesn't look um cooked to uh temperature so that looks good pickles onions tomatoes lettuce cheese classic first thing i notice is the quality of beef they grind their own or is there like a special blend because it's really pronounced you know yeah that tastes really good my old friend mcdonald's my first first job in america when i came to the u.s was 1999 uh at the mcdonald's on 34th street and 8th avenue it's still there by the way and mcdonald's really taught me about the restaurant business this is the quarter pounder with cheese it's the royale with cheese but it's mcdonald's you know what i'm saying it's always the same super consistent it comes with a little bit of uh pickles ketchup and cheese and so let's check it out i mean it's a mcdonald's burger patty's dries first thing i really taste is the bread for some reason the bread is seasoned really well if you want to talk about a really efficient restaurant that really makes money off of food that they sell there's systematic things in place where you know everything is portioned out everything's already ready to go there's timers everywhere really makes it that every patty every burger every sandwich comes out the same but if you have one of these burgers you already know it's it's fulfilling it's easy it's fast and it's mcdonald's man you can't go wrong with them you know i'm a little biased on this one because um i think it's the is the best burger in the city right it looks like shake shack look like six head burger right the bun is a potato bun which is an amazing vessel for burgers no the best part is the meat's the first thing that comes into play first palafrida is like one of their main source of the meat palafrida has almost kind of monopolized the meat market here in new york city their quality of meat is not only affordable but they can also give you any cuts you want you know and they're the biggest meat provider here in the east coast the the sauce that they have on top there really gives it a little bit of sweetness so i'm thinking it's like a ketchup mayo mix i think that's what the sauce is the classic burger and i like these like soft sweet potato bun rolls you know all right to make the perfect burger i'm gonna focus on four things the meat the bun the cheese and the toppings the meat needs to be you know chosen well at 80 20 rule on the meat itself and you got to season your stuff man and you got to choose the right cuts to make the your burger blend and then you know you guys got to make sure that uh our cheese is american as it really goes well with meat and burgers the mega cheese is a little bit of milder end right but it has this kind of funk to it to it the back end of the of the flavor profile so when i when i did burgers at restaurants i only did american cheese you know and then for the toppings you know you're gonna have the the staples lettuce tomato onion pickles we're gonna make a sauce the bread itself you know it has to be soft enough that you can bite through it and then it can hold the sandwich itself but also it has its own kind of structure to it it's you know something that i feel like you would get when you go to like a barbecue and go somebody's crib right there's no frills nothing else going on and i think that's how a burger should be i mean i'm a purist in that sense and uh if you're gonna do a burger right you gotta make sure that all those things are in place all right first of our grinders i need to keep it in the freezer keep it cold so we're gonna grab it right here so you keep all these pieces cold so when you grind your meat it stays loose it doesn't emulsify and gets too hot and it also stays fresh okay all right next we're going to go ahead and grab our produce and our meats we have some butter to toast up our bread today we're also going to do i like romaine hearts for uh for our burger gives a little bit more snap i'm going to go with the american and then our beefs then we're gonna go with a short rib one piece of short rib and uh we're gonna do chuck the chuck in the short rib mix is a classic it's a classic mix it also sure is going to give you that kind of fat that you're looking for and usually for the blend you really try to look for 80 20 blend so 80 lean meat 20 uh 20 fat so i think strawberry is going to give you that and then the chuck is going to give you that you know meatiness that you're looking for in a burger uh for some reason i like red onion for burgers i just like that spice obviously we're gonna do a tomato situation i'm gonna grab a thing of garlic just to maybe grate into our sauce and i think i'm just gonna go with uh something that i'm very familiar with is a kings hawaiian bun it's sweet soft it's pillowy almost super nice you can get this use this all right all right cool so we're gonna go ahead and uh and grind our meat make our perfect patties yeah so this is the short rib this is kind of a nice fatty and piece of the meat this doesn't get that much movement in it it um it has a lot of fast relations on it you can tell it's just a good it's just a good mix for burgers a lot of people use this cut and then you always want to keep ice in the bottom of this to keep your meat chilled so it doesn't uh oxidize on you and get ruined it turns up a great color and there's the chuck uh it's kind of like the shoulder piece it's a lot more meaty you know use this much just eyeball it we got the crib you know what i mean with the crib it's been like a discussion for a long time in in the food industry is like what's the best ratio some people like it 730 70 lean and 30 fat you know it's really about your your preference and what you like well i like 80 20 because there's still structure in the meat itself when you put on the griddle you need that fat in there sometimes to keep it moist and also just give it an extra layer of flavor you know i mean if you don't have high quality grinder at home and you want to you know make a burger you go to your local butcher shop and you can tell them you want an 80 20 a burger blend what you're really looking for is there's some fatty content to it the meat is red and it's it looks fresh and it looks like just been grinded that day we're gonna go ahead and make our special sauce it's gonna be a riff of a big mac sauce it's a simple simple simple sauce you're gonna need some french dressing mayo i'm gonna microplane some garlic in there relish and just a touch of ketchup to give it a little more bounce and color i'm adding a little bit of salt i'm adding a little bit of pepper just to make sure that our product is very much seasoned and it's put well together it's going to be a little sweet a little tangy i think it's going to be banging anyways yeah it's big mac stuff right there so i like to use uh romaine uh lettuce i like to trim them a little bit to just fit the the burger and the kind of uh the bread that we're gonna be using today i press down to kind of break the the spine here a little bit because it's it's kind of like in a v-shape and then this becomes like a nice platform when you start building your sandwich next little tomato uh tomatoes obviously i just like to do them in large rings not too thick yeah because it gets messy if it's too thick and then uh for onions i like to do the same shape as the tomato there it is simple bench prep but at the end of the day it's fresh and you'll have the best burger as you can tell we've kept our meat on ice this whole time and look how beautiful red it kept about four ounce patties yeah all right so you don't have a scale this is about the size you want it right here so we're gonna do maybe four patties for our sandwich as you can see the fat is well well incorporated our meat still has a great uh reddish color i mean there's going to be a tasty burger but i can tell already all right so yeah so we have a cast iron griddle um it's screaming hot right now as you can tell burger's gonna get a nice sear from this any one of these pressers is large cast iron pressers i'm gonna put a little bit of uh oil on this now for later so when you press down the burger doesn't stick all right put a little bit over here for our patties okay and i'm gonna season them when they get smashed all right uh cooking on the grill you can't really do a smash burger you need a flat top to do it on okay it gives it a great flavor profile to it as you can tell the burgers are getting a nice sear over here so we're going to go ahead and smash it and the reason why i use a smash burger is it's a lot easier for people to do it at their home instead of trying to do temperatures you know sometimes if the the patty's too big you're going to try to get to medium it's going to take too long and by the smash burger you get a lot more flavor and also you get to you know enjoy the burger a lot quicker all of that cheese and all those sauce is going to seep in right into the burger okay i'm going to flip it now you got a nice crust right here from the burger itself i'm going to go ahead and uh put the cheese just let it melt so while that's happening i'm gonna go ahead and uh toast the bread i have this whole side off already for our bread a little quick toasty toast nothing too crazy nice toast right there i'm gonna start taking this off now the cheese has melted i'll put it right on our burger and our patties that's it all right cool so next what we're going to do is um i'm going to put a little bit of that burger sauce right in the middle of this joint right here and for this size of burger i think we're going to do one pickle yup and then i'm gonna go ahead and one leaf lettuce a couple of onions and then tomato go ahead and put it right over the top yeah so we have double patties with cheese american cheese tomato onion lettuce and a hawaiian bun we're gonna be tasting our takeout to what i just made a double stack burger here on the right is my favorite burger out of the whole takeout selection i picked the obviously the shake shack burger because it's the best burger in the world please respond to me okay cool first elbows out all right elbows out far away from you for your shirts they don't drip okay rule number one right here's a great example of a smash burger you know the the bun is very much well toasted for them they don't really smash it all the way down they kind of smash it halfway they cook it's almost medium it's a great way to really uh send the burger out and i think they send it in a wax paper situation in a bag the the big mac sauce it's a little bit more prominent because i put a lot i did put more of that shake shack sauce on there i think this would have been basically the same sandwich huh the the bun here is a little bit just a touch sweeter so you can just taste that yeah the toast of the bun right here it you know it makes a big difference right it creates another layer of like this burnout set kind of flavor profiles and yeah you know you just want to have your buns toasted and hot and warm tomato gives it a freshness i love the red onions it gives the sandwich another element it's a raw red onion super nice it has a little bit more structure i think so it's like when you chew into it you can still feel the the burger patty itself in there maybe it's because there's two patties in there there's a lot more meat but when you when i get into the shake shack one they kind of just you know dissipated a little bit so yeah so we had a chance to go taste three burgers from three iconic places in new york city we went ahead and grinded our own meat put our miso plus together made our own sauce cooked it put it together less than 15 minutes that can go up against a great shake shack burger if you have the time and you have the place go ahead and and do your own thing at your house as always it's your boy chef harold a.k.a bon appetit south bronx all day see you on the next one peace is that cookies baking right nowoh yeah you definitely want to open a window when you do this at your crib take one oh it's still nice and warm burgers oh yes i know this one looks like uh fast food burgers man you only got a couple dollars in your pocket this is the way to go right here oh classic sesame seed bun looks smashed it doesn't look um cooked to uh temperature so that looks good pickles onions tomatoes lettuce cheese classic first thing i notice is the quality of beef they grind their own or is there like a special blend because it's really pronounced you know yeah that tastes really good my old friend mcdonald's my first first job in america when i came to the u.s was 1999 uh at the mcdonald's on 34th street and 8th avenue it's still there by the way and mcdonald's really taught me about the restaurant business this is the quarter pounder with cheese it's the royale with cheese but it's mcdonald's you know what i'm saying it's always the same super consistent it comes with a little bit of uh pickles ketchup and cheese and so let's check it out i mean it's a mcdonald's burger patty's dries first thing i really taste is the bread for some reason the bread is seasoned really well if you want to talk about a really efficient restaurant that really makes money off of food that they sell there's systematic things in place where you know everything is portioned out everything's already ready to go there's timers everywhere really makes it that every patty every burger every sandwich comes out the same but if you have one of these burgers you already know it's it's fulfilling it's easy it's fast and it's mcdonald's man you can't go wrong with them you know i'm a little biased on this one because um i think it's the is the best burger in the city right it looks like shake shack look like six head burger right the bun is a potato bun which is an amazing vessel for burgers no the best part is the meat's the first thing that comes into play first palafrida is like one of their main source of the meat palafrida has almost kind of monopolized the meat market here in new york city their quality of meat is not only affordable but they can also give you any cuts you want you know and they're the biggest meat provider here in the east coast the the sauce that they have on top there really gives it a little bit of sweetness so i'm thinking it's like a ketchup mayo mix i think that's what the sauce is the classic burger and i like these like soft sweet potato bun rolls you know all right to make the perfect burger i'm gonna focus on four things the meat the bun the cheese and the toppings the meat needs to be you know chosen well at 80 20 rule on the meat itself and you got to season your stuff man and you got to choose the right cuts to make the your burger blend and then you know you guys got to make sure that uh our cheese is american as it really goes well with meat and burgers the mega cheese is a little bit of milder end right but it has this kind of funk to it to it the back end of the of the flavor profile so when i when i did burgers at restaurants i only did american cheese you know and then for the toppings you know you're gonna have the the staples lettuce tomato onion pickles we're gonna make a sauce the bread itself you know it has to be soft enough that you can bite through it and then it can hold the sandwich itself but also it has its own kind of structure to it it's you know something that i feel like you would get when you go to like a barbecue and go somebody's crib right there's no frills nothing else going on and i think that's how a burger should be i mean i'm a purist in that sense and uh if you're gonna do a burger right you gotta make sure that all those things are in place all right first of our grinders i need to keep it in the freezer keep it cold so we're gonna grab it right here so you keep all these pieces cold so when you grind your meat it stays loose it doesn't emulsify and gets too hot and it also stays fresh okay all right next we're going to go ahead and grab our produce and our meats we have some butter to toast up our bread today we're also going to do i like romaine hearts for uh for our burger gives a little bit more snap i'm going to go with the american and then our beefs then we're gonna go with a short rib one piece of short rib and uh we're gonna do chuck the chuck in the short rib mix is a classic it's a classic mix it also sure is going to give you that kind of fat that you're looking for and usually for the blend you really try to look for 80 20 blend so 80 lean meat 20 uh 20 fat so i think strawberry is going to give you that and then the chuck is going to give you that you know meatiness that you're looking for in a burger uh for some reason i like red onion for burgers i just like that spice obviously we're gonna do a tomato situation i'm gonna grab a thing of garlic just to maybe grate into our sauce and i think i'm just gonna go with uh something that i'm very familiar with is a kings hawaiian bun it's sweet soft it's pillowy almost super nice you can get this use this all right all right cool so we're gonna go ahead and uh and grind our meat make our perfect patties yeah so this is the short rib this is kind of a nice fatty and piece of the meat this doesn't get that much movement in it it um it has a lot of fast relations on it you can tell it's just a good it's just a good mix for burgers a lot of people use this cut and then you always want to keep ice in the bottom of this to keep your meat chilled so it doesn't uh oxidize on you and get ruined it turns up a great color and there's the chuck uh it's kind of like the shoulder piece it's a lot more meaty you know use this much just eyeball it we got the crib you know what i mean with the crib it's been like a discussion for a long time in in the food industry is like what's the best ratio some people like it 730 70 lean and 30 fat you know it's really about your your preference and what you like well i like 80 20 because there's still structure in the meat itself when you put on the griddle you need that fat in there sometimes to keep it moist and also just give it an extra layer of flavor you know i mean if you don't have high quality grinder at home and you want to you know make a burger you go to your local butcher shop and you can tell them you want an 80 20 a burger blend what you're really looking for is there's some fatty content to it the meat is red and it's it looks fresh and it looks like just been grinded that day we're gonna go ahead and make our special sauce it's gonna be a riff of a big mac sauce it's a simple simple simple sauce you're gonna need some french dressing mayo i'm gonna microplane some garlic in there relish and just a touch of ketchup to give it a little more bounce and color i'm adding a little bit of salt i'm adding a little bit of pepper just to make sure that our product is very much seasoned and it's put well together it's going to be a little sweet a little tangy i think it's going to be banging anyways yeah it's big mac stuff right there so i like to use uh romaine uh lettuce i like to trim them a little bit to just fit the the burger and the kind of uh the bread that we're gonna be using today i press down to kind of break the the spine here a little bit because it's it's kind of like in a v-shape and then this becomes like a nice platform when you start building your sandwich next little tomato uh tomatoes obviously i just like to do them in large rings not too thick yeah because it gets messy if it's too thick and then uh for onions i like to do the same shape as the tomato there it is simple bench prep but at the end of the day it's fresh and you'll have the best burger as you can tell we've kept our meat on ice this whole time and look how beautiful red it kept about four ounce patties yeah all right so you don't have a scale this is about the size you want it right here so we're gonna do maybe four patties for our sandwich as you can see the fat is well well incorporated our meat still has a great uh reddish color i mean there's going to be a tasty burger but i can tell already all right so yeah so we have a cast iron griddle um it's screaming hot right now as you can tell burger's gonna get a nice sear from this any one of these pressers is large cast iron pressers i'm gonna put a little bit of uh oil on this now for later so when you press down the burger doesn't stick all right put a little bit over here for our patties okay and i'm gonna season them when they get smashed all right uh cooking on the grill you can't really do a smash burger you need a flat top to do it on okay it gives it a great flavor profile to it as you can tell the burgers are getting a nice sear over here so we're going to go ahead and smash it and the reason why i use a smash burger is it's a lot easier for people to do it at their home instead of trying to do temperatures you know sometimes if the the patty's too big you're going to try to get to medium it's going to take too long and by the smash burger you get a lot more flavor and also you get to you know enjoy the burger a lot quicker all of that cheese and all those sauce is going to seep in right into the burger okay i'm going to flip it now you got a nice crust right here from the burger itself i'm going to go ahead and uh put the cheese just let it melt so while that's happening i'm gonna go ahead and uh toast the bread i have this whole side off already for our bread a little quick toasty toast nothing too crazy nice toast right there i'm gonna start taking this off now the cheese has melted i'll put it right on our burger and our patties that's it all right cool so next what we're going to do is um i'm going to put a little bit of that burger sauce right in the middle of this joint right here and for this size of burger i think we're going to do one pickle yup and then i'm gonna go ahead and one leaf lettuce a couple of onions and then tomato go ahead and put it right over the top yeah so we have double patties with cheese american cheese tomato onion lettuce and a hawaiian bun we're gonna be tasting our takeout to what i just made a double stack burger here on the right is my favorite burger out of the whole takeout selection i picked the obviously the shake shack burger because it's the best burger in the world please respond to me okay cool first elbows out all right elbows out far away from you for your shirts they don't drip okay rule number one right here's a great example of a smash burger you know the the bun is very much well toasted for them they don't really smash it all the way down they kind of smash it halfway they cook it's almost medium it's a great way to really uh send the burger out and i think they send it in a wax paper situation in a bag the the big mac sauce it's a little bit more prominent because i put a lot i did put more of that shake shack sauce on there i think this would have been basically the same sandwich huh the the bun here is a little bit just a touch sweeter so you can just taste that yeah the toast of the bun right here it you know it makes a big difference right it creates another layer of like this burnout set kind of flavor profiles and yeah you know you just want to have your buns toasted and hot and warm tomato gives it a freshness i love the red onions it gives the sandwich another element it's a raw red onion super nice it has a little bit more structure i think so it's like when you chew into it you can still feel the the burger patty itself in there maybe it's because there's two patties in there there's a lot more meat but when you when i get into the shake shack one they kind of just you know dissipated a little bit so yeah so we had a chance to go taste three burgers from three iconic places in new york city we went ahead and grinded our own meat put our miso plus together made our own sauce cooked it put it together less than 15 minutes that can go up against a great shake shack burger if you have the time and you have the place go ahead and and do your own thing at your house as always it's your boy chef harold a.k.a bon appetit south bronx all day see you on the next one peace is that cookies baking right now\n"