How to Prepare a High-Quality Flat-Top Burger

I make smashburgers on steel typically. The work is getting your burger bar together: sliced pickles, onions, cheese, special sauce.

Get your griddle or steel ripping hot. You have to work fast. We're cooking these for 30-60 seconds per side, and you want it yelling hot for that Maillard response, the sear that makes smashburgers legendary. I love to smash for good friends. The majority of the time, they have actually already had our Baking Steel pizza, and I like to blend the menu.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I've made smash hamburgers on this thing that people still talk about. Smashburgers at home are off the charts. Here's how I do it. More surface area equals more taste. Smashing the beef thin maximizes contact with the hot steel, setting off the Maillard response, the chemical procedure that produces that deep, tasty, browned taste all of us yearn for.

Your very first hamburger and your 4th get the exact same unbelievable edge-to-edge crust without the temperature level dropping. I 'd know my family has remained in the steel company for over 50 years at our shop in Hanover, MA. I understand this material, and I constructed these griddles specifically to resolve the heat retention issue that cast iron can't.

Delicious Dinner Ideas for Grilling in 2026

Let it pre-heat for 10-15 minutes up until it's ripping hot (around 500-550F). This is the same concept behind our pizza steels fill the steel with heat, and it does the work for you. Gently divide the ground beef into 4 x 4 oz (115g) balls. Do not exhaust the meat; simply form it into a loose ball.

Season the smashed patties generously with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Prepare for 60-90 seconds.

Cook for another 30-45 seconds to melt the cheese. Briefly toast your buns on a cooler part of the griddle for 15-20 seconds.

Perfecting the Griddle: Professional Burger Skills

Cheese melting perfectly on the Mini Griddle Cast iron is the traditional choice for smashburgers, and it works. After checking both side-by-side for over a years, I switched to steel.

I comprehend how it shops and transfers heat in such a way a lot of individuals never ever think of. That understanding is precisely what led me to develop the Baking Steel in 2012, and it's why I designed the Skinny Griddle particularly for stovetop cooking like this. Here's the difference: That implies it recuperates temperature level faster between hamburgers.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Steel doesn't drop. You get the very same screaming-hot crust on your very first hamburger and your 4th. It warms up quicker and distributes heat more uniformly. No hot spots, no cold areas. Just consistent, edge-to-edge browning. No spices, no babying. Just cook, scrape, wipe tidy. I have actually checked cast iron, stainless-steel, and every frying pan on the marketplace.

Wish to take your smashburger video game outside? Position your Baking Steel Original directly on your outside grill grates. Preheat the grill and steel for 15-20 minutes on high heat, then smash your hamburgers right on the steel. You get the same extraordinary crust with the added benefit of outdoor cooking and that subtle smoky taste from the grill.

How to Master the Griddle: Best Burger Methods

Buddies lose their minds when they see it. They stroll up expecting routine grilled hamburgers and instead they see me smashing patties on a slab of American-made steel on the grill. It's a whole thing. Perfect smash hamburgers made on the Baking Steel Original on an outside grill I designed each of these for a particular use case.

It fits on a single burner and is perfect for households or burger night with good friends. Very same heat retention, smaller sized footprint. Utilize it in the oven for pizza, or take it outdoors and location it on your grill for smashburgers, steaks, and more.