Smashed Burgers
By Joe
Source: Serious Eats — J. Kenji López-Alt, Classic Smashed Burgers.
Loose balls of beef smashed hard onto a smoking-hot pan for a thin, well-browned crust, scraped up, optionally cheesed, and served at once on toasted buns.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Preheat the pan and shape the pucks. Wipe the ½ tsp oil around a 30 cm heavy frying pan with a paper towel. Set it over medium heat and leave it to preheat for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, gently shape each portion of mince into a thick puck about 5 cm tall, pressing only until it just holds together. Salt and pepper every side well.
- 2
Smash on a smoking-hot pan. Turn the heat up to high and wait until the pan is smoking. Add two pucks and, with a stiff metal spatula (a second spatula pressing down on the first helps), smash each one to about 10–11 cm across and 1.5 cm thick. Do this early and only once.
- 3
Scrape, flip and finish. Leave the patties alone until a deep golden crust has formed, about 1½ minutes. Scrape under each one with the edge of the spatula so you get all the browned bits, then flip. Add a slice of cheese now if you are using it. Cook until the burgers are how you like them — about 30 seconds more for medium-rare.
- 4
Serve at once, then repeat. Sit the patties on the toasted buns, add whatever toppings you like, close and serve immediately. Wipe out the pan and repeat with the remaining two pucks.
Storage
These are for eating as soon as they are cooked. Leftover cooked patties keep in the fridge for a day; reheat until steaming hot.
Why this label?
25.4 g protein for 461 kcal = 5.5 g per 100 kcal, so protein gives about 22% of the energy. High protein needs at least 20% (5 g per 100 kcal), the condition in the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
EU nutrition claims
- Low sugars: 3.4 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 131 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
4.4 g per serving
8.8 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 17.6 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- 30 cm stainless-steel, carbon-steel or cast-iron frying pan
- stiff metal spatula (a second spatula helps with the smash)
Nutrition per serving Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 461 kcal |
| Protein | 25.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 30.1 g |
| of which sugars | 4.4 g |
| of which free sugars | 4.4 g |
| Fat | 25.6 g |
| of which saturates | 9.2 g |
| Fibre | 1.1 g |
| Salt | 1.9 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
5.5 g meets High protein (≥ 5 g per 100 kcal = 20% of energy, and ≥ 10 g per serving)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
