What makes smashburger so good

Regular Burgers. Burgers have been around for centuries. The burger then became what we know today as the classic with buns in the s in the USA. People across the country started to flip burgers and serve them with any seasoning you can think of. And at about the same time, the Smashed Burger made its homecoming.

Cooks in the Midwest began to press down their ground meat on a skillet for seared, crispy flavor. The regular chunky burger or the smashed thin patty?

What Are Smashed Burgers? Smashed burgers are what the name says: burgers that have been smashed. Guess you probably knew that already, but do you know what it does? When you press down on a burger with a bacon press or a spatula , it improves contact of the meat with the heat source. You heat up the griddle. This reaction happens when protein reacts with high heat. When your burgers hit the hot griddle, the proteins break down into smaller compounds.

And this causes browned, charred, and toasty flavor - it makes meat taste like a proper diner burger! This reaction only happens at the surface of the patty, because the proteins need direct contact with the heat. And when you smash burgers, they get flatter - which means more contact area for tastier - Maillard Reaction - meals.

Sounds smashing? So go ahead and smash! Lest you think that we owe this "smashing" burgers to the rise of food science, Pulitzer Prize- and James Beard Award -winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold provides evidence to the contrary.

He writes about one of Los Angeles' culinary legacies, the California lunchroom burger :. Shake Shack, Smashburger, ultra-smashed burger—to some of us, it will always be a California lunchroom creation. Learn more tricks for creating great burgers: add a secret ingredient to keep them moist while they cook and use your thumb to help them cook evenly.

You can also learn how to make your own perfect sliders and eat a restaurant burger with no mess. Want to master Microsoft Excel and take your work-from-home job prospects to the next level? Jump-start your career with our Premium A-to-Z Microsoft Excel Training Bundle from the new Gadget Hacks Shop and get lifetime access to more than 40 hours of Basic to Advanced instruction on functions, formula, tools, and more.

In your example you are forming the patty on the cooking surface, which is substantially different from smashing ground beef which has already been formed into a patty. Plus, your method only works on a solid surface, not a grill or ridged surface. It works, no denying that, but it doesn't debunk a myth, just shows an alternative to making a patty. When you have formed a patty and are cooking it you don't "smash" it during the cooking process. Watch your video, he does not "smash" the patty again, he forms the patty with the spatula.

Jubal is right: there's no debunking going on here at all. The only debunking is : article is thinly veiled product placement for smash burger. Whether the idea behind the cooking holds merit or not is completely blown by a cook who violates health code from the onset.

Where's his hair net? The guy wants to look good with his shaggy hair but Im afraid the health inspector might give his restaurant a "C" rating for that - not to mention that while he does go the extra mile by going to the trouble of wearing protective gloves as he cooks, he scores a complete fail by wiping something off of his upper lip.

If I were him, I would reshoot the piece. As the posters above pointed out, all that the article is telling us to do is to form the patties on the griddle itself.

While they are still raw ground beef that hasn't cooked. If you're wondering what to prepare for your dinner guests this month, read my lips: Make burgers. I know what you're thinking: But don't I have to make something that will impress my friends?

Sure, you can. But why not make something that's guaranteed to be delicious? Something that'll make guests lose their minds?

A few months ago, my wife and I threw a going-away party for friends. Thirty guests in our backyard. We got all fancy and classic with the cocktails. We set out pretty platters and glassware. And then I became short-order-cook guy. I borrowed a inch cast-iron skillet from work and got all chee-burger ; chee-burger , like Belushi and Aykroyd.