Diner-Style Burgers
Updated Aug. 2, 2024
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½teaspoon neutral oil, like canola, or a pat of unsalted butter
- 2pounds ground chuck, at least 20 percent fat
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 8slices cheese (optional)
- 8soft hamburger buns, lightly toasted
- Lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes and condiments, as desired
Preparation
- Step 1
Add oil or butter to a large cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet and place over medium heat. Gently divide ground beef into 8 small piles of around 4 ounces each, and even more gently gather them together into orbs that are about 2 inches in height. Do not form patties.
- Step 2
Increase heat under skillet to high. Put half the orbs into the skillet with plenty of distance between them and, using a stiff metal spatula, press down on each one to form a burger that is around 4 inches in diameter and about ½ inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Cook without moving until patties have achieved a deep, burnished crust, a little less than 2 minutes. Use the spatula to scrape free and carefully turn burgers over. If using cheese, lay slices on meat.
- Step 4
Continue to cook until meat is cooked through, approximately a minute or so longer. Remove burgers from skillet, place on buns and top as desired. Repeat process with remaining burgers. Serving two hamburgers on a single bun is not an outrageous option.
Private Notes
Comments
I love this burger but a way to achieve the same result without any splatter from oil or butter is the Mark Bittman steak technique where you heat the cast iron pan on high for 3 minutes or so until very hot, even smoking, add some salt to the bottom of the pan, lower the heat to med high and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side. No splatter and a crisp, perfectly done burger. Add cheese as Sam suggests if you like.
One issue.
If you like cheeseburgers, and I do, the cheese won't melt sufficiently unless you overcook the meat, which is no good. So I put a cover over the pan as soon as I flip and put the cheese on.
To keep the burger from sticking to your spatula when you smash, place a small piece of parchment paper on the burger before pressing down.
Finally a recipe that shows me how to scale down from 8 burgers to 4. In case there's only two of us at the cottage.
Not sure why, but this is the perfect method for cooking burgers!!! I was super impressed that simply using an ice cream scoop, cold ground beef, salt, peeper and, of course, butter resulted in such deliciousness!
Can't imagine a less interesting recipe for the meat! Blech! I add a little chopped red onion, generous amount of Dill Weed and several dashes of Worchestershire Sauce and a quarter cup of Panko for two patties - all gently blended together. Four ounces of meat per serving is plenty. Then form patties - intentionally making the edges substantially thicker than the middle. As they cook, they form uniformly flat patties - not small footballs.
Sounds delicious, but let's be honest: what you've got there are meatloaf patties. I just made Sam's as directed with good-quality ground beef from a local butcher and can confirm it's plenty interesting.