The best homemade burger is thin, charred, and draped in gooey cheese
I’ve never particularly enjoyed the burgers I make at home—they’re just never as good as what’s on offer at my local smashburger joint. Recently, however, I had a burger breakthrough while making myself lunch. I had only a small amount of ground beef, which I smashed into the flattest patty possible. Then I fried it in a hot cast iron skillet, topped it with a slice of medium cheddar cheese, and threw it on a bun with lettuce, ketchup, and mayo. This was a burger at its most basic, yet it was hands down the best one I’ve ever made. The thin patty was lightly charred and perfectly salty, and the layer of gooey cheese was nearly as thick as the meat itself. It got me thinking that I’ve been approaching homemade burgers all wrong. Leave the wacky sauces and piles of toppings to the professionals—the best burger to make at home is a simple one.
A classic smashburger is made by forming the meat into balls, then smashing them directly onto a hot cooking surface. This is easy on a large, hot diner griddle, but it’s much trickier within the confines of a skillet (if you don’t one of these special smasher tools), or worse, on the grates of a grill (just don’t even bother trying that—trust me, it’s a mess). So unless you have a pretty swish at-home burger setup, smashing your patties in advance between two pieces of parchment paper is the way to go. This way you can achieve thin, crispy results, plus the parchment makes it easy to transfer the meat to the skillet.
There are a couple of key advantages to a super-flat patty: the extra surface area makes the meat easier to season thoroughly, plus, with more meat in contact with the hot cooking surface, there’s extra potential for tasty, charred flavor (aka, more Maillard reaction). If you’re someone who wants a bit more meat in their burger, you can double or triple the number of patties for a bigger bite.
These patties cook fast, so make sure your pan or grill is searingly hot so that you can achieve a decent char. Before you begin cooking, toast and butter the buns, then add any sauces or other toppings. Again, the secret is to keep it simple, so add what you like, but don’t go overboard—I prefer just ketchup, mayo, and iceberg lettuce, and I add them to the bottom bun only, reserving the top half for a cheesier fate once the burger is assembled. After just 30 seconds of cooking, flip the patty, drape it with cheese, then cover the pan with a lid or an inverted metal bowl until the cheese has melted.
If there’s one thing that can level up your at-home burger game, it’s not letting the meat sit after cooking—this is especially important with super thin patties like these, as they’ll cool down very quickly. . Immediately transferring the meat to its prepared bun (directly in contact with the melty cheese) creates an almost grilled-cheese-like effect on top, while the hot juices from the patty run down and incorporate into the sauce on the bottom layer. Enjoy your burger right away, while the meat is hot and the cheese is gooey. It may be simple, but it’s as close to perfection as any burger I’ve ever had.