Mike's Smashed-at-home Burgers

By Michael

Published July 3, 2022


A good burger can't be beat for a quick weeknight meal.

After I went on the quest for a good burger spatula and ended up with the Lamson Hamburger Turner (write-up coming soon!), I had to come up with a good riff on a smashed burger in order to utilize it to its maximum potential.

There's a burger pop-up here in Raleigh called Brokedown Burgers, and after enjoying one of their creations, I was inspired to try and make my own twist on what they did. I don't remember exactly what was in their burger, but it was like a tastier version of Shake Shack's Smokeshack burger.

Here is what their burger looked like:

Brokedown Burgers burger and chips

Check out the bottom of the post for what I ended up with!

Mike's Smashed-at-home Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1 lb 80/20 ground beef, formed into 2 oz pucks
  • Cooper White American cheese
  • Shredded iceberg lettuce
  • Pickled banana pepper rings
  • Chopped onion
  • HP Sauce, or any condiment you like
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning
  • Burger buns of your choice. I like potato or butter bread buns, which are made by a few bakeries

Preparation

These steps are for one burger with two thin patties 1 lb of ground beef will yield 4 burgers.

  1. Lightly toast your top and bottom bun, with butter, and set aside
  2. Dress both buns with a thin layer of HP Sauce, and some chopped onions. Dress the bottom bun with shredded lettuce and a few banana pepper rings
  3. Heat your skillet over medium heat until it is hot
  4. Moisten the bottom of your spatula or other flattening instrument with water
  5. Place one of the meat pucks into the pan, pressing down hard with your spatula
  6. Remove the spatula from the top of the meat carefully, and sprinkle the now-exposed top with kosher salt and a couple cranks of black pepper
  7. When the edges begin to brown, use your spatula to scrape the burger off of the pan, and flip it
  8. Season this side with salt and pepper, and cook it briefly. When it looks cooked through remove from the pan and set aside
  9. Repeat steps 1-5, but after flipping the second patty, place cheese on top to cover, and then top with the first patty
  10. When the cheese is melted, place on dressed bun and enjoy!
Mike's Smashed-at-home Burger