How to Cook a Premium Flat-Top Burger

Cast iron drops in temperature after each hamburger. Steel doesn't. That's why I developed it I come from a steel family and I understood the material could surpass cast iron for high-heat cooking.

I do this all summertime. Prepare smashburgers at on a preheated griddle or steel. This high heat is crucial for developing the Maillard reaction, which gives smashburgers their signature crispy, lacy edges and deep taste. Get it ripping hot. You wish to hear that sizzle the 2nd the beef strikes the steel.

Flip, include cheese, and cook for another to melt the cheese and surface cooking. You have to work fast. This is high-heat, high-speed cooking. That's what makes it so excellent. is the finest ratio for smashburgers. The 20% fat content is important for developing a juicy burger and crispy edges.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Leaner beef will lead to a drier, less tasty burger. Stick to 80/20. Crispy edges originate from 3 things: (500-550F) Get your griddle ripping hot. The fat renders and fries the edges. Optimize contact with the frying pan. Heat, fat, and surface area contact. Master those 3 things and you'll get perfect crispy edges every time.

The method requires direct, high heat from a griddle to create the signature crust. You can bake hamburgers in the oven, but they will not be smashburgers. They'll simply be ... baked burgers. is the traditional option it melts perfectly and has a velvety texture. Cheddar, Swiss, and provolone are also excellent if you desire to mix it up.

Flavorful Dinner Inspiration for Grilling in 2026

Season on the frying pan. Do not season the beef before forming the balls it can make the texture mushy. I utilize mine for pancakes, bacon, eggs, grilled cheese, quesadillas, seared steaks, and more.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

As soon as you understand how steel holds and transfers heat, you begin using it for everything. I invented the Baking Steel in 2012 after reading that steel performs heat better than stone.

Every Baking Steel is still made at our family shop. Cast iron is fine. But if you're major about smashburgers, steel is much better. It shops more heat, recovers much faster, and provides you a consistent crust from the very first burger to the last. Get it ripping hot, work quickly, and make some bad ass burgers.

What began as a Kickstarter task (increased by an early recommendation from Kenji Lpez-Alt on Serious Eats) has actually grown into the go-to tool for numerous thousands of home cooks. His fixation with high-heat cooking goes way beyond pizza. After years of screening smashburgers on cast iron, stainless steel, and every frying pan on the marketplace, he developed the Skinny Griddle and Mini Frying pan particularly for stovetop cooking crafted to hold heat the method just steel can.

The Skinny Griddle is his go-to tool for smashburgers in your home. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore and teaches high-heat cooking through his complimentary online classes and dishes.

Savory Dinner Ideas for Grilling in 2026

It's an easy meal, and it takes just a few minutes to prepare and a couple of minutes to prepare your delicious griddle hamburgers. Pick your hamburger patty, choose your cheese, and choose your buns and filling.! Cooking up your hamburgers on a flat frying pan is a great way to get all the flavor you can out of both your hamburger patty and your cooking surface area.

These flat, smooth cooking surface areas can take a lot of heat, and they can provide your hamburger the perfect sear, and a well rounded, even cook. We enjoy frying pans due to the fact that they are so versatile, and while traditionally they are utilized on stovetops, we regularly cook burgers on a frying pan in the oven, and even over an open campfire.

If you're using your griddle on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the campfire, there are a few universal guidelines to follow when you're cooking burgers: If you have cast iron frying pans, they are going to require a layer of spices to safeguard the surface area. This makes it non-stick, and likewise protects it from rust.