Perfecting Restaurant-Quality Fries at Home

I make smashburgers on steel typically. The work is getting your hamburger bar together: sliced pickles, onions, cheese, special sauce.

Get your frying pan or steel ripping hot. You have to work fast. We're preparing these for 30-60 seconds per side, and you want it shrieking hot for that Maillard response, the sear that makes smashburgers famous. I love to smash for good friends. Most of the time, they have actually already had our Baking Steel pizza, and I like to blend the menu.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I've made smash hamburgers on this thing that individuals still talk about. Smashing the beef thin makes the most of contact with the hot steel, activating the Maillard reaction, the chemical process that creates that deep, tasty, browned taste we all long for.

Your very first burger and your fourth get the same incredible edge-to-edge crust without the temperature dropping. I 'd understand my family has remained in the steel organization for over 50 years at our shop in Hanover, MA. I understand this material, and I constructed these griddles specifically to fix the heat retention problem that cast iron can't.

Top Culinary Tips for Juicy Grilled Patties

Let it preheat for 10-15 minutes until it's ripping hot (around 500-550F). This is the very same principle behind our pizza steels pack the steel with heat, and it does the work for you.

Instantly smash them very thin (about 1/4 inch) with a stiff spatula or press. To prevent sticking, you can position a small piece of parchment paper between the meat and the spatula. Season the smashed patties kindly with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Prepare for 60-90 seconds. You'll see the edges turn a deep, crispy brown.

Prepare for another 30-45 seconds to melt the cheese. Quickly toast your buns on a cooler part of the griddle for 15-20 seconds.

Special Ingredients for Top-Tier 2026 Burgers

Cheese melting completely on the Mini Frying pan Cast iron is the traditional choice for smashburgers, and it works. After testing both side-by-side for over a decade, I switched to steel.

I understand how it stores and transfers heat in a manner the majority of people never think of. That understanding is precisely what led me to develop the Baking Steel in 2012, and it's why I designed the Skinny Frying pan specifically for stovetop cooking like this. Here's the distinction: That indicates it recovers temperature much faster between burgers.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

You get the very same screaming-hot crust on your very first burger and your 4th. Just cook, scrape, wipe clean. I've evaluated cast iron, stainless steel, and every frying pan on the market.

Preheat the grill and steel for 15-20 minutes on high heat, then smash your burgers right on the steel. You get the exact same amazing crust with the added benefit of outdoor cooking and that subtle smoky taste from the grill.

Designing Elevated Menus with Top-Rated Burgers

They walk up anticipating regular grilled hamburgers and instead they see me smashing patties on a slab of American-made steel on the grill. Perfect smash burgers made on the Baking Steel Original on an outdoor grill I developed each of these for a particular usage case.

It fits on a single burner and is ideal for families or hamburger night with friends. Very same heat retention, smaller sized footprint. Use it in the oven for pizza, or take it outside and place it on your grill for smashburgers, steaks, and more.