What is the best way to make a Smash Burger?

0:00 There are now thousands of Smashburger videos on the internet, but almost none of them explain the food science behind why we like them so much. And more importantly, no one talks about how the decisions that you make with the ingredients you buy, the smash technique you choose, and how the burger toppings are assembled can have a massive difference in the final product. So, in this video, we're going to break down all of that with a series of tests. First, we'll compare three different types of ground beef to show how the unique water, fat, and protein content changes the flavor of a smash burger. Second, we'll take the same ground beef and smash it in three different ways to understand how thickness can affect texture, moisture, and browning. And finally, we'll put together three completely different Smashburger builds

0:46 and taste them side by side. And by the end of this video, I promise you will understand all the Smashburger fundamentals you need in order to construct the version that works the best for you and your kitchen. So, let's break it down. So, we're going to smash a lot of beef today and it's all going to be on the carbon steel griddle from today's sponsor, Maiden. And I don't know what else to say at this point other than there is my life before the Maiden carbon steel griddle and there is my life after the Maiden carbon steel griddle. And I'll tell you what, life is a lot better afterwards. This thing has lived on my stove for the past 3 or so years. It gets ripping hot, sears beautifully, and cleans up with a quick scrape and clean. It covers two burners, whether gas, induction, or electric. And because there's tons of space, it's

1:33 perfect for cooking for a crowd or doing a bunch of protein prep. There's also this nice griddle press that we'll be using to smash the burgers as well. So, if you want to check out the carbon steel griddle or any of my other favorite cookware from Maiden, check out the link in the description. And thank you again for sponsoring this video. But now, let's cover how to choose the right ground beef at the grocery store. When you walk into the grocery store, the number of ground beef options can feel overwhelming because there are so many variables at play. Ground beef can come from different cow breeds such as Angus versus Wagyu versus Herford. Those cows can have different diets such as grass-fed versus non-grass-fed. The beef from those cows can then be ground

2:18 from a single cut like chuck, brisket, or top round, a mix of cuts, or just ground up trim from the butchering process. Those cuts of beef can then be mixed into the different fat percentage we see such as 7327, 7525, 8020, 8515, 9010, or 937. That ground beef can also be packaged in different ways, from vacuum packed to loose grocery store packaging. Or you could just buy your own beef, grind it yourself, and try out four different size grind plates for your smash burger. This would represent well over 864 possible ground beef combinations that we could test. I mean, even if we narrowed it down to 50, that would just be kind of ridiculous and monotonous. I mean, lots of them would make amazing smash burgers. And this is why the more important question to ask

3:04 when it comes to buying ground beef at the store is what are you optimizing for? And for me, there are three main factors worth thinking about. Budget, flavor, and calories. So, I chose three types of ground beef to test across this spectrum so we can start to understand the food science behind how ground beef cooks in a burger. First, I have a 7327 generic ground beef at $4.64 64 cents per pound and 340 calories per serving. Second, I have an 80/20 grass-fed regeneratively sourced blend with 92% beef trim, some beef liver, and beef heart added at $11.99 per pound and 280 calories per serving. And lastly, I have a much leaner 937 grass-fed beef at

3:51 $9.99 per pound and just 170 calories per serving. So, I took 100 gram of each of these ground beefs to smash on the grles. And for each, we're going to keep track of one, the shrinkage by tracking the weight after cooking. Second, we'll be able to give each one a crust rating. And then lastly, I'll give them a taste and talk about the differences between aroma and the texture in terms of chew and juiciness. Now, in order to understand why some of these patties will shrink significantly more or how there can be flavor differences when it comes to taste, aroma, and texture, we need to understand the three core molecules that all ground beef is made up of: water, fat, and protein. On a 100 g basis, these three ground beef options have significantly different amounts of

4:37 these three molecules. And as we smash and cook the beef, they change quite a bit. And first is water. When you see your burger steaming up on the griddle or the pan, that's the free water evaporating at 212° F. And it is very important to evaporate the water away from the surface of the beef so the protein can continue raising in heat past the boiling point where the mayor reaction can start to happen at around 285° F before accelerating in that 300 to 350° range. Water also provides some of what we refer to as juiciness in a burger. For example, a thicker burger will have more water in the inside since there is less evaporation happening. Now, the second and arguably more important molecule for a juicy burger is

5:22 the fat. Fat is solid when it's cold and is dispersed throughout the ground up muscles. But as that burger heats up on the griddle, the fat will start to melt at around 130° F. And this is why you'll see those little holes or gaps forming. It's melted fat draining out from the protein. And fat helps a lot with juiciness and flavor in a burger. for a couple of reasons. First, when the fat melts to the pan, instead of evaporating like water does, it acts as a thermal conductor and continues to raise the temperature of the proteins, helping the mayor reaction occur. And secondly, fat acts as a solvent for both the naturally occurring aroma molecules in beef fat itself and the new aromomas that are created via that browning reaction. Now, on the downside, the more fat ground

6:07 beef has, the more shrinkage we get. And in the three patties, we see this very linear result where the three options went from 100 g to 67, 74 g, and 85 g, respectively. And this shrinkage is a mix of both water evaporating and fat melting away and being left in the pan or grill. Now, our last core molecule is protein, which serves two core purposes. First is structure, and second is browning. Protein is what gives our burgers structure because as the coiled protein molecules denature as they heat up they begin to line up with one another which is known as coagulation. And protein also plays another critical role when it comes to flavor because protein is what actually browns. The fat does not brown nor does the water

6:53 obviously. Protein is what underos the mayo reaction and can build those crispy crusty edges from end to end. And speaking of, you may be shocked to find out that you can still get a great crust even with a 93% lean ground patty with no fat added to the grill. And I would give all of these a clear passing grade when it comes to their crust formation. Now, don't let your eyes deceive you, though, because even though these are brown from edge to edge, there are some very clear differences in terms of texture, taste, and aroma when you actually bite into them. So, let's taste test. Okay, so this is really cool just to see the visual differences in most fat, most fat melts away, you got the most shrinkage, and then kind of going up the ladder. And I think it's also

7:38 really cool to see you're able to get really good browning on all three of these varieties because, you know, you're smashing it down into that griddle, you're making all those contact points, and then you're creating that browning mayor reaction on the surface of each patty. And that's really why we like Smashburgers so much. Now, I'm going to give these a taste and we're going to kind of talk through some of the texture differences because that's what you can't see with your eyes, but I will be able to experience and kind of relay some of my thoughts here. Really beefy. You can feel that fat kind of lingering on your tongue. Really, really nice. Obvious why we generally go for higher fat in a lot of burgers we eat. Let's go actually all the way up to here and kind of compare and contrast that with the super lean 937 ground beef.

8:27 It it just makes sense from the from the food science behind this, right? Like it's mostly protein, lean protein that has a different flavor than more fat does. It's still a really good burger. It's definitely noticeably drier. Um, you don't get that kind of lingering fattiness that we all really like in our burgers and probably most of us are familiar with. That being said, you could still make a great smashed burger with this 97 or 937 ground beef because again, you're not you're kind of making a trade-off. You're not optimizing for flavor. If you're using 937, you're kind of optimizing for good flavor, but really low calories in comparison to some of these higher fat options. Lastly, let's try this um kind of more flavor forward blend that also has some I think it's liver and beef heart in it. So, let's see how different it

9:13 is. Wow. Really good flavor. Also, the texture is noticeably different here. It's kind of a softer, more fall apart um texture uh compared to either one of these. And I think partly because like liver and I think beef heart are kind of softer ground up, you know, when they would be ground up at least compared to like a leaner meat that is being used probably in one of these. Um but really goes to show that there's not really one true best beef here. It really needs to come down to the question of what are you optimizing for? And I think one of the things I want to talk about next is how knowing of what beef you're choosing really does kind of impact how you may want to end up smashing your smash burger. For example, I think if you're going to use a leaner 937 ground beef,

10:00 it is much better to do a double patty, double smash, so you can add some fat kind of in between the patties. And that's what we're going to talk about right now. So, in part one of this video, we've kept the technique the same and changed the ingredient input, which leads to differences in the cost, calories, and flavor of the Smashburger. But now, in part two, we're going to flip that and asks, what happens if we keep the ground beef the same, but smash it in three different ways? First, an ultra thin patty. Second, split into two thin patties. And third, this is what I'm going to call a half smash burger, where it's still smashed, but just not quite as thin as number one. in two. All of these are going to have some different trade-offs we'll talk about, but the one thing they all have in common is that the mayor reaction is the

10:47 flavor powerhouse of Smashburgers because you could buy the most expensive ground beef in the world. But if you do not understand how the Mayar reaction works, you'll end up with a gray sad looking burger instead of a beautifully browned one. The mayo reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugar that creates deep browning and complex aromomas. It's what gives seared steaks, toasted bread, and roasted coffee their signature aromomas that we all love. But crucially, this only happens at high heat, typically above 300° F. So, smashing the burger isn't the end goal here. It's just the method to facilitate that. We smash to increase the surface area so that more of the beef is in direct contact with a

11:33 very hot pan. And this is what allows edgetoedge browning to occur. If your pan is too cool, say around 200 or 250° Fahrenheit, nothing is going to happen. Your burger is just going to be steaming and turn gray. This is why I recommend preheating your pan to 450° F before adding the patty. It might seem really high, but you have to keep in mind as soon as the cold beef hits the pan, it's going to drop the surface temperature. So, you need that initial heat to get the mayar reaction started as quickly as possible because the water and fat in our ground beef is going to start evaporating and melting away very quickly. So, we want to retain as much juiciness as we can. And as we saw in that previous test, you can still get good browning even with a leaner beef as

12:19 long as the pan is hot enough so it can evaporate that water away and the proteins can raise their temperature. Now, for each of these smash burgers in testing, I'm using 5 oz or 141 g of 80/20 ground chuck. And first is an ultra thin single patty. This is great if you only have one small skillet or pan to use because it still is going to maximize your surface area for browning. But the trade-off of smashing patties super thin is that more water evaporates, more fat melts, and the patty ends up less juicy overall. This one went from 141 g down to 103 g after cooking. And this is why some people do not like smash burgers compared to thick ones, which is why I wanted to try a half smash burger. This is the middle ground. It's the exact

13:05 same amount of beef, but I'm just smashing it about half as thin. And you do get less total surface area for browning. However, you do retain significantly more fat and water in the inside, so it should end up more juicy. This one went from 141 grams down to just 115 after cooking. And then lastly, we have number three, the double patty smash burger. This is one that most of you are probably familiar with. It's the same 5 o of beef, but split and smashed into two thinner patties. And you get essentially the same amount of surface area as one ultra thin patty, but as one bonus, you can layer cheese or other toppings between them to make it feel richer and juicier. And these two went from 141 g down to 104, just about the

13:51 same as our ultra thin patty. So, let's give these a quick taste. Okay, so I think this test is a really good example of if you take the exact same ingredient, but use it in different ways, in this case, smashing it in different ways, there are some clear trade-offs with the, you know, kind of taste, texture, and aroma that we're going to go through. Like, there are definitely some pros and cons to each of these that I'm going to be excited to talk about when we get to that final test. But, as for now, you can see that this has a lot of surface area as a single burger. And then obviously it's probably about the same with the two smash patties because these are, you know, equal or so. Um, but then this burger is pretty different because it's noticeably thicker. Also weighs the most after cooking because it's going to be juicier on in the inside. Um, which I think is kind of a unique kind of

14:37 hybrid. A lot of people may say that this is not a true smash burger, but I smashed it. And again, if you want to go this route, like that's completely up to you. I don't think there was any right or wrong way to make a smash burger, but there are so many ways you could potentially make a really good one. So, let's dive into these a little bit. It's just really good and beefy. Nothing much to say about it. Obviously, a plain. However, significant difference in the juiciness when I get to this one because again, it's not completely squished and cooked really fast. Wow. I actually really like this variation because you get that strong crust still that you get in a smash burger, but obviously significantly more juicy. And if you're someone who's like,

15:25 I don't know, maybe you want to mix it up a little bit, or maybe you're someone who like is not a big fan of smashed burgers because they do tend to be, you know, a little bit less juicy, I think this could be a really nice happy medium in between them. And then this is also another really cool one to do too because when you double the patties, again, similar amounts of surface area when it comes to the browning, but a completely different experience because you're biting through two patties. And as we'll see in the final taste, that's normally a lot of people will put cheese and toppings in between these. This is really interesting because from like a juiciness bite through like these two kind of resemble each other a little bit more, but in terms of kind of maximum amount of kind of crust and mayor reaction, these two kind of mimic each other a little bit more. And it's

16:10 just really cool to compare and contrast. So to round out this video is what I've been most excited to do is actually make three different smash burgers using what we've learned. three different types of ground beef, three different choices for how we smash them, and obviously we're going to do some different buns and toppings. So, let's cook. So, as we learned in part one, there can be hundreds of options for ground beef. That beef can be smashed in many different ways. And once you get to the toppings, there are basically unlimited ways to build a smash burger. And if you're anything like me, the burger that I make depends much more on the mood I'm in or the moment or situations. So, I wanted to put together three different Smashburger builds using what we've learned. And I want to also show you the calories and estimated

16:56 itemized cost for each one. And first, we have the cheddar and onion smashburger. This one's all about bold and punchy flavor. So, for the beef, I'm using the 80/20 grass-fed blend with the beef liver and heart. For my smashing technique, I'm going to go with the half smash for a bit more juiciness in the bite. After flipping the burger, I added some fried diced onions onto the burger before adding my cheese, which is a nice sliced sharp cheddar. Then for my burger sauce, I used one part mayo, one part stone ground mustard, and some diced dill pickles for a really tangy sauce that should help balance the richness of the beef, cheddar, and onions. And everything in this burger is kind of more flavor forward and loud, but I think each component can hold on its own. Burger number two is what I'll call a classic style. kind of feels like it's

17:42 off maybe a diner griddle. For the beef, I have the 7327 storebought brand. For my smashing technique, I'm going to go with the one thin and wide patty. And after flipping, I use two slices of American cheese. Then for my bun, I have a sesame seed roll. And on goes some ketchup and mustard, bread and butter pickles, and a nice sprinkle of red diced onions before some tomato, lettuce, and the burger. It's nostalgic, juicy, should be a little bit messy when we bite into it, but in the best possible way. Then lastly, we have the macroofriendly build. This is the Smashburger that I make for myself most often at home because it only clocks in at around 500 calories. I start with 937 lean beef, split it into two patties, and then add a slice of lower fat cheese

18:29 on both of those. Then this is one of my favorite simple burger sauces. one part ketchup, a half part yellow mustard, a half part mayo for just a little extra fat. Then some diced raw onions, which is a key. Then I finish with some smoked paprika, and a couple of cranks of black pepper. For my bun, I have a potato roll, only 130 calories. Then I add the burger and the sauce over the top, and nothing else. I like to keep this one very simple. And here we have three different burgers with very different choices behind them. So, let's give them a taste. All right, I am very excited. So, as you can see, very different approaches. All smashed burger meat, but all of these are going to eat pretty differently. I've never made kind of a

19:14 burger in this style before. This one is one that I make a lot, but really it's more optimized for a lower calorie version. So, let's dive in and see what we got. Can really see all those crusty little edges in there. This one's really good. Just It kind of reminds you of like a classic maybe like diner or like old school fast food burger. Really, really nice. Let's go to number two. Thicker patty, stronger tasting cheese, and stronger tasting beef. Let's get into it. Man, the beefy flavor on this one is really nice. The texture is also nice and soft, really juicy, but still really

20:01 beefy. And then you get the sauce, the mustard, the mustard tang with the the uh the caramelized onions in there. Really, really satisfying flavor profile. All right. And then we have the old standby. Roughly like a 500 calorie burger. something I make a lot of um just because it's it fits in with macros and it kind of feels like a cheat meal but it's not. Let's dive in. And for me, this is such a good example of like when understanding the food science behind the technique and the ingredients you're using can make you a really good tasting lower calorie kind of more lifestyle version, right?

20:46 Like by using that double patty, we can slot a piece of cheese in the middle. And then we're using a sauce. There's a little bit of mayo in there, but it's mostly that white onion, ketchup, little smoked paprika, and pepper in there. Um, and just a very, very satisfying, you know, burger. Even though this is quite a low calorie option compared to these two. And hopefully you can see this is not about choosing what is the best burger. It's really making different types of smash burgers for different types of situations. So hopefully now you can see the full picture of smashburgers and why the ground beef you buy at the store, the smashing technique you choose, and how you assemble those bun and toppings all work together. And once you understand these fundamentals, you can build a smash burger that fits

21:32 exactly what you're looking for, whether it's optimizing for maximum flavor, lower calories, or cost. And to me, what's most important is understanding the why behind your choices. So now is where I would like to hear from you. I have a lot of frozen ground beef and leftover frozen buns in my freezer. So drop your favorite burger builds down below and tell me why you like it. And I'm sure I'll give it a shot because I mean I've got the ingredients so I might as well. But anyway, that will wrap it up for me in this video. I hope you have enjoyed. I'll catch you all in the next one. Peace y'all.