American Smash Burger

Secret Sauce • Lacy Edges — USA

Thin, lacy, crispy-edged patties smashed on a ripping-hot griddle, with the only burger sauce recipe you'll ever need.

Ingredients

• 600 g — Ground beef, 80/20 (1⅓ lb)
• 4 pc — Potato buns
• 4 pc — American cheese slices
• 60 g — Mayonnaise, for sauce (¼ cup)
• 20 g — Ketchup, for sauce (1⅓ Tbsp)
• 5 g — Yellow mustard, for sauce (1 tsp)
• 10 ml — Pickle brine, for sauce (2 tsp)
• 40 g — Dill pickles, sliced
• 50 g — Shredded iceberg lettuce (1 cup)
• 40 g — White onion, shaved thin

Step-by-Step Method

1. Secret sauce first. Mayo, ketchup, mustard and pickle brine whisked. Ten minutes in the fridge marries it — this sauce is also your fry dip forever.
2. Ball, don't patty. Beef divided into 8 loose balls of 75 g (2⅔ oz). No seasoning inside the meat — salt goes on the surface only, after smashing.
3. Smash & sear. Cast iron smoking hot. Ball down, smash hard with a stiff spatula to ¼-inch, salt, and DO NOT touch for 90 seconds — that crust is the entire point.
4. Flip, cheese, stack. Scrape under the crust, flip, cheese on, 30 seconds. Stack two patties per bun.
5. Build. Sauce on both bun halves (yes, both), pickles, onion, lettuce, double stack. Wrap in parchment for 1 minute — the steam meld is a pro move.

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