Griddle Smash Burgers with Garlic Butter Buns
Loose beef balls flattened hard on a hot griddle, cheese on top, buns griddled in garlic butter.
- calories
- 880
- weight
- 13 oz
- cal / oz
- 68
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Real dishes
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef, 80/20 | 2 lb | the fat is the whole point, do not go leaner |
|---|---|---|
| Brioche hamburger buns | 4 | |
| Sliced cheese | 8 slices | American melts fastest |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Garlic powder | to taste | |
| Unsalted butter | 6 tbsp | softened; keep it cool until you cook |
| Garlic | 4 cloves, minced | |
| Dried chives | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt, for the butter | 1/4 tsp | |
| Tomato | 1, sliced | |
| White onion | 1, sliced | |
| Bib lettuce | a few leaves | |
| Dill pickle chips | 16 |
Method
- Stir the butter, minced garlic, chives, and quarter teaspoon of salt together in a cup. Set it in the shade.
- Divide the beef into eight loose 4 oz balls. Handle them as little as you can stand.
- Get a cast iron griddle over the fire or grill grate and let it heat ten minutes. It should be hot enough that a water drop skitters.
- Oil the surface, set the balls down with space between them, and press each one flat with a burger press or a foil-wrapped spatula. Hold the press for ten seconds.
- Salt the tops and dust with garlic powder. Cook two to three minutes until the edges go dark and lacy, then scrape under with a stiff spatula and flip.
- Lay cheese on each patty and give it a minute to melt. Pull them off.
- Wipe the griddle, spread garlic butter on the cut faces of the buns, and toast them face down for about a minute.
- Stack two patties per bun and load on the lettuce, tomato, onion, and four pickle chips.
Smashing is what makes this worth hauling a griddle for. Pressing a loose ball onto screaming metal forces the surface into full contact, and that contact is where the browning happens. A patty formed at home and grilled on grates never gets that crust.
Two things wreck it. Packing the meat into a puck before it hits the heat, which makes it dense, and flipping too early, which leaves the crust stuck to the griddle. Wait for the edges to darken and use a stiff metal spatula. The griddle needs to be genuinely hot, so give it the full ten minutes.
This one stays a cooler recipe. Beef, cheese, butter, and lettuce all need cold, so it is car camping or a basecamp with a real cooler, not something to carry.
Packing
Beef and cheese ride in the bottom of the cooler, buns on top of everything or they get crushed. Mix the garlic butter at home into a small screw-top jar so you are not mincing garlic in the dirt.
Variations
- Skip the fresh produce and carry crispy fried onions instead. They survive a hot cooler.
- No burger press: a foil-wrapped flat rock or the bottom of a pot works.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/smash-burgers-with-garlic-butter-buns