Smash Burgers

 

I like a charbroiled burger at home, but I don't really use a grill, so I figured I'd see if my Dutch oven would do the job. Turns out, yes! I made them buns from scratch too - details below. 

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds organic grassfed beef. 
• 1 tsp salt. 
• 1 tsp black pepper. 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying). 
• 1/2 stick of butter (for basting after it is cooked). 
• 1 recipe hamburger buns.
• 8 pieces sliced American cheese, optional. 
• 8 pieces sliced cheddar cheese. 
• condiments: ketchup. 
• thin sliced white onions. 
• Famous Dave's Signature Spicy Pickle Relish. 
• 1 recipe garlic mustard aioli. 

Directions:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in the Dutch oven (6 quart cast iron ceramic) over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking (about 4 minutes). 
2. Form the hamburgers into 8 patties. I have a blue plate with a shallow well in it, and I use that as a mold. I press the patties into it until it reaches the edges. It's probably a 7 inch circle. 
3. Then I peel it off and place it into the hot oil. 
4. I place a glass bowl with a flat bottom on top of the patty, and press it down. I leave the bowl on top of the patty as a weight, and a splatter guard. 
5. I set a timer for 3 minutes, and then I flip the patty and cook for 3 more minutes, using the flat bottomed bowl to flatten it after the flip. 
6. I actually didn't write down the time between flips. I wrote this back when saving recipes was a chore, so I'll have to fix this recipe when I make these again. Here's what I wrote on my sticky note (for now), "Flip and cook until liquid that pushes through the top is mostly clear. Flip again for a few seconds."
7. I think I didn't realize how much I need there to be no thinking involved when I remake recipes. I want that for you too. 
8. Transfer to a plate and repeat until you have 8 patties. 
9. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds to one minute. Stir. 
10. Paint both sides of all patties and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 
11. Brush all of the hamburger buns with garlic mustard aioli, and ketchup. Place 1 hamburger patty per bottom bun, and top each patty with cheese, and onions. Smear the top hamburger bun (which has already been aioli'd and ketchup'd) with relish. Press the top bun onto the rest of the hamburger and serve. 

Meal-Planning Tip: 

1. When storing the burgers for later, just place the hamburger, cheese and onions onto the buns, but don't add any wet condiments. 
2. When reheating, turn the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and place the burger onto a baking sheet that has been lined with nonstick foil, and bake (without waiting for the preheat) the burger (open-faced) for 8 minutes. 
3. Then smear your wet condiments onto the buns, as indicated in step 11 above.