Dipped Smash Burgers
Double Smash Cheeseburgers Dipped in a Creamy Garlic Pan Sauce ᝰ.ᐟ
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 2 large yellow onions thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Burgers
- 720 grams 80/20 ground beef, cold (80/20 is important here!!)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt for the patties
- Freshly ground black pepper for the patties
- 8 slices American Cheese
- 4 brioche buns
- mayonnaise for toasting and for the burger itself
- 1 large tomato thinly sliced
- 4 leafy lettuce leaves
- 16 dill pickle chips
Pan Sauce
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 tbsp dill pickle brine room temperature
- 360 ml vegetable stock room temperature
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 180 ml heavy cream room temperature
- 4 grams fresh chives minced
- 4 tbsp salted butter, cold and cubed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Caramelize the onions
- In a large stainless or carbon steel skillet over medium low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, salt and sugar and cook, stirring every few minutes, until deep golden and jammy, 35 to 45 minutes. Add a splash of water whenever the bottom gets too dark and scrape it up. Scrape it up once more before you transfer the onions to a bowl.
Burgers
- Divide the beef into 8 loose balls (about 90 g each) and keep them in the fridge. Lightly salt the tomato slices and lay them on a paper towel. Have the lettuce, pickles and cheese ready by the stove.
- Spread the mayo on the cut sides of the buns and toast them cut side down (in the same skillet as the caramelized onions) over medium heat until deeply golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Grab a clean, dry stainless steel pan! We won't be adding any oil or fat to the pan before smashing down our patties. The 80/20 beef releases plenty of its own fat as soon as it hits the hot pan, and starting dry gives the meat direct contact with the surface for the best possible crust.
- Turn the heat to medium high and let the pan get hot. (preheat for 5 minutes). I personally like to do one patty at a time. If I'm making a smash burger, I want a beautiful caramelized bottom, and the best way to get that is to give the patty the entire surface of the pan to itself.
- Using a grill/burger press if you have one (if you don't, a wide, sturdy spatula will do) and a square of parchment so it doesn't stick if necessary, smash the patty down as thin as you can get it. It's okay if bits of your burger separate a bit once smashed. Smashing it down in the hot pan creates a caramelized web on the bottom of your patty, and it will all be basically intact once you flip it over.
- Season the top with salt and pepper. Cook without moving until the edges are lacy and the bottom is deeply browned, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape under the patty to keep the crust, flip, and top with a slice of cheese. Cook until melted, 30 to 45 seconds. Stack the patties in pairs on a plate and tent loosely. Repeat with the remaining beef. If the fond starts looking close to black between patties, lower the heat a little.
Pan sauce
- If you have quite a bit of rendered fat from the burgers left in your pan, the avocado oil is not necessary. But if you dont have much fat left In your pan:
- Once all of your patties are seared off and stacked, add the 1 tbsp of avocado oil. Lower the heat to medium, add the shallot and cook until translucent and soft, about 2 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Deglaze by adding the pickle brine and scrape up all the fond. Add the stock and Dijon. Simmer until reduced about a third, about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and simmer gently until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 2 to 4 minutes.
- Now, throw in your fresh chives and let them simmer in the sauce for 30 seconds.
- Turn off the heat and immediately add your cold butter. Mixing vigorously until completely incorporated, and your sauces glossy and has thickened. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. I found that I didn't need any extra, but that is all up to your preference!
- Add your sauce to the bottom of the serving plates of your choosing.
Let's build our burger!
- Now for the fun part! On each toasted bottom bun, layer mayo, pickles, lettuce, tomato, a double patty stack, a generous spoonful of caramelized onions, then the top bun.
- Cut each burger in half, dunk the cut side into the sauce, and eat right away.