Professional Flat-Top Methods for 2026 Summer Grilling

Cast iron drops in temperature after each burger. Steel does not. That's why I developed it I originate from a steel family and I knew the material might outperform cast iron for high-heat cooking. Yes. Position your Baking Steel Original straight on your grill grates, preheat for 15-20 minutes on high, and smash your hamburgers right on the steel.

I do this all summer. Cook smashburgers at on a preheated griddle or steel. This high heat is vital for developing the Maillard response, which offers smashburgers their signature crispy, lacy edges and deep flavor. Get it ripping hot. You want to hear that sizzle the second the beef hits the steel.

Flip, add cheese, and cook for another to melt the cheese and surface cooking. That's what makes it so good. The 20% fat content is important for developing a juicy burger and crispy edges.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Leaner beef will result in a drier, less delicious hamburger. Crispy edges come from three things: (500-550F) Get your frying pan ripping hot. Make the most of contact with the griddle.

You can bake burgers in the oven, however they won't be smashburgers. They'll simply be ... baked burgers.

Comparing Flat-Top versus Traditional Grilling Methods

This maximizes area for browning and produces the signature crispy edges. Do not be shy. Really smash it. That's where the magic happens. Season on the griddle. Don't season the beef before forming the balls it can make the texture mushy. Definitely. I utilize mine for pancakes, bacon, eggs, grilled cheese, quesadillas, seared steaks, and more.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Once you comprehend how steel holds and transfers heat, you start utilizing it for everything. I developed the Baking Steel in 2012 after reading that steel carries out heat better than stone.

Every Baking Steel is still made at our household store. Cast iron is fine. If you're major about smashburgers, steel is better. It shops more heat, recuperates faster, and gives you a constant crust from the very first hamburger to the last. Get it ripping hot, work quick, and make some bad ass hamburgers.

What began as a Kickstarter job (enhanced by an early endorsement from Kenji Lpez-Alt on Serious Eats) has become the go-to tool for numerous thousands of home cooks. His obsession with high-heat cooking goes method beyond pizza. After years of testing smashburgers on cast iron, stainless-steel, and every frying pan on the marketplace, he designed the Skinny Frying pan and Mini Frying pan specifically for stovetop cooking crafted to hold heat the method just steel can.

The Skinny Frying pan is his go-to tool for smashburgers in your home. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore and teaches high-heat cooking through his complimentary online classes and recipes.

Perfecting Restaurant-Quality Sides in Your Kitchen

It's a basic meal, and it takes simply a couple of minutes to prepare and a few minutes to cook your delicious frying pan burgers. Select your burger patty, pick your cheese, and choose your buns and filling.! Cooking up your hamburgers on a flat frying pan is an excellent method to get all the taste you can out of both your burger patty and your cooking surface area.

These flat, smooth cooking surface areas can take a great deal of heat, and they can provide your hamburger the perfect sear, and a well rounded, even cook. We love griddles due to the fact that they are so versatile, and while generally they are utilized on stovetops, we frequently prepare burgers on a frying pan in the oven, and even over an open campfire.

If you're utilizing your frying pan on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the campfire, there are a few universal rules to follow when you're cooking hamburgers: If you have actually cast iron frying pans, they are going to require a layer of flavoring to secure the surface area. This makes it non-stick, and likewise secures it from rust.