161/18 – Kenji Smashburgers:

Smashburgers were everywhere last year and I never actually got round to cooking any. With a freezer full of burgers it seemed like a good time to give it a go. Anytime I don’t have a recipe in a book I have a look for a recipe by Kenji. A quick Google for Kenji Smashburgers found me his method!

The Meat:

Black Label burgers from Turner and George. A secret mix of cuts with added bone marrow – 4x180g for £7.92. I cook with these a lot, they are great burgers.

The Kit:

Kenji recommends a plasterers trowel and a wallpaper stripper. A quick look on Amazon suggested these:

The Prep:

I was going to cook these on the cast iron half moon for my Kamado Joe but I was running a bit late so was going to cook it on my Napoleon Pro 22 with inverted grill grates as it would be quicker to get up to temperature. However, I thought pushing down hard on the meat might push it through the gaps in the grill grates. I then thought about using a cast iron pan but the plasterers trowel was bigger than all my pans. Randomly and as the lid was still off the Napoleon grill from the rotisserie cook I offered up the KJ half moon to the Napoleon, it fitted perfectly on the outside of the rim. Result!

A full chimney of Resilient Woodlands Alder poured over the the top end of the grill then the cast iron on top.

The Cook:

I took a burger and split it into two then balled it up, placed it on the cast iron then pushed down firmly with the plasterers trowel.

After about a minute I used the wallpaper scraper to get underneath the bigger and lift it off the cast iron. I then used a burger flipper to flip it over. At this point I added salt and pepper.

Buns toasted then burgers on top. These were for the kids so pretty basic. What a crust on the burgers!

Next run, I managed to get the burgers more of an equal size.

Same process as before. This one was for my wife so pickles, onions and my burger sauce on the bottom (tomato ketchup, mayo, tabasco chipotle, Worcestershire sauce and some salt). The top bun looked a bit dry so I added some sauce to the top too.

Mine next, same as before.

Nice crust.

Oh wow, the crust was awesome! As it was my one I added cheese on the left burger then placed the right burger on top. I used up the last of the Snowdonia Cheese Company Beechwood smoked mature cheddar.

Time to Eat:

Burger sauce, Pickles, onions, burger, cheese, burger and less sauce on the top lid!

SUMMARY:

These were so easy to cook. Being so thin it takes all the guesswork out of cooking them. The crust was unreal and the burgers were tasty. They were a little drier than usual but that’s the nature of the beast cooking them so thin. They reminded me of a McDonalds or Burger King burger but made with high quality, tasty beef.

First time I have used a plasterers trowel and wallpaper stripper when cooking but they worked really well!

The kids inhaled theirs and said they were delicious so I can see these getting cooked again! The cheese was so, so tasty, I will be buying this in future.

Cook Difficulty:	2/5
Cook Duration:	Quick: 2/5
Cook Equipment:	Napoleon Pro 22 / KJ Cast Iron
Cook Method:	Cast Iron
Charcoal:	Resilient Woodlands Alder
Smoking Wood:	N/A
Cook temperature:	Hot!
Cook time:	A few minutes
Internal temperature:	N/A
Notes:	No major changes

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