Cast Iron Smash Burger

Cast-iron burger goodness in under 10 minutes and under $5

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil

• 170g (6oz) ground beef (2, 3oz patties)

• 1 Kraft single

• Shredded iceberg lettuce

• 1-2 slices of tomato

• Red onion

• Seasoning salt

• Whatever condiments you want on your burger (I like mustard, ketchup, mayo)

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Metal Spatula

Instructions

To make this properly you definitely should use a cast iron skillet or flat top. A great tool for smashing the burgers is a weight or metal spatula. You can use your palm too if you like third degree burns on your fingers.

• Toast your buns and dress your buns to start

  • Don’t be a fool and let your meat cool while you dress your buns. Trust me—it literally takes longer to cut your veggies than to cook these burgers

• Pre-heat your cast iron skillet/flat top/vessel on high. Lightly oil with a high smoke point oil (I like canola oil) unless you like to set off your smoke alarms

  • If you want, you can skip this step because the beef will likely have enough grease in it that it shouldn’t stick, plus you’ll scrape it off with that handy metal spatula I told you about, but adding oil is just an extra non-stick measure

• Once your cast iron is HOT (make sure it’s HOT. You don’t want to steam your meat, you want it to char), bang a 3oz meat ball into the pan and smash it with your favourite tool of choice

  • I like to use my metal spatula while pressing down with a wooden spoon

• While on beef is on the skillet, season the one side with seasoning salt and freshly ground pepper

• Cook for a couple minutes on each side or until decently charred

• If your pan is big enough, you can do both patties at once. If it’s not just do one at a time, add cheese to the second one after flipping

• When done, assemble with your condiments of choice, tomato, red onion and shredded iceberg lettuce! And maybe cut in half and get some photos of that cross section for your social media followers