Smashburgers At Home

Deborah Liu | Mommy School

My 9 year-old wanted to learn how to cook, and one of the first recipes he asked to try is burgers. I wanted something easy for him to make, yet delicious. So when I found this recipe for Smashburgers on Serious Eats, I knew it was worth a try at home. I adapted it to be more kid friendly.

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb of ground beef - 88% lean
1/2 lb of cheese (swiss or cheddar works well)
Salt and pepper
1/4 lb of prosciutto (or cooked bacon if you prefer)
Tomato sliced
Lettuce washed and peeled into burger sized pieces
1 package of Thomas English muffins
Assorted condiments like BBQ sauce, ketchup, and mustard

Have your child weigh the meat to 1.7 to 1.8 oz. To feed a family of 6, you will need 12 separate balls of meat. Do not season or pack the meat. Salting the meat right now will cause it to dry out.

Place balls of meat aside and prepare your skillet or griddle. I tried it both of the cast iron heated 10 minutes on high, and the baking steal griddle heated 15 minutes on two burners. Both worked, but it was easier to smash the burgers on a flat surface without the edge of the skillet.

Have your child place the ball of meat onto the skillet or griddle, and press down with a flat metal spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the meat cook about 1 minute and then flip them over and add salt and pepper to the other side. Immediately put a slice of cheese on the hot burger. When another minute passes, add one patty over the other and let the cheese glue them together.

Toast the English muffin for about a minute or so until slightly crisp, but not hard. Lay burger over the bottom. Have your kids help assemble their own smashburger with condiments, prosciutto, lettuce, and tomatoes.