The Forge Sessions: Volume 3. Oklahoma Smash Burgers
We wanted to taste the burger that they named an entire US state over to see if it was worthy of the hype.
The Oklahoma Smash Burger.
Makes 8 patties. We had two per burger.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
800g Beef mince. Plenty of fat. Ours was about 20% fat.
8 rashers of bacon - Cooked until crisp while the plancha heats up.
Burger buns. I could only find brioche. Potato rolls are traditional.
1 large white onion
Salt, pepper, MSG. The fairy dust of burger cookery.
Green peppercorns - Minced.
Mayonnaise.
Burger Cheese of your choice
Ketchup
Gherkins - We used Mrs Elswood.
METHOD
Heat up your barbecue nice and hot. Lay down your plancha and close the lid to heat up for 5-10 mins.
Divide your beef into 100g balls, get your seasoning ready and close at hand.
Peel and slice the onion into the thinnest possible slices. We’re talking an atom thin here. Set aside.
Mince the green peppercorns and add to the mayo to taste. Roughly 1 tablespoon of peppercorns to 4 tablespoons of mayo.
Cut up your burger buns and toast on the plancha. It’s important to do this first so you can build the burgers as soon as they’re ready.
Lay down a bed of onions onto the plancha.
Season up a ball of beef and using your burger press, smash it into the onions. Try to smoosh the burger so it tapers at the edges. You want a slightly thicker centre that will remain juicy while letting the outside go all lacy and crisp.
Cook for 1-2 minutes or until it comes easily away with a metal spatula.
Flip and cover with a slice of cheese. With your beer in one hand and cloche in the other, pour a little bit of steam producing liquid on the plancha next to the burger and immediately lid it to melt the cheese.
Repeat this process in a kind of beefy production line. By the time you have lidded the final burger, the first one will be cooked and ready to serve.
Smear some mayo on the bottom bun, add your burger, gherkin slice and bacon. Crown it with a ketchup loaded top bun.
Insert into face
LESSONS LEARNED:
There is only so thin you can get an onion slice when using a camping style knife. Next time I’ll use a mandolin or better yet a deli slicer which I don’t yet own.
My video camera can overheat and stop recording pivotal moments if placed too close to fire for too long.
Kiln dried logs make for a much hotter sauna.
Smashing a burger into onions makes for a delicious bite. There is good burn and bad burn and cooking onions at this intensity for short periods of time makes for some very good burn.
Green peppercorns are an absolutely brilliant thing to keep in stock.
I’ve since learned that you’re supposed to smash the onions into the beef rather than the other way around. I’d be interested to find out if there is any discernible difference in the final product.