You can, but 90/10 will taste dry on a smash burger. If that is what you have, mix in 1 Tbsp mayonnaise per 450 g before forming balls.

Use the youngest cheddar you have and cover the pan for 45 seconds. Aged cheddar will not melt the same way.

Grill instead of a pan?

Only if you have a flat griddle insert. Open grates cannot smash and will drop fat into the fire.

Food & Cooking

The Ultimate Burger Masterclass

A diner-style smash burger you can cook on a weeknight

55 min11 photographed stepsBeginner

This is a full cook-along for four smash burgers: the beef, the pan, the bun, the sauce, and the stack. You will make one burger the way a good diner does — thin, crusty, cheesy — not a thick hockey puck that dries out.

What you'll learn

Why 80/20 chuck and cold meat make a crust
How to smash once and flip once
A 60-second burger sauce
The stack order that does not slide apart

Inside this course

The burger you are makingA smash burger is a thin patty cooked screaming hot so the outside browns like a steak while the inside stays juicy. You are not making a 2-inch pub burger.
Prep the pan and the meatEverything that can be ready should be ready. Smash burgers cook in under three minutes. You cannot start slicing onions at that point.
Smash, cheese, bunTwo burgers at a time so the pan stays hot. You will do this twice.
Sauce, stack, eatA smash burger dies if it sits. Sauce and stack as soon as the last patty is done.

Full step-by-step lessons with photos unlock with a subscription.

The Ultimate Burger Masterclass preview 1

The Ultimate Burger Masterclass preview 2

The Ultimate Burger Masterclass preview 3

Free preview

First steps from The burger you are making

See how every step looks — photo, checklist, and pro tips included.

The finished smash burger — thin, crusty, cheese draped over the edge.

01What 'done' looks like

You want a lacy brown crust, melted cheese glued to the patty, a toasted bun that still bends, and sauce on both cut faces. The burger should be gone in five minutes — it is not a sit-down steak.

If you have only made thick grilled patties before, forget the 'don't press the burger' rule. For smash burgers, the press happens once, immediately, on a hot pan. After that, you leave it alone.

80/20 chuck, still cold. Do not add breadcrumbs, egg, or Worcestershire.

02Shop once, cook once

Buy chuck labeled 80/20. If the pack looks watery and grey, pick another. Buns should be soft — a crusty bakery roll will fight you. American cheese is the right cheese here because it melts into a blanket instead of a greasy puddle.

Keep the meat in the fridge until the pan is hot. Warm mince smears. Cold mince crusts.

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