The Secret to Creating a Smoked Smashburger

After multiple experiments, I figured out the secret to creating a smoked smashburger, and I’m sharing it with you. Your dreamy, smokey, crispy, beefy burger awaits.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef® brand. All opinions are my own.

In order for a burger to be so popular it breaks instagram (AKA goes viral), it has to be crazy unique. Burgers that stand out include the ramen bun burger, the donut bun burger the BK black- and green-bunned burgers.

But there was one key thing all of these viral versions were missing. In my opinion, they weren’t really all that appetizing.

In my quest to create a burger that Instagram would go gaga for, I started with a classic – the smashburger.  

We all love smashburgers for their crazy, crispy, beefy crust and simple ingredients, but no one (that I’ve found) is making a smoked smashburger. Literally, as of May 22, 2019, zero people have used the hashtag #SmokedSmashburger on Instagram. 

Can you imagine biting into a cherry- or hickory-smoked uber-crusty skinny patty topped with melted cheese?

Sure people have added barbecue sauce or smoked cheeses to add that smoky kiss to a smashburger, but that’s just not the same as smoked meat.

If no one has made a smoked smashburger, maybe it’s because it’s not possible

I’m not a girl who gives up easily. I wasn’t going to let the science of cooking interfere with my imagination.

To start my research, I grabbed a pound of Certified Angus Beef® brand ground beef. As with my regular smashburger recipe, I use an 80/20 blend. (80% meat/20% meat).

For test one, I shaped the ground beef into four balls, and smoked them at 225F degrees for 20 minutes.

The smash went okay, but the color and flavor didn’t quite hit the mark.

For test two, I upped the time on the smoker to 30 minutes, still cooking at 225F degrees. The color was much better. The outer shell had a beautiful mahogany shimmer.

But the smash was a fail. No matter how much pressure I put on the bacon press, I couldn’t get that sucker to thin out. As it cooked, it shrunk and fell apart.

I pondered over this for a couple of days. At one point, I thought well, this may just be why #SmokedSmashburger isn’t a thing.

Then, I got home one day and made four more balls. I smashed one raw, and it was flat as a pancake.

The secret to a smoked smashburger is revealed

That’s when it dawned on me that the meat needed to be as close to raw as possible before it hit the griddle.

I adjusted the smoker temp to 200F and smoked another round for 30 minutes using cherry wood on my pellet smoker. It had the same beautiful color as test two, but the meat was visibly more pliable.

When I brought it to the griddle and performed the coveted smash, I yelled out a big fat, “Hot Damn!”

But it was the flip that made me even happier. Not only did this smoked smashburger perform well under pressure, but it maintained that gorgeous mahogany color it picked up from the smoke.

So the secret to the hashtagless burger is a slow and low smoke. Who’d a thunk it. Isn’t that the secret to all good barbecue.

Now that the science is figured out, let’s do this up right

While I was being all sciencey with the beef, I decided to mix things up with the cheese, as well.

I don’t care what anyone says, my favorite cheese for a smashburger is American – period. To me, it has the best melting quality and silky mouthfeel.

I like a little texture with my burgers, too, so I added another cheese component – a cheese crisp. This isn’t like the kind you find at a Mexican restaurant. It’s just pure cheese cooked on a griddle, until it crisps up.

Add about a half cup to the medium-high griddle surface, spreading it out into a 4-inch circle. Just let it cook for about 90 seconds. The cheese will start to bubble, and the edges will turn golden brown.

Carefully, slide a spatula under the cheese crisp, and set it aside, for your burger build.

Let’s celebrate with caramelized bourbon onions

The last ingredients I like on my smashburgers are onions and pickles. Since this burger calls for a celebration, I added a dash of bourbon to my onions – okay maybe it was more than a dash.

After letting the onions sweat on the griddle with some oil for about 6 minutes, I poured two tablespoons of bourbon onto the pile, and let that sweet drink soften the onions down.

For the build, I used a toasted brioche bun, five pickles, a cheese topped smashburger, that cheese crisp, another patty, bourbon onions and finally the top bun.

In the end, I downed a half-pound double-decker smoked smashburger with glee and pride.

Now it’s your turn

How will you top your #SmokedSmashburger? Be sure to tag it, so the cool kids who are following along can see your creations.

Who knows we just might break instagram with all the excitement.