Tallow Smash Burgers
The secret to a proper smash burger is a screaming-hot pan and the right fat. Tallow can take the heat, and because it is beef fat it adds more beefiness to the crust instead of fighting it. Press the patties thin, leave them alone, and you get crispy, lacy edges with a juicy middle. On the stove in cast iron, or on a flat plate over the coals.
Ingredients
- 500 g beef mince (about 20% fat works best)
- 2 tbsp Tallow & Flame beef tallow, plus a little for the buns
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 slices cheddar
- 4 soft burger buns
- 1 onion, very thinly sliced (optional)
- Pickled gherkins, sliced
- Burger sauce: 4 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tsp mustard, 1 tbsp chopped gherkin
Method
- Mix the burger sauce. Split the buns, brush the cut sides with a little melted tallow and toast them in the pan until golden. Set aside.
- Roll the mince into 8 loose balls of about 60 g. Don't knead or season the mince yet.
- Heat a cast iron pan or flat plate until it is smoking hot, then add the tallow.
- Put 2 or 3 balls in, and straight away press each one down hard with a sturdy spatula (a second spatula on top helps) until about 1 cm thin. Add a few onion slices on top if you like. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Leave them alone for about 2 minutes, until the edges are dark brown and crispy. Scrape under the crust, flip, add a slice of cheese and cook 1 more minute.
- Stack two patties per bun with sauce and gherkins. Serve straight away.
Chef's tip
Smash only once, in the first 30 seconds. Pressing later pushes the juices out. Keep the mince cold until it goes into the pan.