Savory Dinner Secrets for Grilling in 2026

Cast iron drops in temperature after each burger. Steel doesn't. That's why I produced it I come from a steel household and I understood the product might exceed cast iron for high-heat cooking.

I do this all summertime. Cook smashburgers at on a preheated frying pan or steel. This high heat is essential for creating the Maillard reaction, which gives smashburgers their signature crispy, lacy edges and deep flavor. Get it ripping hot. You wish to hear that sizzle the second the beef hits the steel.

Flip, add cheese, and cook for another to melt the cheese and surface cooking. That's what makes it so good. The 20% fat content is essential for producing a juicy burger and crispy edges.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Leaner beef will lead to a drier, less flavorful hamburger. Stick to 80/20. Crispy edges originate from three things: (500-550F) Get your griddle ripping hot. The fat renders and french fries the edges. Maximize contact with the griddle. Heat, fat, and surface contact. Master those three things and you'll get best crispy edges each time.

The technique requires direct, high heat from a frying pan to create the signature crust. You can bake burgers in the oven, however they will not be smashburgers. They'll just be ... baked hamburgers. is the timeless choice it melts perfectly and has a creamy texture. Cheddar, Swiss, and provolone are also excellent if you want to blend it up.

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This maximizes area for browning and creates the signature crispy edges. Do not be shy. Actually smash it. That's where the magic occurs. Season on the frying pan. Do not season the beef before forming the balls it can make the texture mushy. Definitely. I utilize mine for pancakes, bacon, eggs, grilled cheese, quesadillas, seared steaks, and more.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

When you understand how steel holds and transfers heat, you start utilizing it for whatever. I did Andris Lagsdin. I invented the Baking Steel in 2012 after reading that steel performs heat much better than stone. My family has actually run Stoughton Steel Company in Hanover, MA considering that the 1960s, so I got a slab from my father's store, checked it, and the rest is history.

Every Baking Steel is still made at our household store. Cast iron is fine. If you're major about smashburgers, steel is better. It stores more heat, recovers much faster, and provides you a consistent crust from the very first hamburger to the last. Get it ripping hot, work fast, and make some bad ass burgers.

What started as a Kickstarter task (boosted by an early recommendation from Kenji Lpez-Alt on Serious Consumes) has grown into the go-to tool for hundreds of countless home cooks. His fixation with high-heat cooking goes way beyond pizza. After years of screening smashburgers on cast iron, stainless-steel, and every griddle on the market, he developed the Skinny Frying pan and Mini Griddle particularly for stovetop cooking engineered to hold heat the way only steel can.

The Skinny Griddle is his go-to tool for smashburgers in your home. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore and teaches high-heat cooking through his totally free online classes and recipes.

Professional Flat-Top Strategies for 2026 Summer Grilling

It's an easy meal, and it takes simply a few minutes to prepare and a few minutes to cook your delicious griddle burgers. Select your hamburger patty, choose your cheese, and choose your buns and filling.! Cooking up your hamburgers on a flat griddle is a terrific way to get all the flavor you can out of both your burger patty and your cooking surface area.

These flat, smooth cooking surface areas can take a great deal of heat, and they can provide your hamburger the ideal sear, and a well rounded, even prepare. We love griddles due to the fact that they are so flexible, and while traditionally they are used on stovetops, we routinely cook burgers on a griddle in the oven, or even over an open campfire.

If you're utilizing your griddle on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the campfire, there are a few universal rules to follow when you're cooking hamburgers: If you have cast iron frying pans, they are going to need a layer of flavoring to protect the surface. This makes it non-stick, and also safeguards it from rust.