Smash Burgers

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How to run it

1. Stir the sauce together; slice yellow or red onion paper-thin; set out buns, cheese, a sturdy flat metal spatula and parchment squares.
2. Divide 1 1/2 lb cold ground beef into 8 loose balls (about 3 oz). Handle as little as possible; do not pack or season yet. Keep them cold until the pan is hot. Ground Beef and Food Safety: "A maximum of 30% fat is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef."
3. Heat a cast-iron skillet or flat-top griddle over medium-high to high for about 5 minutes, until a drop of water skitters and evaporates immediately. On an outdoor grill, set a cast-iron skillet or griddle on the grates and heat the same way.
4. If your ground beef is leaner than 80/20, add 1 tsp tallow or oil. Place 2–3 balls with room between them, cover each with a parchment square and smash hard within the first 30 seconds to about 1/4 inch thick using the spatula pressed down with a second spatula, a burger press, or the bottom of a small heavy saucepan. Smash once only; do not press again after the crust starts. Optional: press thin onion slices into the raw top.
5. Season the tops with salt and pepper. Cook about 2–3 minutes, until the edges are deeply browned and lacy and the top looks mostly cooked.
6. Scrape under the crust with the spatula edge, flip, add cheese, cook about 1 minute more.
7. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) page Ground Beef and Food Safety says: "To be sure all bacteria are destroyed, cook meat loaf, meatballs and hamburgers to a safe minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Use a food thermometer to check that they have reached a safe internal temperature. If you are cooking thin patties, you can insert the probe of the thermometer at an angle, or sideways into the patties." Check the thickest patty in each batch before you move them off the heat.
8. Repeat steps 4–7 with the remaining balls, working in batches until all patties are cooked. Transfer cooked patties to a clean plate. Ground Beef and Food Safety: "Don't put cooked hamburgers on the same platter that held the raw patties unless you wash the platter again."
9. Toast cut sides of the buns in the beef fat left in the pan about 30–60 seconds until golden.
10. Build each burger: spread sauce on the toasted bottom bun, stack one or two patties per bun, then add pickle chips, lettuce, and tomato; cap with the top bun.
11. Serve right away. Leftovers: Ground Beef and Food Safety says: "If ground beef is refrigerated promptly after cooking (within 2 hours; 1 hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees F), it can be safely refrigerated for about 3 or 4 days." When reheating, the same page says: "When reheating fully cooked patties or casseroles containing ground beef, be sure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F as measured with a food thermometer."