Yeah, that’s the other technique I use–you see that a lot in fast food burgers in my part of Chicago. The one I was talking about is you put a slightly flattened ball of meat on a very hot pan (don’t handle the meat too much–you just want it to hold together.) Let it cook on one side until it browns. Flip, and press down, hard, with a spatula to flatten the sucker out. Let that side brown, flip once more to finish the first side (the initial browning of the first side is to help the meat stick together. The meat tends to fall apart if you start with the smash.) If you use a thick enough meatball to start, you actually can get medium rare, but (for this style on the pan), I like 'em thin and crispy around the edges.
Either way produces similar results–it depends on whether I feel like dealing with wax paper or not.
Main tips: No leaner than 15% fat. Grind your own, if you’re able to. Short ribs make the beefiest, richest burgers you’ve ever had; chuck is my second choice. (Or do a 50-50 combo of the two). Don’t handle the meat too much, don’t add anything, not even salt, to your ground mixture. Just salt and pepper the outside of your patties.
