# Yet another burger thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [June 19, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752 "2023-06-19T01:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/41 "2023-06-20T12:53:31Z")
My experience, as well. I can’t remember the last time I used lean burger for anything. I’m guessing that people on a low fat diet may eat it, but to me it’s pretty tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/42 "2023-06-20T12:55:54Z")
I would tend to agree a burger made with good ground beef need not and indeed should not be an elaborate complicated affair with myriad ingredients. A bit of onion, mustard and ketchup are the classic or traditional condiments for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/43 "2023-06-20T13:08:25Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I like a good mushroom & Swiss burger… My thoughts exactly. My/our meal plan has formed for tonight. I’ll change nothing. Mmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/44 "2023-06-20T13:33:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I can’t remember the last time I used lean burger for anything. I’m in the minority. I abhor fat. The sous vide burgers I make use a steak that I trim all visible fat from, then grind I grind it. Luckily, my gf feels the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/45 "2023-06-20T13:44:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Two slices of American cheese (not ‘American cheese food’) Nitpick: All American cheese is “cheese food”. “Cheese food” just means cheese that’s been melted and re-solidified, and since American cheese is a blend of other cheeses, it’s always melted and resolidified. Kraft Singles and the like, which you probably meant to exclude, are “cheese food product”, which means that they’re mostly cheese (I can’t remember the exact required percentage), but they’re allowed to have other added ingredients, mostly oils. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/46 "2023-06-20T13:59:34Z")
A real smash burger is just a poorly cooked burger, dried out and over cooked on at least one side. Obviously cooked on a flat top instead of a grill, which is fine but requires less handling of the meat. Pressing on it just dries it out. Hamburgers are not meat pancakes. Let the bottom brown, flip it to brown the other side and reduce the heat to let it finish cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/47 "2023-06-20T14:09:25Z")
A lot of them are dried out and overcooked because either the line cooks don’t know WTF they’re doing, or they’ve got so many orders on the griddle that they can’t tend to it properly. I smash mine prior to putting it in the pan. A ball of meat between two sheets of wax paper, smack it a couple of times, peel it off into a very hot pan, sear for a few minutes, flip and sear for a couple more. Caramelized and juicy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/48 "2023-06-20T15:32:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > A real smash burger is just a poorly cooked burger, dried out and over cooked on at least one side. Obviously cooked on a flat top instead of a grill, which is fine but requires less handling of the meat. Pressing on it just dries it out. Hamburgers are not meat pancakes. Let the bottom brown, flip it to brown the other side and reduce the heat to let it finish cooking. Wow. Everything about this is so profoundly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/49 "2023-06-20T16:08:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow. Everything about this is so profoundly wrong. Smash burgers are profoundly wrong if that’s what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/50 "2023-06-20T16:15:14Z")
Before we start murdering each other with sharpened spatulas, I was surprised to find I was the only one who mentioned homemade sliders. I find myself enjoying them more as I’ve gotten older and giant burgers hit my grease threshold more easily. Am I alone in this? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/51 "2023-06-20T16:19:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Everything about this is so profoundly wrong. Agree. A friend of ours in Sint Maarten runs the smallest bar in the world, Juggie’s Place. His son has a little diner type set up in Philipsburg called **Krave** (He was the chef at **Crave** in Simpson Bay previously) where he sells Smashburgers. They are outrageously delicious and messy af. Grease drips all over your hands and chin as you eat them. People wait in line to enter the tiny spot. [![](https://i.imgur.com/Yr1LbWw.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Yr1LbWw.jpg) Here he has some balls of meat with a generous helping of thinly sliced onions on top. He will SMASH them in a minute, then flip, then serve. Two patties, two slices of cheese, lettuce tomato. [![](https://i.imgur.com/VwrJRZT.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/VwrJRZT.jpg) Damn, they’re good. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/52 "2023-06-20T17:04:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nitpick: All American cheese is “cheese food”. Nitpick: [No, it isn’t.](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=133.169) Real American cheese is real cheese, defined as Pasturised Process cheese. It’s basically all cheese. ‘Cheese food’, legally Pasteurized process cheese food, must only contain a minimum of 51% cheese. Kraft Singles are a ‘pasteurized prepared cheese product’. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/53 "2023-06-20T17:04:39Z")
I’ve done it a couple of times. Once just because we ended up with slider rolls. Nothing particularly appealing about them to me. Once upon a time 10¢ White Castle burgers were a treat because of the low price, but I can afford full size burgers now. There was a local place tried to make low cost sliders a feature of a family oriented restaurant. They didn’t stay open long but maybe just another casualty of COVID. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/54 "2023-06-20T17:07:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Once upon a time 10¢ White Castle burgers were a treat because of the low price, but I can afford full size burgers now I’ve been to a place that does “fancy” slider platters. Three sliders of your choice (avocado sliders, habanero sliders, bleu cheese sliders, etc) with fries and a pint of beer for one price. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/55 "2023-06-20T17:16:30Z")
They did something like that. Big plate of fried for the table, I recall chili and maybe it was some kind of avocado topping you could add for a few cents. They served beer and maybe sangria I think, but no other alcohol. I’ve seen places do well on that basis, inexpensive food the whole family can enjoy, but I don’t remember any other family type attraction there, no arcade games or other stuff for kids to do. But their biggest problem was probably opening at just the wrong point in time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/56 "2023-06-20T18:18:48Z")
I don’t like but have to accept how “slider” merely means “mini burger” now. To me a slider needs to be very thin and “steam grilled” over onions. It’s not just a small hamburger. A lot of it is opposite of what you’d normally want from a hamburger, like no browning/Maillard, but that’s what makes them special to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/57 "2023-06-20T23:40:53Z")
You can make an amazing burger by making almost half of it chopped onion. I did a thread on this a few years ago. Any burger leaner than 80/20 is not pleasant to eat and I will add healthy olive oil if cooking a burger with lean meat. Adding egg and binders might change the texture, which may cause quibbling, but adding spices and small amounts of important sauces does not significantly and vastly improves the final product unless grinding your own meat. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/58 "2023-06-20T23:50:41Z")
Just avoid lean hamburger, and it isn’t necessary to add a bunch of stuff to try and make it edible. I will say getting good ground beef can be problematic in some places. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/59 "2023-06-21T01:34:28Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > My thoughts exactly. My/our meal plan has formed for tonight. I’ll change nothing. Mmmmmmm My meal plan changed because of this thread as well. I made a mushroom Swiss burger tonight, and it was fan-freakin-tastic. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > I was surprised to find I was the only one who mentioned homemade sliders. I find myself enjoying them more as I’ve gotten older and giant burgers hit my grease threshold more easily. Am I alone in this? Never made homemade sliders, but I’ve seen vids of how to roll out thin burgers, pit 5 holes in each square for steaming, and putting the bun on top of the burger and carmelized onions to soak up the grease and juices. I’d be game to try that if I ever get a flattop grill like a Blackstone. In the meantime, I enjoy a White Castle run maybe twice a year. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752/60 "2023-06-21T02:06:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I used the term “smashburger” in my post because that’s a term that everyone understands. Is this regional? There _was_ a Smashburger that opened near here, but they closed in fairly short order. In any case, I had no idea it was a particular style. I’ve never heard anyone call something a smashburger or say that it was smashed style. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-burger-thread/985752.md?page=4)