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Recipe · Direct · Easy

Smash burger on the kamado with American cheese

The viral burger done right: 90 g ball, cast-iron plancha at 250°C and a 30-second smash that builds the definitive crust. No tricks, no marketing.

Hamburguesa smash con bordes crujientes y queso fundido
Prep
20 min
Cook
8 min
Servings
4 servings
Temperature
250 °C

Ingredients

  • 80/20 ground beef (chuck + fat)700 g
  • American melting cheese (Kraft singles style)8 lonchas
  • brioche burger buns8 ud
  • large white onion2 ud
  • unsalted butter30 g
  • mayonnaise4 cda
  • ketchup2 cda
  • Dijon mustard1 cda
  • finely chopped pickles1 cda
  • flaky salt and black pepperc/n

Method

  1. 01

    Burger sauce (24h ahead)

    Combine mayo, ketchup, Dijon mustard and chopped pickles at 4-2-1-1. Refrigerate 24 hours — flavours marry and the sauce transforms.

  2. 02

    Caramelised onion

    Slice the onion thinly. Sweat in a pan over medium-low heat with a knob of butter for 20 minutes until golden and sweet. Hold warm.

  3. 03

    Form balls

    Without working the meat any more than necessary, divide into 8 loose 90 g balls. Do not pack them — the trapped air builds the texture. Zero salt at this stage.

  4. 04

    Heat the plancha

    Set the cast-iron plancha on the kamado grate and bring it to 250°C with the lid open. Water-drop test: a drop should dance and vanish in 2 seconds.

  5. 05

    Smash 30 seconds

    Place the ball on the plancha. Cover with parchment paper and smash with a wide flat spatula (or a second plancha on top) for 30 seconds. Do not lift. Peel the paper, salt with flakes and pepper.

  6. 06

    Flip and cheese

    After 2 minutes, when the edges are golden and crispy, flip with the spatula scraping the crust off the plancha. Lay two slices of American cheese on top and close the kamado lid for 30 seconds to melt.

  7. 07

    Toast the bun

    On the free part of the plancha, melt a knob of butter and toast the brioche cut-side down for 30 seconds until golden.

  8. 08

    Assemble

    Bottom bun, burger sauce, two stacked patties with melted cheese, caramelised onion on top, top bun. Serve immediately — a smash burger loses its crust within a minute.

About this recipe

For a smash burger on the kamado: form loose 90 g balls from 80/20 beef without working it, heat a cast-iron plancha to 250°C, smash each ball for 30 seconds with a flat spatula, salt only after smashing and add American cheese 30 seconds before pulling. Toast brioche buns on the same plancha with butter.

The crust is the whole recipe

The smash burger is not a fad — it is basic chemistry. When you press a cold ball against metal at 250°C in the first 30 seconds, every point of contact becomes a violent Maillard reaction. That golden, crackling crust is 90% of the burger flavour. What kills the crust: salting the meat before forming balls (salt firms up protein and turns it into meatball), working the meat (it builds meat-gluten, rubbery), or going too lean. The 80/20 ratio is not optional: at 90/10 it dries out, at 70/30 it falls apart.

Plancha yes, grate no

On a kamado the grate drips juices into the coals and breaks the crust. The cast-iron plancha (Lodge, Smithey, or your kamado-brand pan) needs to be genuinely hot: water-drop test — droplets should dance and vanish in 2 seconds, not crackle and linger. Lid open, you hit 250°C in 10-12 minutes. Smash the ball directly on the plancha, once and only once — a second smash bursts the air pockets and takes the crust with them.

Burger sauce and a bun that does not compete

The sauce: mayo, ketchup, Dijon mustard and chopped pickles at 4-2-1-1, mixed 24 hours ahead. Brioche bun is toasted cut-side on the same plancha with a knob of butter — 30 seconds — to seal the crumb and stop it soaking up juice. Double American cheese (yes, the Kraft-singles kind — it melts plastic-perfect, no artisan cheddar flows the same way). One burger per person is an appetiser. Two is dinner. Three and you need a bigger kamado.

In 30 seconds

80/20 beef, loose 90 g balls, no salt up front. Cast-iron plancha on kamado at 250°C (water-drop test). Smash 30 s, once only, salt after smashing. American cheese 30 s before pulling. Brioche bun toasted in butter 30 s. Two per person.

Editor's tips

  • Never form the balls with salt already in the meat. If you do, what comes out is not a smash burger — it is a flattened meatball.
  • The plancha must pass the water-drop test. If a drop sizzles but does not dance, more heat is needed — wait 2-3 more minutes.
  • After the first smash, do not press again. Each extra press squeezes juice out — onto the plancha, not into your burger.
  • Always toast the brioche in butter, never dry. Butter shields the crumb from juice and adds lactose to the bread Maillard.

Gear for this recipe

FAQ

  • Beef 80/20 or leaner?

    Strictly 80/20: 80% beef, 20% fat. It is the ratio that lets the smash hold together and keeps the crust juicy. At 90/10 it comes out dry and tough. At 70/30 the excess fat melts away and the burger collapses. If your butcher cannot manage that, ask for chuck or flank with 20% added pork fat.

  • Why plancha and not the grate directly?

    Because the grate drops fat into the coals (flare-ups, burnt flavour, lost juice) and the crust breaks on flip. The cast-iron plancha holds that fat, keeps constant 250°C metal contact and lets the crust go full Maillard. The grate is for ribeyes, not for smash burgers.

  • How many burgers per person?

    In smash style, two double patties per person is standard dinner (180 g of meat total). One is an appetiser and leaves people hungry. Three double patties is competitive eating — and you need twice the plancha. For four people: 16 balls of 90 g.

  • Can you smash a vegan patty?

    Yes, with Beyond Burger or Heura. Form loose 80 g balls (vegan blends are denser), plancha at 230°C (not 250°C — they scorch sooner), smash 25 seconds. Vegan American cheese (Violife) melts correctly. The crust will not be as deep — plant fat does not Maillard the same way — but the result is decent and nobody goes hungry.

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