- Question the first: One of my favorite burgers in New
York—the one that folks’ll stand in line for an hour to get
—is smashed. How does the Shake Shack burger still
retain such abundant juiciness? - Question the second: The SmashBurger chain of burger
joints has built its reputation on its smashing technique.
Have all of its fans (which are legion) been deluded into
enjoying the flavor of hockey pucks? - Question the third: I just had what was the finest burger
I’ve tasted in recent memory at Off-Site Kitchen in Dallas,
where—guess what?—the burgers are smashed. What
gives?
Now, these questions are largely rhetorical. Anybody
who’s been making burgers for a while knows the answer:
not smashing your burgers is always—sometimes—only
sort-of occasionally good advice. So, when is it OK to
smash your burgers and when is it not? First, let’s consider
the advantages of smashing a burger.
In Crust We Trust