Recipes / Mains / American Ingredients Servings
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Quantities for 4 servings
600 g beef mince, 20% fat, fridge-cold 4 soft potato or brioche buns, split 8 slices American or mild Cheddar cheese 1 small white onion, sliced paper-thin Butter, for the buns Neutral oil, for the pan Salt and coarsely ground black pepper Pickle slices, to serve For the burger sauce: 4 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tbsp finely chopped pickles, 1 tsp American mustard, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Treat this list as a starting point rather than a shopping order. Swap what you haven't got, leave out what you dislike, add what you love — this is exactly the kind of dish that rewards poking around in the fridge.
Method 1 Stir all the burger sauce ingredients together and refrigerate while you cook — it improves for sitting. 2 Divide the mince into 8 balls of about 75 g. Handle them as little as possible and do not season yet: salt drawn into the meat early makes the texture springy and sausage-like. Chill until the moment they hit the pan. 3 Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them face down in a dry pan until deep golden. Set aside — this seals the bun so it doesn't go soggy later. 4 Get a heavy cast-iron pan or flat griddle ripping hot over the highest heat with a slick of oil. It needs to be hotter than feels sensible; the whole method depends on it. 5 Place two balls in the pan, lay a square of baking parchment over each and press down hard with a sturdy spatula for a full 10 seconds, until each is about 1 cm thick. Peel the parchment away. 6 Season the tops generously and cook, untouched, for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, until the edges are browned and lacy and the top is losing its raw colour. 7 Scrape underneath with a firm, confident push of the spatula so you lift the whole crust rather than tearing it, flip, and immediately top with cheese and a pinch of the raw onion. Cook 30–45 seconds more, until the cheese slumps. 8 Stack two patties per bun, add sauce and pickles, and serve straight away. Wipe the pan between batches so the burnt bits from the last round don't taint the next. Tap a step to cross it off. Your place is saved on this device.
Cook’s notes Use the fattiest mince you can find. Lean beef will not form a proper crust and will taste dry no matter how briefly you cook it.
Cook with the extractor on full and a window open — a properly hot pan makes a lot of smoke, and that is the correct amount.
How it should look Photos of the finished dish, so you know what you’re aiming for.
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