Author: Mike

Why is it that any burger served on Texas toast just tastes better? There’s just something special about it. It certainly rounds out these great spicy Texas Toast smash burgers. Thin patties, cooked perfectly, with that little crust around the edges. Ooey gooey cheese. Bacon. Roasted jalapenos and caramelized onions. Oh, and a sauce. A fantastic burger sauce. This is my kind of burger.

Stay Cheesy, My Friend

I prefer Colby jack cheese on my spicy Texas toast smash burgers. It’s so creamy and it melts so well. Any good melting cheese will work. But trust me on the Colby jack. If you’re lucky, you can find jalapeno Colby jack. A little more heat is a good thing.

The Right Bread for the Job

Go big with the burger sauce. Don’t just dollop a teaspoon or two on the bread. Load it up. The sauce is fantastic, lightly smoky, lightly spicy. And don’t worry, the Texas toast can more than handle it without getting soggy and leaving you with burger sadness. That isn’t going to happen here.

The equipment

Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.

The griddle

First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.

A burger press

Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, especially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.

A dome

Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.

Cleaning time!

Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.

Also try my smash burger patty melts.