Thin & Crispy Burgers

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 12 tbsp butter
• 3 lbs. ground beef
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• 6 slices American cheese.
• Burger buns
• Toppings & condiments
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Ketchup
• Mayo
• Mustard
• Onion
• Whatever else you like

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Make clarified butter.  Set aside and cool.
• If you don't want to make clarified butter, you could use a different fat/oil.
2. Knead the beef to get it fully mixed.  It should look a little pasty.
• This is the opposite of strategy for thick patties.
3. Form the beef into 1/4-pound balls.
4. Roll the beef in the clarified butter.  Flatten out into a very thin patty, ideally leaving it a bit thicker on the edges.  Shape them larger than you want after cooking -- they will shrink on the grill.
5. Season with black pepper and and garlic powder.  Just season the one side.
6. Stack the patties with pieces of wax or parchment paper between each.
7. Refrigerate until ready to grill.
8. Heat your grill as hot as it goes.
9. Grill the patties directly out of the refrigerator.  Salt immediately.
10. They should be ready to flip quickly, about 90 seconds.  You'll know it's time when juices are pooling on time.
• You may get a lot of smoke and/or flare-ups.  Different from thick patties, that's ok because we want the outside to be crispy.
11. Immediately put cheese on top of half the patties.
12. When the second side is cooked, stack the patties.  Two patties with cheese in-between.
13. Toast your burgers.  They should go quickly because it's hot.
14. Build your burgers.  Enjoy warm.

Adapted from Adam Ragusea.