Double Rodeo Smash Burgers
Cook Notes
BBQ Used: Kamado Joe Classic II
Cooking Method: Direct on KJ Griddle
Fuel used: KJ Big Block Charcoal
Cooking Temperature: Medium - High Heat
Ingredients
500g ground beef chuck
1 tbsp montreal steak seasoning from A&O
For the Onion Rings
75g plain flour (extra for dusting)
50g cornflour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp turmeric
1tsp paprika
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp fine sea salt
150ml beer
1 large onion
small bowl of milk
Oil (for frying)
To Serve
burger cheese
burger buns
BBQ sauce
Method
Method for Beer Battered Onion Rings
The first step in creating these Double Rodeo Smash Burgers is to make the beer battered onion ring. Fire up your BBQ and set it up for direct cooking. For the first portion of this cook, you want a temperature of around 180-200c. The reason for this is to stop your oil getting too hot but later in the cook we will want to ramp the temperature up a little.
Add a small saucepan to the BBQ and pour around 2-3 inches of oil into the bottom of it to pre-heat. Be careful to leave yourself plenty of space at the top of the pan as you do not want your oil to bubble over.
Peel your onion and slice it into 1.5cm thick slices and pop out the rings. I got around 12 good sized rings from a large onion. Place the onions in a bowl of milk while you prepare your batter. Add the flour, cornflour, baking powder and seasonings to a bowl and mix together. Add the beer then whisk the batter until all the flour has dissolved and the batter is at a consistency where it will stick to the onion rings easily.
Set yourself up a production line with your onion rings in the milk, a bowl with some plain flour then your batter mix. Check the temperature of your oil using your Thermapen and make sure the temperature is around 180-190c then you are good to go. Remove the onion rings, one at a time, from the milk and coat them with the flour then dunk them into the batter mix. Carefully drop them into the hot oil and fry them for 3-4 minutes before flipping them over and frying for a further few minutes until they a crisp and golden brown. Lift them out of the oil and place them on a wire rack while you prepare the rest.
Method for the Smash Burgers
Now your onion rings are ready... lets prepare the smash burgers. Season the ground beef chuck with the montreal steak seasoning and divide the meat into 4-5 equal sized balls. Depending on what BBQ you are using, you may need to adjust your setup slightly. For the Kamado Joe, I removed the cooking grates and placed in the half moon cast iron griddles. If you don't have a griddle plate, these will work just as well in a cast iron skillet. I opened up the vents to ramp up the temperature to get a sear on the burgers.
Set each ball of meat onto the griddle then smash it flat using a spatula or press. Aim to get them as flat as possible to maximise contact with the cast iron and build up that crust. As these burgers are so thin, they will cook fast. After 1-2 minutes, flip the patties over and sear the other side. As soon as you flip - add your cheese on top to start melting. After a further 2 minutes, your burgers will be ready.
We're almost ready to eat. Brush your burger buns with a little mayo and toast them on the griddle. Smother the bottom bun in some BBQ sauce then place on your patties. I went for double patties but this is entirely up to you. Next, place on one or two of your onion rings before drizzling some more BBQ sauce over the top. Place the top bun on and you are ready to go!
