Shake Shack – Shack Burger
If you know me well, you’ll know that at one point in my life I lived in New York and you’ll also know that I lived for my Wednesdays at Madison Square Park to enjoy a Shake Shack – Shack Burger, fries, and a cold strawberry shake, while people watching. I first tried Shake Shack in 2004 and my life has never been quite the same again. Seriously, no lie. No exaggeration. I’ve always been a burger girl but this was where the buck stopped. Undoubtedly, a good burger is made of good meat. But the specific secret is in the way you cook the burger. Read below to find out this “juicy” secret. Here is the excerpt taken directly from Shake Shack’s brand new cookbook. Enjoy!
The ShackBurger
Okay, here’s our sacred cow!
Most likely the reason you have this book in your hands—our version of the great American cheeseburger. Like all deceptively simple things, it took us years to get it right, but now you can master burger perfection in five minutes. Makes 4
Ingredients
4 hamburger potato buns
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons Not Quite Our Shack-Sauce (recipe follows)
4 pieces green leaf lettuce
8 ¼-inch slices ripe plum tomato
1 pound very cold ground beef, divided into 4 pucks
½ teaspoon Shake Shack Salt & Pepper Mix (recipe follows)
4 slices American cheese
Prepare
1. Heat a cast-iron griddle over medium-low heat until warm. Meanwhile, open the hamburger buns and brush the insides with the melted butter. A soft brush is helpful here. Place the buns buttered side down on the griddle and toast until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer buns to a plate. Spoon the sauce onto the top bun. Add a piece of the lettuce and two slices of tomato.
2. Increase the heat to medium and heat the griddle until hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Evenly sprinkle a pinch of our Salt & Pepper Mix on top of each puck of meat.
4. Place the pucks on the griddle, seasoned side down. Using a large, sturdy metal spatula, firmly smash each puck into a 1/3-inch-thick round patty. Pressing down on the spatula with another stiff spatula helps flatten the burger quickly. Evenly sprinkle another big pinch of our Salt & Pepper Mix.
Note
Shake Shack’s “smash” technique makes use of two spatulas, a large one for flattening the patty and another for assisting.
5. Cook the burgers, resisting the urge to move them, until the edges beneath are brown and crisp, and juices on the surface are bubbling hot, about 2½ minutes. Slide one of the spatulas beneath the burger to release it from the griddle and scrape up the caramelized browned crust. Use the other spatula to steady the burger and keep it from sliding. Flip the burgers. Put the cheese on top and cook the burgers 1 minute longer for medium. Cook more or less depending on your preference.
When the patty’s edges turn crisp and dark brown and juices bubble on the surface, use a spatula to scrape burger up. Use a second spatula to keep patty from sliding. Photo by Christopher Hirsheimer
6. Transfer the cheeseburgers to the prepared buns and enjoy.
Shake Shack Salt & Pepper Mix
Mix ½ cup kosher salt with ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper and use that mixture to season our burgers as they cook. You’ll see we call for a pinch or two of the mixture in every recipe.
ShackSauce
Long ago we threw away the key to the secret recipe for ShackSauce; but we promise to get you really close with ingredients easily found in your kitchen.
Makes about ½ cup
Ingredients
½ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon Heinz ketchup
¼ teaspoon kosher dill pickling brine
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Prepare
1. Put all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Sauce will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Shack Burger
- 4 hamburger potato buns
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons Not Quite Our Shack-Sauce (recipe follows)
- 4 pieces green leaf lettuce
- 8 ¼-inch slices ripe plum tomato
- 1 pound very cold ground beef, divided into 4 pucks
- ½ teaspoon Shake Shack Salt & Pepper Mix (recipe follows)
- 4 slices American cheese
- Shack Sauce
- ½ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon Heinz ketchup
- ¼ teaspoon kosher dill pickling brine
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Shack Burger
- Heat a cast-iron griddle over medium-low heat until warm. Meanwhile, open the hamburger buns and brush the insides with the melted butter. A soft brush is helpful here. Place the buns buttered side down on the griddle and toast until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer buns to a plate. Spoon the sauce onto the top bun. Add a piece of the lettuce and two slices of tomato.
- Increase the heat to medium and heat the griddle until hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Evenly sprinkle a pinch of our Salt & Pepper Mix on top of each puck of meat.
- Place the pucks on the griddle, seasoned side down. Using a large, sturdy metal spatula, firmly smash each puck into a 1/3-inch-thick round patty. Pressing down on the spatula with another stiff spatula helps flatten the burger quickly. Evenly sprinkle another big pinch of our Salt & Pepper Mix.
- Shake Shack's "smash" technique makes use of two spatulas, a large one for flattening the patty and another for assisting.
- Cook the burgers, resisting the urge to move them, until the edges beneath are brown and crisp, and juices on the surface are bubbling hot, about 2½ minutes. Slide one of the spatulas beneath the burger to release it from the griddle and scrape up the caramelized browned crust. Use the other spatula to steady the burger and keep it from sliding. Flip the burgers. Put the cheese on top and cook the burgers 1 minute longer for medium. Cook more or less depending on your preference.
- When the patty's edges turn crisp and dark brown and juices bubble on the surface, use a spatula to scrape burger up. Use a second spatula to keep patty from sliding.
- Transfer the cheeseburgers to the prepared buns and enjoy.
- Shake Shack Salt & Pepper Mix
- Mix ½ cup kosher salt with ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper and use that mixture to season our burgers as they cook. You’ll see we call for a pinch or two of the mixture in every recipe.
- ShackSauce
- Put all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Sauce will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to one week.
