The first time I tried to smash a burger flat with nothing but the back of a spatula and my own body weight, I got a lopsided, gray patty with maybe a third of the crust I was after. That was about six years ago, before my daughter-in-law Carly gave me a Cuisinart cast iron grill press for Father's Day. I have used that press every single week since, on everything from a quick Tuesday night burger for two to the batch of forty patties I flipped for our church potluck last summer. Rocky, our old lab, used to sit right at the edge of the patio during those cookouts, hoping for a dropped scrap, and more often than not he got one.
I am not going to tell you a spatula can't get the job done, because it can, in a pinch. But once you feel the difference a flat, heavy piece of cast iron makes on a beef ball, you stop reaching for anything else. Here are ten real reasons why, no fluff, just what I have noticed standing over a hot griddle more times than I can count.
The tool that turned my gray patties into real diner-style crust
If you're still smashing burgers with a spatula, you're leaving the best part of the burger on the griddle. Here's the press I've used every week for six years.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →Even weight, every time
A spatula puts pressure wherever your wrist happens to be leaning that second, which is how you end up with one side of the patty thick and the other paper thin. The flat bottom of a cast iron press spreads your push across the whole beef ball at once, so the patty comes out the same thickness edge to edge. My wife Donna noticed this before I did. She said our burgers finally looked like the ones from the diner where we had our first date. I still remember standing there with a spatula in one hand and a beer in the other, wondering why my burgers never looked like the ones in the videos.
More crust means more flavor
Smashing thins the patty out, and thin patty against hot iron is exactly what you want, because more of the meat touches the surface at once. That's where the crust comes from, that dark, craggy, almost lacy edge that a thick backyard burger never gets. I run my griddle at a good medium-high and press the second the beef ball hits the surface. Ten seconds later I've got a crust Carly's kids fight over. I've timed it enough summers running that I can tell within a second or two when the crust is set just by the sound the edges make.
It doesn't stick to the meat
Early on I tried pressing with a regular skillet, and half my burger stayed stuck to the bottom of the pan when I lifted it. The nonstick coating on the Cuisinart press releases clean almost every time, especially once I started laying a sheet of wax paper or parchment between the press and the beef. That one habit alone saved me a dozen ruined patties.
The wooden handle stays cool
I've grabbed a metal spatula handle that had been resting too close to the flame and regretted it. The Cuisinart press has a wooden handle that stays cool enough to hold with a bare hand almost the whole cook, even after a dozen patties in a row. That matters more than it sounds like when you're feeding a crowd and moving fast.
Weight does the work for you
Cast iron is heavy, and that's the whole point. You barely need to lean on it. I just set the press down on the beef ball and let its own weight do most of the flattening, then give it one firm push to finish. My shoulders thank me after a long cookout, and the patties come out more consistent than when I was muscling a spatula down by hand.
It works on more than just burgers
I use mine on bacon most mornings to keep the strips flat instead of curling up in the pan. It's also good for pressing a grilled cheese down for better contact, or flattening chicken thighs so they cook even. My son-in-law Marcus borrowed mine for a smashed potato recipe and now he wants one of his own. He grilled a batch of smashed sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving last year and half the table asked where he got the idea.
The rectangle shape covers more griddle
A round press only smashes one patty at a time and wastes the space around it. The rectangle shape on this one lets me press two smaller patties at once, or cover more surface area on a single big smash burger. When I'm cooking for a full table, that shape cuts my griddle time down by a good margin.
It cleans up in under a minute
Cast iron with a nonstick coating means I'm not scrubbing burnt-on grease for ten minutes after dinner. A quick wipe with a paper towel while it's still warm, maybe a rinse if things got messy, and it's back in the drawer. After a potluck with forty patties behind me, quick cleanup is not a small thing.
It's built to last, not to replace next season
I've had mine for six years now, through hundreds of burgers, and it still presses flat and true. No warping, no wobble, no cracked handle. Compare that to the flimsy foil-wrapped bricks and stamped metal presses I tried before, which either bent or rusted within a summer or two.
It's cheap enough that there's no excuse
For what it costs, less than a couple of fast food combo meals, there's no real reason to keep fighting with a spatula. It's one of the few kitchen tools I recommend to just about everybody who asks me how to get a better burger at home, whether they're cooking for two or feeding the whole cul-de-sac.
What I'd Skip
I'd skip the aluminum foil brick trick some folks swear by online. It works in a real pinch, but foil doesn't hold its shape after a few uses and it definitely doesn't spread heat the way solid cast iron does. I'd also skip any press with a metal handle bolted straight to the iron with no wood or silicone grip. You'll regret it the first time you forget and grab it bare-handed mid-cook. I learned that lesson the hard way at a Fourth of July cookout when a cheap stamped press bent halfway through the first dozen patties, and I had to finish the rest with a spatula in front of twelve hungry guests.
The crust is the whole reason to smash a burger in the first place. If your press doesn't get you that crust, it's not doing its job.
Six years, hundreds of burgers, still my go-to press
If you want that diner-style crust without fighting a spatula, this is the press I hand to anyone who asks.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →