Start by making your smash sauce so the flavors have time to marry. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yellow mustard, ketchup, dill pickle brine, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Whisk until fully combined and smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to build your burgers. This sauce holds in the fridge for up to one week and only gets better.

Divide your cold 80/20 ground beef into 8 equal portions, roughly 4 ounces each. Roll them loosely into balls - do not compress them tightly or overwork the meat. You want loose, shaggy beef balls that will smash out with maximum surface area. Keep them refrigerated until the moment you are ready to cook. Cold beef on a hot griddle is the key to that crispy crust. Warm beef just steams.

Fire up your griddle and bring it up to temperature. You are targeting a surface temp of 425 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using a flat top attachment on your charcoal grill, get your coals fully lit and spread evenly beneath the griddle plate. For a standalone flat top or gas grill griddle, preheat on high for a full 8 to 10 minutes. Use your infrared thermometer to confirm the surface temp before you start. Do not rush this step - an underheated griddle is the number one mistake that kills smash burgers.

Toast your brioche buns first before you get into the burger cooks, because once the beef hits the griddle you will not have time to deal with them. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to one section of the griddle and let it melt and begin to foam. Place all 4 buns cut-side down into the butter and toast for 60 to 90 seconds until deeply golden and crisp. Remove and set aside. Do not skip the butter toast - it creates a moisture barrier that keeps the bun from going soggy under all that juicy beef.

Scatter your finely diced white onion across the hot griddle surface in 4 small mounds, roughly 2 tablespoons each. These will cook under and around your smashed patties, soaking up beef fat and caramelizing into something absolutely incredible. Let them sit and start to soften for about 30 seconds before placing a beef ball directly on top of each mound.

This is the moment. Place a beef ball on top of each onion mound on the hot griddle. Immediately lay a small square of parchment paper over the top of the ball. Using your heavy metal spatula or burger press, press down hard and fast with your full body weight. You want to smash each ball down to roughly 1/4-inch thickness in one confident, forceful press. Hold the press down for 10 full seconds. Do not lift and re-press - one hard press is the move. Season the top of each smashed patty immediately with a pinch of kosher salt and cracked black pepper. You will see the edges start to turn gray and the fat will begin to render and sizzle around the entire perimeter.

Let those patties cook undisturbed for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. You are looking for the crust to fully set and the edges to turn deeply brown and lacy - that craggy, crispy perimeter is the whole point of this technique. You will know the patty is ready to flip when you can slide your offset spatula cleanly under the crust without resistance. If it is sticking, it is not ready. Patience here will be rewarded. When the crust releases, flip each patty in one clean, confident motion. Work quickly.

Immediately after flipping, lay a slice of American cheese on top of each patty. For a double smash burger, stack two patties immediately after flipping the second one, cheese-side up, creating a two-patty stack with cheese melting between and on top. To accelerate the melt, you can add a small splash of water to the griddle surface near the burgers and immediately cover with a dome lid for 15 to 20 seconds. The steam will melt that cheese into a glossy, flowing blanket that coats every corner of the patty. Cook the second side for just 45 to 60 seconds - you are just finishing the cook, the flip side does not need a long sear.

Remove your smash burger stacks from the griddle and let them rest for just 60 seconds on a wire rack - not a plate, which will trap steam and soften that crust. Unlike a thick brisket or a pork shoulder where we rest the meat low and slow for a long period, smash burgers just need a brief rest to let the juices redistribute slightly without overcooking from residual heat. This brief rest makes a real difference in the final bite.

Build your burgers and serve immediately. Spread a generous tablespoon of smash sauce on both the top and bottom bun. On the bottom bun, layer your shredded iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato, then the smash patty stack. Top with dill pickle slices and close it up. Press the burger down slightly before serving so everything melds together. Serve within 2 minutes of building - smash burgers are a right-now food. They do not wait for anyone, and that is exactly the way we like it.