After spending time eating exotic foods and traveling in France and Japan, what is the first thing I do when I come back to the US? I go all American, baby: Sliders.
Sliders are not small burgers. No matter how much you want them to be a cute, miniaturized version of a burger, they are actually very different. Burgers, by their cooking method, ingredients, size, preparation, and taste have very little in common with sliders. Next time you go to a Krystal or White Castle watch how they make their signature sandwiches. Little frozen squares of meat are cooked on a bed of onions. The meat is practically steamed by the onions. The bread is even put on top of the meat while they are still on the griddle to absorb some of that oniony flavor. That. Is. A. Slider.
I know these don't look as awesome as burgers do, but really, have you ever seen a slider that looked awesome?
I won’t hold you to the same methods and low quality of the major chains, but I just want to emphasize that a slider is NOT gourmet. You can’t get all fancy pants with this and still call it a slider. Those “Kobe beef sliders” with French Dijon mustard you see in more upscale restaurants are some damn tasty small burgers–but sliders they are not.
OK. Rant over. Thanks for your patience.
So, how do I suggest we make these? Let’s keep it simple. Ground beef, preferably 80/20. Onions, diced. Salt and pepper. And those little rolls. That’s about all you need.
Stack the bread on top of these and let them cook.
I looked around the internet for some techniques, but didn’t find anything that quite hit the nail on the head. I ended up emulating the same methods used in the fast food restaurants, but on my cast iron skillet because I don’t have a griddle. Most online recipes also omit the five holes in the meat even though it’s very easy to do and allows the patty to cook faster and the steam to rise though it. The chowhound community did have some good advice that I tried to follow.
Ingredients
Makes 8 sliders.
You will also need something to poke some holes in the meat. I have found that a straw or the large end of a chopstick works well.
1 diced onion
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound ground chuck
8 small buns or rolls, no bigger than 3 inches across
about 1 tbsp vegetable oil (for cooking)
Preparation
1. In a large mixing bowl, break apart the ground beef and season with the salt and pepper.
2. On a sheet of parchment paper, use a rolling pin to roll the meat out into a large rectangle, about 4 1/2 inches by 9 inches. Use a knife (or pizza cutter) to cut the meat into four quarters and once down its length. You are aiming for eight 2 1/4 inch patties. Use the thick end of a chopstick to poke 5 holes into the patties (match the 5-pattern on a die). If the meat ever becomes too soft to handle, cover with plastic wrap and freeze on a sheet pan for about 10-15 minutes. I ended up having to do this twice. Freeze the meat until you are ready to cook.
As for the actual cooking technique, it basically came down to this:
1. Put your chopped onions on a griddle or cast iron skillet with a bit of oil over medium to medium-high heat and toss them around once. Spread them in an even layer.
2. Top the chopped onion with the frozen ground beef squares.
3. Top the beef with the bottom half of the bun (cut side on the meat). Then put the top half on top of that (cut side down again). Cook for a few minutes. This assembly is key for the assembly-line origin of the slider.
4. When the meat is cooked, slide the spatula under the entire stack holding the top bun to keep the stack steady. Then take the top half of the bun, place it under the spatula, and slide the spatula out from the now assembled slider. Flip the slider over and you should have the layers perfect: bun, onions, meat, bun.
Congratulations, you just made a slider, not a burger. Go open a beer and eat several.
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