Heat up cast iron skillet or steel pan, takes about 5 minutes to preheat.
Add teaspoon of oil to pan and coat pan.
Turn up the heat of your pan until it is smoking.
Add spherical ball of portioned ground beef to skillet and use a metal spatula to press down until patty is under 1/2-inch thick. It you are having trouble getting burger flat you can use a mug to press down on the spatula. If patty is sticking to spatula place a piece of parchment paper on top of your ground beef before flattening with spatula. It may be easier to cook patties one at a time depending on size of skillet but try not to overcrowd your pan.
Cook on high without moving, you want to develop the signature golden brown crust that smash burgers have. This should take about 1 1/2 minutes. Carefully slide spatula under patty and flip, add your cheese once flipped.
In another pan, you may toast your buns by putting a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan and toasting the soft side of the bun.
Cook patty until desired doneness and transfer patties to bun. You may stack multiple patties on top of each other if desired.
On your toasted bun add shredded lettuce on bottom, add patties on top, top patties with pickles and spread special sauce on top bun and assemble.
