Melting domes

The problem it solves

A thin smash-burger patty is done in about ninety seconds. Cheese does not melt properly in ninety seconds on an open griddle, because the only heat reaching it is conducted up through the patty.

So you have two bad options: take the burger off with unmelted cheese, or leave it on until the cheese melts and overcook the patty.

A dome gives you a third. Cover the burger, squirt a little water on the plate beside it, and the trapped steam melts the cheese in seconds — heat arriving from above rather than through the meat.

How to use one

1. Flip the patty and put the cheese on.
2. Squirt a small amount of water onto the plate beside the burger, not on it.
3. Drop the dome over both immediately.
4. Ten to twenty seconds. Lift.

Water beside rather than on the patty matters — water on the meat washes away the fond and cools the crust you just built.

What to look for

Stainless, not aluminum

Aluminum domes warp with repeated heat cycling, and a warped dome does not sit flat on the plate. Once it does not seal, it does not trap steam, and the dome has stopped doing its one job.

Stainless holds its shape essentially indefinitely.

A handle that stands off

A dome over a 400 °F plate filled with steam gets hot within seconds. A flush or low-profile handle is unusable without a glove, which defeats the point of a tool you need to grab quickly.

Look for a handle that stands proud of the dome body with an air gap, ideally with a heat-resistant grip.

Diameter

Bigger than the patty plus the cheese overhang, with room for the rim to sit on the plate rather than on the food. A dome resting on the burger does not seal.

Other things it does well

• Steaming vegetables. Onions, peppers and mushrooms soften much faster covered.
• Reheating buns without drying them out.
• Finishing thick food. A griddle has no lid, so trapped heat is the only way to cook something thick through without burning the outside — a dome is a partial substitute for a hood.
• Eggs. A dome steams the top of a fried egg, setting the white without flipping.

How many you need

One dome covers one burger. Cooking six means working in rounds, which is fine for a family and slow for a crowd.

Two domes is a reasonable purchase for anyone cooking burgers regularly, and some kits include two for this reason.

Dome versus basting cover

Essentially the same tool. “Basting cover” tends to describe a shallower, wider version, and “melting dome” a taller, rounder one.

Taller gives more steam volume and more clearance over a tall stack. Shallower seals a little more easily. Either works; the material and handle matter more than the shape.