Form the meat into four equal-sized four-ounce meat “pucks,” roughly 2 ½ inches thick. Place them on a plate lined with plastic wrap or waxed paper and freeze for 15 minutes, but no longer. We don’t want to freeze the meat, but we’d like it to be extra-cold when it hits the pan.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients, tasting it and making any adjustments you’d prefer. A dash of hot sauce, perhaps?

Heat a griddle, large cast-iron skillet, or large heavy stainless-steel skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and place the buns, cut-side down, in the pan. Cook until cut sides are golden-brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Place toasted buns on plates; you’ll keep using your griddle or skillet.

Remove patties from freezer. Increase heat to high and add oil to the griddle or skillet — you’ll need this only for your first burger batch. Working one at a time, add a patty to the griddle and immediately flatten it to a ½-inch thickness with a heavy spatula and something with weight and heft to help it along. Generously season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining patties.

Once the first side is deeply browned with crisp, craggly edges, about 1 ½ to 2 minutes for medium — mine were all quite black when they were flipped, and yet still totally pink inside when we cut into them; it will be hard to overcook them at this high heat — use a spatula to scrape underneath the patty and flip it over. Cover with a slice of cheese if making cheeseburgers, and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until melted. Repeat process with remaining patties.

Transfer cooked patties to toasted burger buns. Spread top buns with prepared sauce. Top burgers with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles (if using) and immediately dig in.