Kenneth Williams pulled out the ingredients he needed from the family refrigerator one by one: lettuce, tomatoes, beef, onions, pickles. It was his turn to cook dinner. When his family complained of hunger earlier in the evening, the father of four thought back to a recipe he recently watched on “Late Night Smashed Cheeseburger!” on YouTube, and he decided to test it out.

He sliced his tomato, diced his onion and chopped his lettuce. The pickles, ketchup, mustard and other condiments rested on the counter as he prepared his beef, seasoning and placing the balls of beef onto a flat top. Grabbing a burger press, he applies pressure to the patties, creating smashburgers.

“The big part of the magic of a smashburger is it’s a little bit of chemistry in there. Cooking is science,” he told the Mississippi Free Press. “The way that you cook that burger is on a flat top and when you allow that meat to make contact with the flat top, what it does is caramelizes those sugars in the ground beef and allows it to go through the Maillard Reaction that imparts extra flavor that you normally wouldn’t get from just a grilled burger.”

The meat let out a quiet sizzle as it cooked and released an aroma into the kitchen. While smashing, he took care to not press the beef to the point that it was paper thin, yet thin enough to cook quickly.

“When I was younger, believe it or not, I really didn’t care for burgers off the grill because there was just so much meat and it was so thick that I would never eat it all. So once I discovered (the smashburger method), that brought me back into my love affair with a hamburger,” Williams said.

After toasting the buns, Williams and his family dressed their double-stacked patties with caramelized onions and the works. Everyone, kids included, agreed: The smashburgers Kenneth made that night were heavenly.

“The grilled burger was my favorite burger. I would eat a burger on the grill before I eat like a skillet burger or a restaurant burger. But once I had the smash burger … we probably haven’t had a grilled burger in probably about three years now,” Janice Williams, Kenneth’s wife, said.

Skenny’s original smashburger—the burger that launched the business—comes with American cheese, grilled onions, shredded lettuce, pickles and their OG sauce. Photo by Kenneth Williams

Kenneth cooked the burgers for a family gathering and received positive feedback, but his plans to open his own burger joint did not solidify just yet. For two years, Williams worked on his smashburger recipe, trying different ingredients and techniques to perfect his product.

In 2023, Janice became the coordinator of Magnolia Sunset Markets, and Kenneth would often assist with helping set up the market. Food vendors would occasionally come to the markets, but because the food vendors’ participation was inconsistent, Janice and Kenneth usually had to bring food or eat beforehand.

One day at the market, the couple brought a portable tabletop griddle with plans to feed the crew after the event to reward them for their hard work and to get feedback on their smashburgers from people outside of their family. The smell of burgers garnered the attention of those at the market, and Janice and Kenneth realized that they had something special with these burgers.

Eventually, they began selling smashburgers at the markets. After researching, creating a concept and registering the paperwork for the business, the couple officially launched Skenny Burgers in March 2024. The name is a play on Kenneth’s nickname, Skenny, which he earned during his time as a trumpet player in Jackson State University’s Sonic Boom of the South marching band.

“My freshman year, I was given the nickname of skinny ’cause I was tall and slim. They added the s to the front of Kenny, and they just started calling me Skenny,” he said. “But then, since the burger is so small, I’m like, ‘I can kind of play this into what a smashburger is.’”

‘Ultimate Burger Nirvana’

Kenneth and Janice met some time during his days at Jackson State. They have been together for 18 years, married for 12 years and have four children. The Jackson native and Madison native, respectively, both come from big families where both parents cooked in the household. One of Kenneth’s sisters also happens to be a professional chef, exposing him to food from around the world and different cooking techniques.

“As we grew up, my parents had to be innovative in how they fed us every day, finding ways to prepare food in different ways to keep us interested, fed and satisfied,” Kenneth said. “Having four children of our own, time is crazy because both my wife and I work full-time, and then our children are at the age where it’s harder to find a convenient good food idea to cook throughout the week.”

Managing their day jobs and the burger business on the side can be hectic, but the married couple finds the endeavor worthwhile, they said. They make an effort to block out time to spend with their family on the weekends or during certain weeks when they can take a break from selling burgers.

“It’s busy, but it’s a good busy because we see the results as we are putting in the work and committing ourselves to pretty much get it done,” Kenneth said.

“Although this is a business, we actually have fun with it. Our family enjoys it, too. Our children enjoy seeing us doing it and telling their friends about it,” Janice added. “My sister Kristy and his sister Kennita are always helping us. I would say this is a family business.”

Kenneth Williams only wants to specialize in burgers and fries. In the future, he hopes to have Skenny Burgers locations across the state, starting with a brick-and-mortar location in the Jackson metro area. Photo by Kenneth Williams

Skenny Burgers specializes in burgers and fries, though the couple are still trying to work out the type of fry they want to serve long-term as they have to consider the logistics of presently cooking them with a food trailer. Fries also take a long time to cook, and Kenneth wants to ensure customers don’t have to wait a long time for their meals, so for now, they serve chips with the burgers.

“When we roll out fries, we want to be efficient with it, and we want it to be a good fry. We don’t want to do frozen fries. It’s going to be fresh cut fries and they’re going to be the best fries you’ve ever had,” Kenneth said.

As for the burgers, customers can choose from four burger options: the Chowboy, the Original Smashburger, the Bae Burger and the Classic. Janice noted that what makes their burgers stand out amongst other franchises is their special sauce, which is homemade with various ingredients.

“Don’t make it too complicated. A hamburger isn’t meant to be super fancy. What we found that resonates with most people when they have that first bite of one of our burgers is that it just takes them back,” Kenneth explained. “We’ll have people who will share memories of when they were younger and there was a burger stand in their town where they grew up.”

Skenny Burgers’ name is a play off Kenneth’s nickname, Skenny, which his Sonic Boom of the South bandmates gave him during his freshman year because he was tall and skinny. Photo by Skenny Burgers

Within five years, Kenneth hopes Skenny Burgers will have a brick-and-mortar location in the Jackson metro area and other locations across the state. Entrepreneurship can be challenging when it comes to securing funding, though, especially for minority business owners, Kenneth said.

“We’re speaking from experience. This has been kind of a bootstrap type of endeavor. We’re blessed that it has been working out in our favor, and we hadn’t been trying to force anything,” he said.

Once Kenneth has navigated being a business owner, he wants to pass on the lessons he’s learned to others who are thinking about pursuing entrepreneurship. Skenny Burgers’ aims to provide “premium ‘smash-style’ burgers for all seeking to experience ultimate burger nirvana,” the business advertises.

“It’s just the feeling of ultimate happiness and satisfaction once you bite into our burger,” Williams said. “We’re hoping that it’ll be everything that you expect and that you would want to have in a burger.”

Skenny Burgers will be at the Bean Barn’s Night Market on Nov. 24, 2024, in Jackson, Miss., and at Capitol City Lights in December. To learn more about Skenny Burgers, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram @SkennyBurgers.

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