Introduction: Jucy Lucy Burger

By Sugar & Salt Kitchen
About: I respect food and where it comes from. I love slow cooking a piece of meat for 6 hours into food heaven. I love brewing up a batch of beer and drinking it six weeks later. Patience is the key to good food.

Ever since I heard of the Jucy Lucy (when "Man vs Food" visited the Twin Cities) I've needed to try my own version. Stuffing the cheese inside of the burger, keeping it warm and gooey with every bite, makes the Jucy Lucy unbeatable.
When you buy the meat, splurge for the more expensive, higher quality ground beef. It makes a huge difference. You can use any cheese inside with a perfect friend on top. The combinations are endless; blue cheese & bacon, swiss & mushrooms, pepperjack & roasted peppers...all inside of a hamburger buns. Here's the first couple attempts at my version. I'll definitely be trying more.
You can see more of my meat projects here - http://www.sugarandsaltkitchen.com

Step 1: The Ingredients

For the Classic Cheddar Lucy...
1-1/2 lbs ground beef
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
4 thick slices cheddar

For the Feta Lucy...
1-1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
2 t dried oregano
1/2 t garlic granules
4 T feta

t = teaspoon
T = Tablespoon

Step 2: Mix the Meat & Form the Patties

Mix the meat and spices with your hands. Divide the meat mixture into 3 oz balls, two balls per burger. Each recipe makes about 4 burgers. If you don't have a scale, eyeball to the size of a large meatball. Then flatten each ball into thin patties that are a little larger than the bun.

Step 3: Layer the Cheese & Seal the Meat

Sandwich the cheese in the middle of the patty and seal by pinching the edge with your fingers making a meat flying saucer. Make sure to seal it well. The last thing you want is all your cheese goodness to leak out all over your grill. You'll get a better seal by using a piece of wax paper to finish this step.

Step 4: Grill the Burgers

Rub each side of the patty with a dab of vegetable oil to prevent it from sticking to the grill and barbecue the burgers over medium high direct heat for about 7 minutes. Flip and grill for an additional 5 minutes.

Step 5: Assemble the Burger & EAT!

Put them on your hamburger bun with all the fixins you like. I enjoy burgers with minimal toppings, so I had my cheddar Lucy with mayo & avocado and the feta Lucy with sliced tomatoes. Delicious!