Today I want to share with you a special "lady" in the world of great burgers, her name is Juicy Lucy. I first heard of Juicy Lucy a little over a year ago. It was during preparations for a camping trip to the west coast of South Korea.
A buddy of mine suggested that I include Juicy Lucy's onto the menu and my immediate reply was, "What the hell is a Juicy Lucy?" He explained and I agreed that they must be included onto the menu.
So what the hell is a Juicy Lucy you ask?
The Juicy Lucy has it's origins in the 1950's from a couple of bars in Minneapolis Minnesota, Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club. The concept is simple, prepared by putting cheese between two beef patties, sealing both patties together around the cheese, and grilled. The result is a burger with a gooey cheese core in the middle.
Pretty simple huh?
It is, however I have made them since many times and I have some tips to pass along to help you make sure your Lucy experience is an enjoyable one.
- Use your preferred blend of beef, I use a blend that is 20% fat.
- Season the beef before forming the patties BUT go easy on the salt, the cheese will add some salt.
- Secret - Use celery seed when you season, about 3/4 - 1 tsp per pound.
- Use a good sharp cheddar cheese, (leave the single plastic wrapped stuff for cheese ramyeon when you have a hangover) about 2oz per burger.
- I also like to add a bit of a quality pepper jack, preferably one with Habanero's, see above to get an idea of the amounts.
- Seal them up very good, pinch the edges together to make sure you will have no leaks while cooking.
- Place them in the freezer in between pieces of wax paper before cooking. You want them at a state of about 25% frozen when they go on the grill. If going on a trip like I do, freeze them all the way and let them thaw to about the 25% level before cooking.
- Buy better beer than the stuff in the background of the picture above, that is unless you prefer the pictured beer.
If done correctly the end result when you take a bite will look something like this.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you love a good burger go ahead and try a Juicy Lucy
Till next time,
Scott