JUST
CRAM
IT
ALL
IN
THERE

Anyone can wad up a ball of meat and set it on fire. But a real cow-noisseur doesn't stop there. The challenge at hand is to figure out how to make the center of a burger like molten lead. The solution? Add cheese. Lots of it. Normally, backyard bubba-Q-ers yell out "Who wants cheese?" right at the end of the cooking process, barely giving the dairy treat any heat on the meat. But by stuffing the patty full of cheddar delight, you can make the night right. Just try not to drip too much of your face on the plate at first bite.

Stuffed Cheeseburgers

Prep Time: 20 min.
Cook Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. 80% lean/20% fat ground beef/ground chuck
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • cheese (any type, under 1 oz. per burger)
  • 1 head lettuce, shredded
  • 1 tomato, sliced
  • hamburger buns
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • ketchup
  • mustard
  • olive oil

Directions

  1. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk/beat until scrambled.
  2. Using a food processor, chop the diced onion into extremely small bits.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, onions, salt and pepper. Mix with hands until well-blended together. Keep the empty egg bowl for use later.
  4. With your hands, divide meat mixture in half, then in half again. The meat is now four 1/2-lb patty portions. If smaller burgers are desired, divide into thirds or quarters.
  5. With each portion separated, divide into two halves again. These portions will become the top and bottom of each patty.
  6. Using your hands or a plastic patty former (pictured), form the top and bottom patties.
  7. On the bottom patty, place 1 slice of folded cheese directly in the center. Crumbled blue cheese, American, Swiss or cheddar all work well.
  8. Using the empty egg bowl, brush some of the leftover beaten egg around the top of the bottom patty to act as a binding agent. Place the top patty over the bottom patty and cheese, and squeeze the edges to seal the cheese in place. You can do this easily by placing the patties in between two pieces of wax paper.
  9. Brush outside of patties with a very thin layer of olive oil. This will keep the patties from sticking to the grill.
  10. Cook patties on a medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes per side to temperature desired (rare, medium, etc.) Be careful when taking the first bite, as the cheese inside is VERY hot!