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📍 Minnesota

Juicy Lucy

· Lunch

A burger with the cheese sealed inside the patty, releasing a hot, molten cheese center when you bite in.

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Juicy Lucy: A burger with the cheese sealed inside the patty, releasing a hot, molten cheese center when you bite in.
Photo: Kim · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto resized, converted to WebP and cropped for display.
⏱ 35 min🍽 4 servings📊 Intermediate🏷 Commonly associated
Preparation
20 min
Cooking
15 min
Waiting and resting
0 min

History

It is a Minneapolis specialty claimed by two neighboring bars, Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club, which both credit its invention to the mid-20th century. Instead of putting the cheese on top, it is enclosed between two layers of meat, so that cooking forms a lava-like core. You have to let it rest so you don't burn yourself.

Ingredients

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Only numeric quantities at the start of an ingredient are adjusted. Descriptive quantities, seasoning to taste and timings remain unchanged; check them when changing servings.

Preparation

  1. 1

    Divide the meat into eight thin patties and season them with salt and pepper.

  2. 2

    Fold the cheese slices and place them in the center of four patties.

  3. 3

    Cover with the other patties and seal the edges very well so the cheese doesn't escape.

  4. 4

    Cook on a medium-hot griddle about 6-8 minutes per side, until the beef reaches 71 °C; insert the thermometer from the side and avoid measuring only the cheese.

  5. 5

    Let rest a couple of minutes and serve on the bun with onion and pickles.

Cooking tips

  • Rest before the first bite because the cheese inside is very hot.

References to consult

References provide information about the dish, its context or a technique. Quantities in this version may differ from those in the source.

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