The Classic

Behold the beginning of the classic Jucy Lucy: Burger and American Cheese.

This one is pretty easy to make.

(Note: Moving forward, I will not be posting every. single. step. of. the. process. Unless it's an integral part of the Jucy Lucy standard.)

You make two 1/8 lb (or so) patties and lay them side by side like this:



Next, take one slice of American Cheese and fold it in half, and then fold it in half again to make four quarters. Place the cheese (overlapping it) in the middle of one of the burgers like this:



Season the burger with salt and pepper or Lawry's or whatever you want.

Now, here's the hardest part; and the part that gets screwed up the most in making a Jucy Lucy. Take the other patty, place it on top of the patty with the cheese, and start crimping the edges of the patties together. JUST THE EDGES.

Listen, you have to crimp the living shit out the edges to create a tight seal. If you don't, you'll be seeing an assload of melted cheese at the bottom of your grill in about a half an hour.

Heed my warning.

The finished product should look like this:


Two patties, crimped to all hell, with the cheese sitting comfortably in the middle.

Next step is to put the Lucy over INDIRECT heat like this (sorry, I don't use a gas grill, make your best estimation):


Cover this badboy up and let it cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip it and take a toothpick and poke a SMALL hole in the middle of the burger. SMALL HOLE. Just to let the air out.

Let it cook for 15 more minutes and then pull it off the grill. It should look like this:



See that? No cheese anywhere except the top of the burger where you poked the hole.

Now let's take a look at what happens when you cut it open and look at the guts:



Oh God, I'm so sorry I cut you, honey. I only do it because I love you so much. It'll never happen again. That said, you look so awesome right now I could make sweet, sweet love to you all night.

Take this piece of heaven, slap it on a bun with your favorite topping and make mouth love to it.

Note: Generally, you do NOT cut a Jucy Lucy in 1/2. I've done this for the sake of demonstration. You normally bite into it until your mouth is burning with liquid hot magma and loving every bit of it.

OK, Day 1 is done. It's The Classic (and yes, it was delicious).

It's going to get weirder and more experimental as time goes on, folks.

Verdict: A

Holla.