631101 Wed Jun 24 02:59:16 -0700 2009 17 31 Home Cooking 0 4799332 [This post was split by the Chowhound Team from this thread http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/626283#4799332] Jfood was at home last night and wanted to try making his own JL. on the grill. He bought a package of chuck (80-20) about 3/4# and made four flat burgers. Then he took a slice of american cheese and quartered it (gave one slice to the pups, thank you very much) and placed a second burger on top. He crimped the ends like he was making a pie. Once the grill was ready he placed on it for three minutes, flipped, threw some caramelized onions on top, three minutes on side two and onto a paper towel to drain a bit. Nicely charred on the outside. Placed each of them on a bun and topped with some heinz 57. Over to the dinner table and jfood wondered if the cheese melted. He bit into the first burger and it was like a cheese howitzer coming out of the center. Melted cheese shot over jfood's left shoulder. As he looked down he saw that not all of the cheese cleared the height. His left shoulder had collateral damage and his left thigh had a bit of melted cheese and ketchup. Good news / bad news. Good news is that it melted, bad news it was not going to be part of burger #1. Meantime pups is busy cleaning up the cheese off the floor, very happy. Burger #2 and jfood was real careful biting into this one. All the cheese stayed in place, whew. And the caramelized onions were awesome. The burger itself was charred on the outside, still pink on the inside and the cheese was melted. Now the cheese itself was a plain old american deli slice (Boars Head) which was not as flavorful as the Nook or Matt's. Jfood will have to try some different cheeses in the future but the technique is there. This is like a freakin' obsession. Extra bananas sitting on the counter and now jfood has to make some homemade banana ice cream tonight. Tue Jun 23 14:40:50 -0700 2009 11290 jfood 1 4799605 jfood, I have GREATLY appreciated your reactions and sharing of your JL experience. ( I also appreciate the sharing with the pups). So fun to hear about your in home experience, too. Thanks for a great read. Tue Jun 23 16:13:08 -0700 2009 4799332 160141 type2runner 1 4800492 Wow, now you've really got my attention- homemade banana ice cream. And of course you know what I'm waiting to hear---if it leaves that fatty residue on your lips! By the way, do you have one dog named pups, or are there multiple........pups? Tue Jun 23 21:40:56 -0700 2009 4799332 11890 faith 2 4802636 Jfood absolutely has the fatty residue on the lips because he only uses heavy creamin his ice cream, no milk. And he may need to wait a day or so (bananas will get even sweeter because mrs jfood made an incredible (maybe best jfood has ever tasted) banana cream pie on Monday night. Love that woman. And there is only one, and let me say it as firmly as possible, that the one pups and I have all rights, title and interest in everything that jfood drops on the floor or I can beg for next to them at the dinner table. Wed Jun 24 12:55:25 -0700 2009 4800492 11290 jfood 1 4801039 This sounds as dangerous as eating Chicken Kiev. Wed Jun 24 05:12:28 -0700 2009 4799332 112335 mexivilla 1 4801228 jfood, My curiosity got to me too, so I made my own. You have to do one of two things. Let it sit a few minutes to let the molten cheese re-solidify a bit or slice it in half. Usually the bit of delay from grill to server is enough delay. I sliced mine more for the picture attached but it is more fun taking that first gingerly bite of a whole sandwich. I used 85/15 and medium cheddar cheese sliced from a brick. The softer pre-sliced cheeses and the Velveeta soft cheeses are too soft. Wed Jun 24 06:38:44 -0700 2009 4799332 10675 Davydd 2 4801307 great photo and you experienced the same condition that jfood did as well with the one side a little more pnk than the other. also you must have more than 1/2# of meat in the JL. jfood likes the cheddar idea and with some bacon could be a plan for the weekend. Wed Jun 24 07:06:44 -0700 2009 4801228 11290 jfood 3 4802627 It was 1/2 lb. exactly. I'm sure with experience one could figure out how to make them uniformly pink both sides. I had one uniformly pink at Shamrock's in St. Paul, MN. Wed Jun 24 12:53:33 -0700 2009 4801307 10675 Davydd 1 4802781 JLs? Wed Jun 24 13:26:33 -0700 2009 4799332 293829 mollygirl 2 4802824 it's an abbreviation for a regional delicacy-- the jucy lucy (yes that is the correct mis-spelling of juicy)-- it's basically 2 burger patties smashed together with a filling of cheese (or other fillings) that become dangerously and deliciously molten when the burger is cooked, as Jfood describes--if successful, it's like an inside-out cheeseburger. the jucy lucy's place of origin is minneapolis, and high-end versions are somewhat common in restaurants in the area, as well as the "original" diner-style versions. . . but it takes a bit of alchemy to construct them properly, plus a bit of skill on the griddle to cook them properly without overcooking or blowing a hole in the thing so that you lose all the cheese-- it's one of those deceptively simple foods that's sublime when executed well, yet it's annoyingly all too easily/commonly effed up. :) i'm going to see if the chowhound team might consider replacing the abbreviation of the title in the post with the words "jucy lucy" so that browsers can tell what the thread is about, it's a little confusing since it was split off from the original thread. Wed Jun 24 13:37:29 -0700 2009 4802781 46030 soupkitten 3 4802858 ahhh thanks for the explanation. The West side of the country must be to hip and healthy to own up to eating such things!! Wed Jun 24 13:47:52 -0700 2009 4802824 293829 mollygirl 4 4802993 The West side of the country must be to hip and healthy to own up to eating such things...do not despair, you will learn to appreciate items like jucy lucies. Wed Jun 24 14:19:09 -0700 2009 4802858 11290 jfood 4 4809690 ah yes, the west side of the country, birthplace of mcdonald's and in&out-- yet apparently nobody eats cheeseburgers. http://www.fastfoodmaps.com/index.php?x=-118.66333&y=35.639746&z=6 Fri Jun 26 16:54:29 -0700 2009 4802858 46030 soupkitten 1 4805385 Welcome to the JL-obsessed club. Please let us know when you've perfected the recipe. I do believe the cheese is key (some just disintegrates), as well as the temp of your grill and the thickness of the patty. So many variables, so little time. ~TDQ Thu Jun 25 10:02:23 -0700 2009 4799332 12005 The Dairy Queen 2 4805809 With ten more days before returning to MSP, plentyof time and burgers to go through. Bad news was HN Dinner franks were buy 1 get 1 free so jfood needs to fit in a few of those as well. Thu Jun 25 11:57:24 -0700 2009 4805385 11290 jfood 1 4805943 I've never heard of JL but inspired by this post, I took the opportunity of a quiet house last night to make something similar. In my case, I used a slice off a block of pepper jack and my little thrift store Geo Forman grill. I placed the chubby burger on the grill with a slice of onion along side and cooked for about 4 minutes. I let it sit for a couple of minutes before eating to avoid the cheese rocket. Wow, talk about a fast dinner and it was terrific. Thu Jun 25 12:30:25 -0700 2009 4799332 280735 tcamp 2 4805966 Now, see, tcamp, here in Minnesota we would almost call that (with pepperjack) a Molitor burger, a variation on the Jucy Lucy served by The Nook in St. Paul. (For clarification, the Molitor is different than the cajun lucy, another variation served at the Groveland Tap in St. Paul, that has jalapenos in addition to the pepperjack). The Molitor is my favorite. The only diffr between the Molitor and how you described yours is that the onions should be diced and caramelized. The purposes of french fries, by the way, is to pass time while you're letting your lucy "sit for a couple of minutes before eating to in order to avoid the cheese rocket". ~TDQ Thu Jun 25 12:36:08 -0700 2009 4805943 12005 The Dairy Queen 3 4806883 Oh man, now you tell jfood. He ordered a Lodger to perform the delay to cool function. :-)) Thu Jun 25 17:42:50 -0700 2009 4805966 11290 jfood