Gloriously beefy, dripping with smoke-kissed beef juice and molten processed cheese, and sandwiched on tender, 100-per-cent trashy white-bread buns, these are the greatest cheeseburgers you’ll ever eat.
1 pound well-marbled beef chuck
1 pound deckle (marbled end) brisket
kosher salt (Diamond Brand is best)
red onion, thinly sliced
8 processed cheese slices
4 white Wonder Bread buns
Method
Cut the beef into 1-inch thick strips, toss to combine and chill on a cookie sheet, uncovered, in the freezer for 30 minutes. Process chilled beef through the fine (1/8-inch) plate of a well-chilled grinder.
Divide the beef equally into eight four-ounce balls (a kitchen scale is perfect here if you have one), and form them gently into patties slightly wider than the buns. (Nobody likes a bite that’s all bun.) Rain a generous pinch of kosher salt liberally over both sides of each patty, dropping it from high up so it coats the burgers evenly.
Heat a 12-inch cast-iron pan over high heat, drop four patties into the pan and start a timer. If you’re using a barbecue, close the lid. After two minutes, flip the burgers. Put a couple slices of onion and a slice of cheese on two of the patties, just cheese on the other two. Close the lid again. If you like your burgers medium, they’ll be done in another two minutes. If you like them cooked through, give them 2-1/2 to three minutes.
Stack a finished patty with cheese on top of a finished onion and cheese patty, place on a bun and let them rest for about a minute if you can bear it. Repeat with remaining patties. Serve with bread and butter pickles, ketchup and mustard.
