No-Bun Burgers

By classycook

Ingredients

• 1 lb 100% grass fed ground beef or chuck
• 3 slices of aged cheddar cheese
• 6 leaves of romaine lettuce
• 3 tsp coconut oil
• Condiments of your choosing
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Lightly mold the ground beef into three patties, being careful not to mash them around too much. With your thumb, press a large divot into the center of each patty, which will help prevent your burger from being too fat in the center. Place them on a paper towel, cover them with another paper towel, and put them back in the fridge (to ensure the cold fat binds the patties together) while you heat up a cast-iron skillet to slightly over medium heat. Once the skillet has heated for about 5 minutes, add 1 tsp coconut oil and let it melt, swirling it around to evenly cover the skillet. Add the burger, divot side up. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the burger and let it cook for about three minutes.The most important factor in making a juicy burger is knowing when to flip it, it should be browning on the bottom and creeping up to nearly halfway up the burger, the burger should be curling up a little on its own, and there should be a fair amount of blood on the top of the burger. This is the time to flip it. Sprinkle it again with salt and pepper, and cook it for another two minutes. This will give you a juicy, slightly pink burger; add one more minute if you don’t want any pink, but be warned, this is going to make it drier. Some more blood will accumulate on the top – flip it one more time to cook that off, and immediately add the cheese after flipping. Once the cheese has been added, give it another 20 seconds to help melt it, and place it on a leaf of romaine lettuce.