How to: Making Stuffed Burgers

We know of two ways to fancy-up burgers: top them with something special or stuff them. Elsewhere in this section, you'll find some special toppings. Here, we'll show you stuffed burgers.

There are two ways to stuff burgers. You can make two thin patties - a burger press helps for this-put cheese or another goodie between the patties, and press the edges together. Or you can mix the filling right into the burger before forming the patties.

For us, one of the real advantages of stuffed burgers is that we can use lean meat. For most burgers, you need a relatively high fat content; use 80% or 85% lean burger. It's the fat that makes the burger juicy and satisfying. But with these burgers, you can use leaner meat because there is cheese, butter, or bacon interspersed in the meat. And it takes less cheese to make a cheeseburger this way.

It's fun to be creative with burgers. Surprise your guests and make Cheese-Stuffed Burgers, Buttery Onion Burgers, or Tex-Mex Burgers. Here are nine great burger ideas to get you started.

1. Make Cheese-Stuffed Burgers.  Instead of placing the cheese on top of the burger, use a burger press to form two thin patties. Lay the cheese or other filling between the patties and mold the edges together to trap the cheese as it melts.

2. Make Swiss and Mushroom Burgers.  Make a cheese-stuffed burger as above but with Swiss cheese. Top the burger with sautéed mushrooms.

3. Make Tex-Mex Burgers.  Toss your ground beef with diced green chilies, chopped cilantro, and shredded Monterey jack cheese before forming the patties. Mix in some taco or other southwest seasoning.

4. Make Cheese and Herb Burgers.  Make burgers as for Tex-Mex burgers but instead of chilies, use your favorite herbs.

5. Make Buttery Onion Burgers.  Freeze a cube of butter then grate it as you would cheese. Mix the grated butter, a chopped sweet onion, and your choice of spices into your ground beef before forming the patties. (To keep the butter hard, place the grater and a plate or cutting board in the freezer before use. Make sure that the meat is ice cold.)

6. Make Blue Cheese and Bacon Burgers.  Mix crumbled blue cheese into the ground beef. Cook and top with crisply fried bacon. If you are cooking on the grill, try wrapping the bacon strips around the burger patties before cooking. Secure the strips with toothpicks.

7. Make Italian Burgers.  Mix one part ground beef with one part ground Italian sausage. Form patties. Season with additional oregano and basil or mix some in a little Italian dressing.

8. Make Chuck Wagon Bacon Burgers.  Microwave bacon until it is partly done. With kitchen shears, snip the bacon into bits. Mix the bacon bits into your ground beef along with a favorite western spice blend.

9. Make Asian Burgers.  Pick your favorite Asian sauce -  Spicy Mandarin Orange Sauce is one of our favorites-and mix it into your burger. Because it's interspersed through the meat flavoring every bite, it won't take a lot. Make teriyaki burgers by adding Teriyaki Madness or another sauce from the store, General Tsao burgers by adding General Tsao Sauce - or whatever your fancy is.