Instructions

1. Start the grill. Burgers cook best at a medium, even heat that doesn’t burn the outside before the inside is cooked. Set a gas grill at medium, or build a charcoal fire and let it burn until you can hold your hand above the charcoal for about six seconds without discomfort. The temperature should be between 325 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Select ground beef with some fat content. Lean cuts like sirloin or round are leaner, and a good choice if you’re on a diet or watching your fat intake, but they don’t make the juiciest burgers. Choose ground meat from the supermarket with an 80/20 or 85/15 meat to fat ratio. If you have a meat grinder or a food processor, you can grind your own meat. Make sure the meat and the grinding equipment is very cold before you begin. Remove silver skin and gristle from the meat but leave the fat, and use the coarse grinding attachment or meat blade.

3. Form the patties. You’ll need two patties for each burger, each weighing about three ounces. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, three ounces, when flattened, would be about the size of your palm. Form each portion of meat into a smooth patty, but don’t overwork the meat or it will become dense. Put a dollop of blue cheese about the size of a half dollar coin in the center of one patty, lay another patty on top, and gently press the edges together. Sprinkle the patties with a little salt.

4. Cook the hamburgers. Put them on the grill and wait three or four minutes before flipping them. Cook on the other side and flip a couple of more times until they’re as done as you like them. The USDA recommends cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 F, but it can be difficult to test the temperature of a blue cheese burger with a probe thermometer without hitting the cheese in the center. Press on one of the burgers -- if it gives slightly, it is medium. A firm, but not solid, burger is well done.