Nothing says “summer” quite like thick, juicy, hamburgers– even better when they’re topped with bacon, melty cheese, and prepared just the way you like ‘em.

Wanna try my recipe? It’s sure-fire, can’t-miss, and tummy-pleasin’. :D Come on, I’ll show you. :)

Ingredients
1 lb hamburger meat
1 lb bacon
2 tbsp Dale’s steak seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing
1 egg
Montreal Steak Seasoning
6 slices colby jack cheese
6 hamburger buns
butter for toasted bun

First things first. Grab a stick of butter and set it out on the counter so it can be softening.

Now. Let’s start with the bacon. There are lots of ways to cook bacon, but I like good old fashioned frying in a skillet. :) Frying bacon is really quite easy, it just requires a little patience. I like to cut my bacon in half before frying it. It makes it the perfect size for burgers.

I like the thinly sliced, “center cut” bacon. What’s your favorite kind?

Okay. Now. Arrange your bacon in a skillet over medium to medium low heat. We’re gonna cook it lowwww and slowww. Leave it just like that for right now and we’re gonna go prepare our hamburger patties.

See this? See this bad, bad, bad for you 85% lean, 15% fatty meat? I like using lean beef as much as the next guy, but 85/15 beef makes the best hamburgers because if you try to make burgers anything leaner, they will be crumbly and fall apart. And that’s not fun. And really, health consciousness has no place when it comes to cheeseburgers, now does it? :D So throw your cares to the wind for an evening and let yourself enjoy the goodness from 85/15 juicy, bacon cheeseburgers.

Now! Take your hamburger meat and place it in a shallow dish. Mine always ends up breaking in half, and that’s okay.

Over the meat, pour 2 tbsp Dale’s…

Sprinkle 1/2 package of dry Ranch Dressing… then flip it over and do the other side with the other 1/2 package…

Now crack an egg in a coffee mug or bowl

Scramble it with a fork

And pour it over the meat

With clean hands, gently break apart the meat

Now. Make sure your hands are clean. :) We’re going to gently work everything into the meat. But you don’t want to over handle the meat or else your burgers will be tough. So just kinda kinda massage everything into the the meat, moving it around the bowl to make sure you sop up all the juicy and seasony goodness. ;)

It should look about like this when you’re done.

Form it into kind of a log and with a knife, divide the meat into 6 even sections

Grab one of those sections and gently form a ball. Do you have one of these nifty hamburger presses? They make patty-makin’ easy. If so, drop the meat into the hamburger mold (I guess that’s what you call it)

Press it down it down with the, uh, press

And you have a perfectly shaped patty! If you don’t have a press, you can just press it down with your hands. :)

And repeat! As you go, be sure to arrange your patties in the shape of a flower on the plate. This is critical to your burgers’ success.

Just kidding.

Generously season both sides with Montreal Steak seasoning.

Whoa, I almost forgot about our bacon!! Let’s check on it. This is the bacon after it’s been cooking 10 mins. It’s not quite ready yet.

That butter should be allllll nice and soft by now, so go ahead and butter up 6 hamburger buns- 6 tops and 6 bottoms.

After that, check your bacon again. This is the bacon after 15 mins.

When the fat starts turning translucent and the bottom side is getting brown, it’s time to flip the bacon. I know it’s hard to tell in the pic, but it is time to flip the bacon. :D

I only had to cook the other side about 5 mins before it was done.

Drain your bacon on a paper towel, and finish frying up the rest of the bacon. I always have to do 2 batches in my 12″ skillet.

Once all the bacon is done, pour out any excess bacon grease into a coffee mug (don’t pour it down your drain). But leave a little bacon grease in the bottom of the pan, just enough to coat it. I actually didn’t have to drain my grease this time. That thin, center cut bacon hardly produced any grease at all. Usually I have to drain it between every batch!

Turn the heat up to medium high and once the bacon grease is nice and hot…

…arrange your hamburgers in the skillet.

After 3 mins, flip em’ over. They’re going to cook on this side for another 3 mins.

So let the burgers sizzle for about 30 seconds or so, then add your bacon…

And your cheese… Whoops! I didn’t have enough cheese. One burger will be left out. :(

Cover and cook for the remaining 2 mins or so.

At this point, put those buttered buns under the broiler in your oven.

After a couple of mins, the burgers should be done and the cheese all nice and melty.

You want toasted buns?? Go sit on a microwave! Ahem, I mean, and the buns should be nice all nice and toasty.

These burgers have got so much flavor, they really don’t need any condiments.

So when you’re ready, dive right in! That’s what I did. ;)