Steamed Cheeseburgers at Ted’s Restaurant.

Cheeseburger Steamer at Ted's Restaurant

Steamed Cheeseburger at Ted's Restaurant

Who Knew?  I do not remember where I had heard about “steamed cheeseburgers”, but am glad I remembered in time to put in on my list for my Connecticut visit.  There is no baking, roasting, grilling, or frying involved in the cooking of this burger.

They have apparatus, home-made, to steam the burgers.  It’s a tall stainless steel box.  There are doors on top to insert the meat into on shelves, and a container on the bottom to hold water.  The entire thing sits on a burner, so the water boils, and steam cooks the meat, which most likely has a seasoning of salt and pepper.  The meat is simply grabbed by the cook, pushed into a small rectangular pan, which is put on a shelf in the stainless steel box.  Then, when almost done, cheese is put on top of meat to melt.  The cooking process takes about 10 minutes.

This place is a tiny dive.  In a small rural community.  No parking, just on the street, if you can find any.  Has three booth tables, and just a few stools at the counter.  I wanted to sit at the counter to view the process.  It was so simple.  A cashier, a waitress, and a cook.  My order was taken, and the cook set about making my burger.  A hand full of beef pressed into the tray, slid into the steamer.  Condiments piled on a sturdy bun.  The bun HAD to be sturdy, to stand up to the burger.

This is the juiciest burger I ever had.  The meat was not griddled with the fat running off it.  The meat did not have a crust.  The meat was not char broiled with that broiled flavor, and the fat dripping onto heat and flaring up.  Those two ways dry out the meat, and give it another flavor profile.  These steamed cheeseburgers give you the true taste of the beef, unadulterated.  The burgers have so much moisture, most buns would disintegrate.  This was a well constructed burger.  It had sandwich integrity.  This burger was a joy to eat, and I could not finish it.  I had to take it with me, and eat half for another meal, which I gladly did.
​
My order as recommended by waitress was The Everything Double With bacon, and a Birch Beer Soda (Root Beer on steroids), $20.00 total. It was so good, and the staff so accommodating, this would be a definite return.