"Juicy Lucy" Turkey Burger

I took extra-lean turkey out of the freezer for dinner.  After thinking on it all day I decided I wanted a burger, though being honest, I don't love turkey burgers.  So, I decided to stuff it with cheese.  I used toasted brioche buns to serve them on, and oh yeah, bacon for the topping because we all know bacon makes everything better...

• 1 lb extra-lean ground turkey (I made 2 humongous 1/2 lb burgers)
• 1 large free range egg
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced through a press
• 1 tablespoon "Trader Joe's no-salt 21-Seasoning Salute"
• 1 teaspoon "Trader Joe's Mushroom Umami" seasoning
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon "Kitchen Bouquet" browning liquid to change the anemic turkey color
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
• Freshly cracked pepper and kosher salt, to taste
• 1 inch slice of extra-old white cheddar cheese, per burger
• 2 slices thick bacon, per burger
• 1 slice of processed cheese, per burger

Yuck, I hated touching the mushy turkey to combine this with the seasonings.  The easiest way for me to assemble was to use a ring mold that had cooking spray on it.  

I put 1/4 pound turkey mix in the bottom, put the cheese in the middle and then covered the top with another 1/4 pound turkey.  I patted it in a little and then slipped it out.  I made sure the sides were sealed by smooshing a spoon over the meat, trying to seal it shut in the middle.  

I swirled some olive oil in the pan.  Since the burgers ended up being twice the size I intended, I used medium to med-low heat to cook these in a non-stick skillet.  When I thought they were done, they were only 130°F so I turned the heat down lower so they didn't burn.  

When almost done and flipped over, I used a meat thermometer to make sure the temp was 160°F.  

I put the cheese slice on and cooked to 165°F.  I dressed the buns according to tastes and put the bacon on top of each burger.  That was it!  No tomatoes or lettuce went on because these behemoths were huge and I ended up using a fork/knife on mine anyway.  Below had BBQ sauce on the bun.

I know I over-seasoned the crap out of these because I'm not a fan, like I said.  Well, the seasoning and everything was spot on - just banging in good flavor.  So good you probably wouldn't even think about it being turkey and definitely juicy too.  I might say that this was the best turkey burger I've eaten which isn't hard to do as I never cook and/or order them.  The only thing I'd do differently next time is make the patties thinner so I could enjoy tomatoes and crisp lettuce, otherwise, almost perfect.  😋 Below, mine had mayo on the bun.  We had no sides with dinner tonight.