Bob’s Big Boy Double Deck Cheese Burger copy.
As burgers go, this one is quite simple but delicious.
My dad asked my mom to marry him 50 years ago over a burger just like this one at the Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant on Riverside Drive in Burbank, California. The restaurant is the oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy in the US and a must try place if you ever find yourself in Burbank. My parents used to take my sister and me there whenever we vacationed in LA while we were growing up. Last time I was in California, I took my kids there and purchased about ten burgers so that I could copy the recipe. Eating all those burgers was difficult work but it had to be done.
You might think that the Bob’s Big Boy Double Deck Cheeseburger looks like a copy of that other famous double decker. The fact is, this was the first double decker burger ever. The Big Mac arrived on the scene three decades later.
The Bob’s Big Boy Double Decker Cheeseburger actually started as a joke. In February 1937, members of the Glendale High School Orchestra who frequented the Glendale restaurant and asked the owner, Bob Wian if he could cook up something a little different. He intended this burger to ‘look rediculous, like a leaning tower’. The kids loved it and it became his signature burger.
The red sauce on top is one of the things that makes the burger. If you can get your hands on some Heinz Chilli Sauce and Heinz Sweet Pickle relish you will achieve the famous flavour. If you live in an area where these products aren’t available, choose any tomato based chilli sauce and finely chop some sweet pickles. It will be close enough.
Tip: For best results, ask your butcher for a 80% meat 20% fat ground beef mix.
- ¼ pound ground beef - Divided into two equal very thin patties
- 1 sesame seed bun and one additional bottom bun sliced on both sides
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- Shredded lettuce
- 1 slice processed American cheese
- 2 tablespoons Heinz Chilli Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Heinz Sweet Pickle Relish
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Heat a frying pan over high heat and toast your burger buns. Set aside.
- Place the burger patties in the pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Be sure to season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, spread mayonnaise over the bottom and centre bun.
- Top the bottom bun with the shredded lettuce and a slice of American cheese.
- When your patties are cooked through, place one on top of the cheese and then place the centre bun on top of the beef patty.
- Top the centre bun with the other patty.
- Mix the chilli sauce and pickle relish and then spoon it over the top, followed by the top bun.
