Known to locals as a steamer, the steamed cheeseburger was invented at a place called Jack’s Lunch of Middletown, Connecticut, in the 1920s. Steamed food was becoming a popular nostrum (countering the evils of frying), but as successful as Jack’s steamers were on Main Street, they never went viral like Buffalo wings, Chicago deep-dish pizza, or Tucson chimichangas. The steamed cheeseburger remained a local phenomenon. Even today, in Connecticut cities as close as Hartford and New Haven, most people never have heard of it.
Ted’s of Meriden, Connecticut, has been a steamed cheeseburger destination since 1959.
A special steam cabinet is used to cook individual portions of ground beef and blocks of Vermont cheddar cheese, the latter transformed by steam into a pearlescent mass just viscous enough to seep into every crevice of the meat below, but not so runny that it escapes the sandwich. The soft hamburger (no crust on a steamer) and cheese are layered in a hard roll along with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. A steamed cheeseburger might be accompanied by steamed-cheese-topped potatoes and even followed by steamed-cheese-topped apple pie.