Turn the oven to 200°F or lowest temperature available. 

  Make the spice blend: In a small bowl, combine the salt, garlic, pepper, and paprika. Set aside. 

  Make the Special Sauce: In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, pickles, hot sauce, dijon, and pickle juice. Set aside. 

  Make the Burgers: Divide the ground beef into 8 even parts, or about 3.5 ounces each, and loosely roll into balls. Note: We used this amount of ground beef knowing we had almost dinner-roll size buns, so if you have larger buns, you would want more meat.  

  Gently shape them into small patties, slightly larger than the size of your buns, and equally distribute the spice mix among them. Set aside.  

  Arrange your buns on a sheet tray and put them in the oven to gently toast.  

  Heat a large frying pan (or two if you don’t want to do two batches) over medium. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and when the oil is hot, add four patties to the pan. (If you’re using two pans, do the same with the other pan and remaining patties now.)  Immediately drizzle 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce per patty. Cook until seared and partially cooked through about 4 minutes.

  Flip the patties and immediately top each patty with a generous tablespoon of the onion-prune magic elixir and 1 ounce of cheese. Cover and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or to your liking.

  Transfer them from the pan to a clean sheet tray. Put the tray in the oven if you’re cooking them in two batches.  Repeat with the remaining patties. 

  Remove the buns and burger patties from the oven. Spread the special sauce on the bottom buns. Top the sauce with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. Add a burger patty to each bottom bun and top with the top bun.