# Burger King's new fries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957 "2011-12-12T21:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/21 "2011-12-13T20:35:55Z")
They will all be garbage until we get beef tallow back in the fryers. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/22 "2011-12-13T21:07:44Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Isn’t it a crunch enhancer? > > “Oh the Crunch enhancer? Yeah it’s a non-nutritive cereal varnish. It’s semi-permiable. It’s not osmotic. What it does is it coats and seals the flake, prevents the milk from penetrating it.” Don’t give me that insider jargon bullshit - put it in layman’s terms. Something I can give to the investors. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/23 "2011-12-13T23:40:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I just want Wendy’s, the ones before the new ones they came up with. The new Wendy’s fries aren’t that bad, but they are NOT an improvement. The BK fries have tasted like burnt plastic to me since they started coating them in that ‘starch’, which is a shame, as I like their burgers. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/24 "2011-12-14T00:25:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And their fries are crap, too. Nothing matches well-produced McDonalds fries. Disagree; love their fries. And they don’t over-salt them like McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/25 "2011-12-14T00:44:19Z")
I am not an expert on fast-food french fries, as I don’t eat burgers (or chicken) myself, but I take my elderly parents out to eat several times a week, and once in a while I will get myself an order of fries and a Coke while they eat their meal, and the three of us all agree that Burger King’s fries are far & away the best fast-food fries around. McDonalds, In-n-Out, Wendys, none of them are anywhere as good as Burger King is. (I like Arby’s curly fries, but my folks don’t care for them) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/26 "2011-12-14T01:02:23Z")
Haven’t tried the new BK fries yet, but the ones they are replacing were so bad that I just gave up on having fries at BK and would get onion rings, or just forgo sides all together. The new (do they still count as new anymore) Wendy’s ones are almost as bad. I got a large the other night, probably ate about a third of it before I had to stop. I really want the old fries back, those were the best around since McDonalds stopped using beef fat (this is why I hate vegans). ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/27 "2011-12-14T01:41:09Z")
I have always found BK to be just plain bad. It is not an anti fast food thing either as I find other fast food like Mcdonalds and Wendy’s to be fine. Every 5 or so years I forget and relearn that BK is not good. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/28 "2011-12-14T02:16:17Z")
Everyone I know in real life loves BK’s french fries. I had some recently, and I still didn’t notice any difference. Now McDonald’s did actually get worse. And Wendy’s new ones were bad until they cut back on the salt. But, really, BK’s have been the best since they were introduced. I actually wonder if Dopers just have more discriminating tastes, or if it’s a regional thing. Or maybe even an age thing. It’s just so weird. And, BTW, while I liked Wendy’s old burgers better, their new ones are fine, and work really well with the new toppings. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/29 "2011-12-14T07:57:58Z")
It’s interesting to me that, to some people, the BK fries are HORRIBLE, and yet others claim their fries are their favorites. I mean, to me, they hardly taste like food in general, much less like french fries. I wonder if it’s like cilantro, where some ppl just taste soap, and others taste something good. When they first changed their fries, I dunno, back in the 90’s, I couldn’t understand how the change would have been approved in the first place, and was sure they’d be fixed in short order. Didn’t happen. It’s not like I’m a food snob. While I don’t eat as much fast food as I used to, back in the 90’s I was working and going to school while still trying to find time to see my girlfriend. It’s not like I had (or have) discerning taste, I just threw food down my neck so I could get on to wherever I had to be next. Of all the crap I ate, BK fries alone made me go, "What the. . . " ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/30 "2011-12-14T08:15:54Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Everyone I know in real life loves BK’s french fries. I had some recently, and I still didn’t notice any difference. Now McDonald’s did actually get worse. And Wendy’s new ones were bad until they cut back on the salt. But, really, BK’s have been the best since they were introduced. See, my experience is quite different. McDonald’s fries were always the gold standard of your basic shoestring fast-food French fry (although there are many other fries I prefer. Five Guys, for example.) Since the new BK fries were introduced in the, what, mid-90s was it, people around here have complained about their fake spray-on fry flavor or whatever it is they do with their fries in a sorry attempt to make them taste more like McDonald’s. I literally do not know a single person who prefers BK fries to McDonald’s fries. They barely even taste like potatoes. [This Consumer Reports article](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/august/food/fast-food/who-makes-the-best-fries/index.htm) pretty much summarizes my problems with BK fries: “Relatively low in flavor; coating detracts from quality. Fatty taste has about the same intensity as potato flavor.” Never really noticed the fatty taste so much, but the other points are spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/31 "2011-12-14T14:50:44Z")
I literally have not heard anything about new BK fries until this thread. To which I say, down with those nasty old starch-coated things they had previously! Those were … not good. However, to those of you complaining about the Whopper and BK burgers, you are doing it wrong. It’s the Tendercrisp chicken sandwich you want when you stop by BK. Those things are tasty. ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/32 "2011-12-14T14:54:30Z")
The quality of a fast food fry is how long they have been sitting there…versus right out of the fryer. More than 90 seconds is really too long. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/33 "2011-12-14T17:30:49Z")
> [@raskolnik](#): > > The quality of a fast food fry is how long they have been sitting there…versus right out of the fryer. More than 90 seconds is really too long. FWIW: the ones I got were steaming hot and still only meh. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/34 "2011-12-16T15:19:57Z")
It’s [Free French Fry Friday](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BURGER-KING-Declares-There-bw-1681092224.html?x=0) at Burger King, today! Try a value sized order of their new french fries for free, no purchase necessary, while supplies last. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/35 "2011-12-16T15:24:05Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I just gave up on having fries at BK and would get onion rings This is what I don’t understand. Burger King is the only major burger chain (around here anyway) that does onion rings: why don’t those morons concentrate on making their onion rings something worth bragging about? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/36 "2011-12-17T03:28:59Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > This is what I don’t understand. Burger King is the only major burger chain (around here anyway) that does onion rings: why don’t those morons concentrate on making their onion rings something worth bragging about? They tried to make their fries something worth bragging about, and look what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/37 "2011-12-17T04:18:19Z")
I went to Burger King for the first time in a long while today. I tried out their new fries with a Whopper meal and got extra free fries with it. Bleah. I hated the new fries when they switched a few years back. Now, they seem even blander with more volume to the blandness. No flavor. Just Blech. I wound up throwing them away. Flavorless, mushy sticks. After today’s visit, I vowed that this visit would be my last to Burger King, a place that never fails to disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/38 "2011-12-17T04:41:02Z")
_at the drive-thru, holding back laughter, ordering at the fourth Burger King…_ “I’d like to try the new BK fries.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957/39 "2011-12-17T12:37:24Z")
> [@raskolnik](#): > > The quality of a fast food fry is how long they have been sitting there…versus right out of the fryer. More than 90 seconds is really too long. This is the core of it. BK fries were acceptable if right out of the fryer, but had (IMO) much quicker degradation than McD fries. If even slightly cool they became practically inedible with an odd and somewhat bitter aftertaste. The reality was that if you didn’t get your fries during a peak traffic lunch or dinner period your chances of getting truly fresh fries was 50/50 at best. I’ve handed back numerous warm, but not not fresh, BK fries at the window and asked for fresh fries. The new fries are thicker cut and seem to have less of the starch coating and are a more substantial fry. It still puzzles me why making a decent french fry is such a conundrum for a billion dollar corporation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-new-fries/605957.md?page=1)