This is going to sound really obvious, but I’m curious why burgers I either grill at home or have during a backyard BBQ taste better than burgers I can get from even “higher end” places like 5 Guys or In-N-Out. I can’t explain why but I feel the meat tastes better even if you go for the store bought pre-made patties. Shouldn’t those fast food places basically be where I am in regards to ingredients and freshness quality?
That doesn’t sound obvious at all. There might be some psychological associations with being outdoors at a party, or being a center of attention (as The Chef), that make someone think their burgers are The Bomb. But as for taste, I’m going to say that most people prefer the burger chains to most backyard burgers.
Tastes vary and many people crave variety in their food — so a home grilled burger can be a welcome part of the food rotation.
Yeah, when I want an in-out burger, a home grilled burger would not do the trick. There is something different about the flavor of the ground beef.
The burger place near me is busy all the time, so I can’t imagine the ingredients not being pretty fresh.
Yeah, I have to say, the Whopper beats any backyard BBQ burger I’ve had, including my own. Which is why I don’t really make burgers.
I’m with the OP.
I think it all comes down to quality control. You have all the time you need to construct a burger to your specific tastes.
Restaurant burgers have to be put together quick with less attention to detail by a minimum wage worker that probably hates his job.
I agree with the OP too.
Two things that I can think of that give the edge to DIY: charcoal grilling and home-made spicy ketchup.
I’m not sure I entirely agree with the OP, but they are different. I’m going to try to link to an old post of mine:
Most fast-food restaurants serve sliders. One thing I didn’t note in my post above is that sliders are usually cooked on a flat-top or griddle which doesn’t char the meat and doesn’t have a “taste”. Whereas your backyard BBQ is flame (either gas or charcoal). Charcoal imparts a strong taste itself, but even a gas grill picks up a “flavor” over years of cooking - especially if you don’t clean the flame diverters or bottom of the grill after each use.
I personally prefer a burger cooked over flame, but there are times when only 5 Guys will satisfy the craving I have (much like I occasionally NEED Taco Bell, and only Taco Bell will do).
@Two_Many_Cats2 - BK is unusual in that it cooked over open flame. It could be you just prefer a flame-cooked burger.
It does taste different, as for better, I’d say it’s one of those things that one can prefer one day and the other the next. I also have to say usually if at a restaurant and I get one home cooked style I can sometimes be disappointed, but not always.
Home-cooked also runs the gambit from smoky crispy BBQ to rare and juicy soak the bun, restaurants typically don’t have those extreme ends of the burger spectrum.
One I picked up some frozen patties from I think Costco, and lo and behold they tasted exactly like burger king burners. Went back for some more but no-go, standard frozen patties. I have long suspected fast food places makes their offerings unique so you can not duplicate them at home and that Costco burger I got must have been from the same factory that makes BK and I got part of the changeover that still had the BK formula in the works.
I make them myself – just ground beef – and I don’t add salt.
It also helps that you’re eating them hot off the grill and not driving home with them.
For what it’s worth I think they taste better when you cook them at home as well.
If you don’t start with mushy overly lean wet frozen meat, ground extra finely, and then you don’t cook at minimum temperature to minimizes browning in order to minimize cooking time, and don’t cook it to well done, then the hamburger you make at home will taste better than the one you buy at a fast food joint.
I make fantastic backyard burgers because I make them as I want them - some Adams spices, maybe a dab of Worcestershire (sp) sauce, cooked so they have a char on the outside but red in the middle… don’t know a chain which does it that way.
That’s what I was going to say. Gotta at least burn off the residue from last time.
But not TOO much! 
Your grill should have…character. True story: Back when I was still grilling with gas, I bought a new grill and didn’t mention it to my wife. Next time I did steaks, she commented on the change (negative) in flavor.
My backyard (actually my little terrace attached to my NYC apartment, but I’ve got a Weber grill out there) burgers taste far, far better than any chain restaurant burger I’ve ever had.
To start with, chain burgers suck. For me, McDonald’s burgers are actually inedible. Just the smell of them makes me sick. BK burgers are a little, just a little, better, as are Wendy’s burgers. Five Guys is a bit better than that. White Castle is truly disgusting, but some sick, self-loathing part of me craves White Castle once in a while.
I suspect that all the big chains use the lowest grade of beef that can legally be fed to human beings. It’s one very small step above dog food (assuming that they’re not cheating and actually selling us meat not fit for human consumption).
I’m convinced that they all add sugar (or HFC) to their burgers, which is disgusting. And God knows what else. When I grill some burgers, I add salt and Worcestershire sauce. Nothing else (although I have a friend who adds adobo rather than, or maybe in addition to, salt, and his burgers are pretty good).
Also, as far as I know, the chains cook their burgers on a griddle, not a grill, so they’re sort of stewing in their own runoff. Which, in the case of fast food burgers, is likely to contain some real garbage.
Their patties are too thin, so there’s no chance of getting a lovely burger seared and crusty on the outside, but rare and pink on the inside.
I’m usually grilling plain old supermarket-grade beef. Nothing special. So I’m convinced that home-grilled burgers will always taste better because (a) chains use horrible beef (that’s probably been frozen for months or even years before you eat it), (b) they add crap to it, and (cee) the cooking method they use does not lend itself to good burgers.
Backyard burgers, all the way, for me.
I’ve never cared for fast food burgers, ick, cold and kinda slapped together, like a monkey made it, a sliver of wilty lettuce, and raw onions which I loath! You have to peel it apart, and it’s VERY unappetizing, to put your preference in condiments. It’s premade and wrapped, sitting under a heat lamp and getting steamed, ugh!
I make my own 20+ at a time and freeze them. Thaw and bbq, they’re heaven! Hot, lots of shredded lettuce, the pickles I prefer, the right amount of hot mustard and real cheese.
There really is no comparison.
Disagree completely. Pretty much every backyard BBQ burger I’ve ever had has been either over cooked, dry or bland. Fast Food burgers are miles better. (Not McDonalds, but places like Shake Shack.)
When I want a fast food burger, I want that fast food burger taste. I’m one who will eat anything but a burger at BK (tastes like lighter fluid to me), will generally get the chicken sandwich at Wendy’s, but like a McDonald’s burger every once in a long while. When I’m in mood for a McD’s QP with cheese, nothing can substitute. Same with In N Out when I’m in In N Out territory. It’s – for me – a perfect fast food burger.
At home, I don’t grill burgers. I simply don’t really like them grilled, except every once in a long, long while I’ll have a big pub burger that’s grilled when I’m eating out. I’ll cook them on a flattop, even on the grill (where presumably I’m grilling other things.) Those burgers I can make exactly how I like them and use better ingredients than the chains, especially if I’m custom grinding the meat myself (usually a mix of boneless short rib, chuck or brisket, and sirloin. Or as simple as straight short rib, if I’m feeling decadent and/or lazy.) Otherwise, I use 80-20 chuck, nothing leaner. Then I can make them as I like: do I want a classic cheeseburger, an Oklahoma onion burger, a Solly’s-esque butter burger, a gooey cheeseburger or patty melt with caramelized (or nearly so) onions, a kimchi burger, a Jucy Lucy, a green chile cheeseburger etc. Some of these styles aren’t available here, and I can just make them at home. Making a burger is dirt simple, as long as you have good technique. All you need for the burger patty is ground beef and some salt and pepper.
I’m sorry, but when the OP characterizes “5 Guys” as a “higher end” hamburger, I discount their entire hypothesis.
Get friends who are better at grilling. 
The only times I’ve ever cooked a dry burger was when using that frozen stuff - with fresh meat, never.