Yup. They are completely different products. Might as ask why lamb and pork are different. Or even ham compared to a pork chop. And which is better.
A Whopper is a very specific thing and backyard burgers are a wide variety of things but what they are not ever is a Whopper.
I grind one pound of steak, form it into two half pound burgers, then sous vide rare. I put the burgers on our unlit grill and sear them with a torch. Huge, rare, juicy hamburgers.
Yeah, my friends and family suck at grilling. I’ve never had anything but overcooked burgers at the once-usual family cookout or at my friends. Burgers are just something to throw on the grill and not pay no attention to while watching the game, playing cards, and/or drinking.
I can enjoy most fast food burgers.
I can’t beat the burgers from Steak and Shake at home, though. They grind the steak in front of the customers, which is the origin of the “In sight it must be right” slogan. Maybe it’s that uber freshness?
I’ve tried Shake Shack. I am not impressed.
Their burgers taste okay. Not great, but okay. But they’re mushy. They have no texture (I know what I’m trying to say, but I can’t think of the right word). They’re just mush.
This is a shocking sentiment to me.
I’m having a hard time imagining a homemade burger so bad it’s worse than a fast-food burger. I’d pretty much always rather eat a homemade burger, no matter how overcooked, than anything from McDonalds.
Agreed!
I am not good at burgers, but mine are infinitely better than the inedible offerings of franchises.
A major difference is bread. I bake my own bread. My bread has flavor and the crumb stands up well to the moisture of the contents. The onion and tomato are sliced thick and topped with a lettuce leaf. The result looks much like the franchise ads on TV.
At McWhatever I get a flaccid bun collapsed around some lettuce scraps and thin pale tomato parts with an overbearing slice of pickle. 5 Guys is better if you consider more lettuce scraps and tomato parts better.
I’ve been living in a Motel since hurricane Sally, so I’ve tried them all. 5 Guys was edible. Hardees appears to package their products so that there is minimum local handling. The result is mediocre but consistent. The rest offer salt and grease on a soggy bun.
Well, their prices sure are high end!
I don’t see the attraction to them - they are about a $3 burger in a ten dollar box. But it is a nice $3 burger, I’ll admit.
You know, this is important, and this thread hasn’t even touched on the quality of the bun.
I don’t bake my own bread, and probably never will. But the bun is important. I know people who prefer English muffins, and that’s not bad. For supermarket burger buns, Martin’s buns are pretty good.
Also, the add-ons matter a lot too. For me, a slice of raw white onion and a slice of tomato do the trick. Pickles are acceptable. Ketchup, of course.
Some people prefer grilled onions, or mushrooms. I put mushrooms and onions on the griddle side, not the grill, and serve them together as a side. But to each their own.
Yeah, their Big Marty rolls (with lots of sesame seeds on it) is my go-to for burgers, or their regular potato rolls. For me, the key to a hamburger bun is its lightness. It has to be squishy, nothing with any sort of heft to it. The meat is that star of the show and should not be overwhelmed by the bun. Anything other than a simple white or potato bun is too much bun for me.
My perfect burger is:
Supermarket ground beef, formed into patty
Add Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder
Grill to 165F Internal Temperature (I’d do rarer, but I don’t want to die)
Melt cheddar on burger
Fry onions and mushrooms in butter until soft
Put burger, tomato, onions/mushrooms, romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, ketchup (sparingly) on a large sesame seed bun.
To my taste, this is superior to any burger I’ve eaten anywhere else. I realize that @pulykamell may disagree
But I like all that stuff on there, and don’t find it overwhelms the deliciousness of the meat.
Hmm, I now realize I may be starting a burger recipe hijack. Sorry. And now I’m craving burgers off-season.
I don’t understand this sentence. There’s a season for burgers?
Yes. Once the weather turns cold, I want Roast Chicken, Pot-Pie, Chicken Marsala, Pea Soup, and Chili. When the weather warms up, I want burgers every few days and none of those things at all.
Pizza has no season
Ugh, no. A Whopper is a giant soggy frisbee of a “burger.” I’ve only had one for a reason, and I do actually (somewhat) like BK. I’ll stick to my webber kettle burgers, thank you.
How strange. 
While I might get in the mood for something due to weather (chili on a cold day comes to mind). I’ll eat any of it, anytime.
Eat what you like, of course! Your burger sounds fine to me; I myself, too, occasionally go crazy and want lettuce and tomato on my burger, usually when I want to pretend I’m being healthy. 
The one thing I personally don’t like on my burger, and many, many people do, is bacon.
Apparently, from the responses here, some people do, but I’m with the the OP @Asuka that I have yet to have any fast-food burger as good as the ones I make at home. I use freshly made store-bought patties (not mass-produced frozen). At least part of the reason for the goodness has to be some combination of it being high quality beef, and also larger and much thicker than used in fast-food burgers, grilled over smoky flame to my exact preference. The result is a perfect patty, seared and smoky on the outside, juicy on the inside, served on extra-large grill-toasted buns with my preferred condiments (slightly melted cheese, chopped white onion, ketchup, sliced tomato, sometimes a bit of lettuce). Very plain, really, but I’ve never had one as good from any fast-food joint. Can’t really recall a burger from a real restaurant being as good, either.
Agreed. I prefer doing my own, but sometimes I get that fast food craving and it is not at all the same taste profile.
It’s like eating Taco Bell when there are a half dozen high-quality mom & pop taquerias nearby, or even a superior chain like El Pollo Loco. Sure, TB barely merits the appellation “Mexican food” and it is vastly inferior in every measurable respect. But it is its own cheap-ass thing and sometimes that’s the crap you want.
Agreed again. I don’t grill these days because I can’t legally have access to one (condo, fire safety laws). But even when I did I preferred my burgers done on a stove, I’m just not always into the bbq char though I’ll eat them when other people cook them.
I’m also one of those weird people who doesn’t prefer all of their meat smoked. IMHO a good roast chicken will kick a good smoked chicken’s ass almost every single time. It’s not that I don’t like smoked meat, it’s just that it is not automatically superior to any other cooking method. Non-corned brisket, better smoked. Ribs, toss-up. Chicken, inferior. Fish, greatly inferior. I think for my palate the more delicate the flavor of the meat, the less well it holds up to smoking.
I agree with this as well, and I love to smoke/barbecue. I like my chicken grilled or roast with high heat, getting a nice crispy skin. With smoked chicken, the skin usually is terrible. You can get some bite out of it if you finish it by grilling it, but the smoke is a bit too much for me. Same with smoked turkey. I did that one Thanksgiving for the family; everyone loved it. I preferred traditional roast turkey. For me,pork ribs are absolutely better smoked. Grilled can be okay, but barbecued is where it’s at. Beef ribs, I’m not a fan of smoked. Pork shoulder? Both can be good. Fish – depends on how you’re eating it and what you’re using it for. As a main dish, no. As part of a cold spread, on canapes, that sort of thing. Yes.
I should mention that when I refer to “seared and smoky” as the result of grilling burger patties, I’m talking about relative subtlety. It doesn’t mean blackened or crunchy patties – I would consider such patties to be ruined and throw them out! I simply mean a subtle firmness to the outside while being juicy and flavourful on the inside. And the smokiness is very subtle and just arises from the smoke from the drippings during the last five minutes or so of grilling, hardly enough time to actually “smoke” anything, which would take many hours!