I"m kind of surprised at the ppl who would ever prefer a fast food chain burger to one they could make themselves; after all the taste of the finished burger is predicated on just three things:
the quality of the meat
the toppings and bun available
the technique of cooking the burger
I guess if your “backyard burger” is a frozen Bubba patty thrown on the grill and cooked until it’s a puck to make sure the meat is cooked all the way through, and then sandwiched in some straight from the bag roll with a squirt of ketchup and maybe a slice of cheese… That’s not gonna be particularly good.
But use good quality fresh ground meat (not frozen, or at least thawed); season it with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder; and don’t overcook it, and remember to toast the bun slightly, and you should do great. Personally I don’t even grill my burgers any more unless it’s large scale for a party, I pan fry it for a griddle effect, and also toss in chopped yellow onions to soak in the burger grease and add to the burger.
And because I like to use larger burgers (6 oz. per patty), I also griddle-toast my bun on one side to give it a bit more firmness so when it soaks in the burger grease, it doesn’t fall apart.
The other part about “tasting like a burger joint” would be the condiments. Most places put not just ketchup, but a combo of ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Use that condiment trio, add the griddled onions with the slice of cheese, the lettuce / tomato / pickles would be optional, and you should definitely get at least as good or better a burger than any fast food place would give you.
Not as fast, of course. And then there are the fries and milkshakes.
The only caveat I would have here is that I’ve found that half pound burgers are too big for most buns. Not only does it throw the taste balance off, but the juices will soak through the bun and you’ll be pinching greasy bread around a hunk of meat by the end. Which will still be tasty, but messy… I’ve ended up finishing burgers like that on a plate with a fork, which feels like the wrong kind of burger experience.
You’d have to upgrade from those “8 to a package” burger buns from Arnold’s or whatever, to using kaiser or brioche rolls. Which is not a bad thing, just something you have to prepare for.
I don’t hate fast food burgers but they generally aren’t the type of burger I prefer. I love in-n-out and it is the king of the fast food burger but they are nothing like what I make at home.
I prefer a 1/2 pound patty that is about 1/2-3/4" thick grilled to med-rare. I also prefer real vegetables not the week old bin of shredded lettuce or the tomato picked green and sprayed red to it transports best. When I’m feeling energetic I’ll actually BBQ my burgers instead of grilling them and that creates a great flavor also normally I put blue cheese in the patty and use leaner meat then a little cheddar or pepper jack over the top. I don’t overly care about the bun as long as it doesn’t fall apart while I’m eating it.
Of the nationwide chains I like Jack n the box the best since their jumbo jack has decent veggies on it most of the time with the whopper as number two. Every couple of years I try McDonalds just to make sure they are still the grossest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.
Note to self: Never eat at kayaker’s house. You managed to hit just about every one of my Hate it! buttons. Burgers shouldn’t be rare and both eggs and avocado have no place being anywhere near a burger. Under any circumstances.
I probably haven’t eaten a McDonald’s burger in 40 years…maybe longer. Tasteless and gross.
I can’t grill (condo here, too) at home, but most friends in the days of get-togethers could kick the butt of any fast food burger. I get cravings for Apple Pan hickory burgers a few times a year, and while they’re not really fast food or upscale they scratch the itch for a made-in-a-restaurant burger. I just don’t like fast food burgers…I don’t like to waste the calories. There are a ton of decent $10 burger places near me (and on Door Dash), so that’s what I’ll get. I’d rather eat them ($10 burgers) less frequently than eat them (fast food burgers) often and pay for the
quality I’d get. Pickles are key!
Oddly, I’ll agree that even with the wealth of great Mexican places near me, I still get a craving once in a blue moon for Taco Bell. And only TB will satisfy it.
Yeah, it’s weird. Friends and I have had this discussion and it seems like TB is the pinnacle of “weird craving that must be satisfied by that and nothing else” fast food places. Even stranger, it doesn’t seem to be regional like In-N-Out.
Taco Bell and Mexican food really shouldn’t be compared. I live in a Mexican neighborhood with lots of great Mexican restaurants, but even many Mexicans will go to Taco Bell. It’s its own category (admittedly, a category that does not appeal to me and I’ve tried several times, even as recently as two years ago, and it just doesn’t do it for me.) White Castle is much the same way – if you like it, nothing will substitute (well, maybe Krystal in a pinch if you’re in Krystal country.) I’ve tried many times to recreate them at home, down to using reconstituted dried onion flakes, but none of it tastes like White Castle. But I wouldn’t send anyone to White Castle if they wanted a “real” burger.
Never had White Castle. The idea doesn’t appeal. I’d guess it’s one of those places that you have to go to as a kid or maybe no older than a teen to develop that taste.
Some people say that, but it’s not true. When I was living abroad, one Christmas I flew to Chicago and brought my Hungarian girlfriend with me. She was absolutely smitten by White Castle hamburgers. My parents, too, both Polish immigrants (Dad came when he was almost 20, Mom came when she was 21 or so.) Both of the, when I was growing up would, for a treat or when they didn’t feel like cooking, go to White Castle. So while it may be partially a nostalgia thing for some people, clearly that’s not universally true.
Why would they do that? Long-term storage, particularly refrigerated storage, isn’t cheap, and those costs would have to be reflected in the price of the burger. I think that, on the contrary, restaurants in general, and fast-food chains in particular, have an incentive to serve meat that has been in storage for as little time as possible.
For one, Wendy’s advertises fresh, never frozen, beef. In N Out (regional chain) uses fresh beef. Five Guys and Smashburger is fresh, too. McDonald’s quarter pound patties are supposed to be fresh beef as well as of about 2018. (Oddly, I preferred the old, frozen patties.)
I would expect the frozen ones to go through a lot of inventory quickly, so I can’t imagine it sitting around for years or somesuch.
Sorry, I get to say that because I’m half Hungarian. But maybe because it was such a novelty? I dunno. I just associate most fast foods with youthful tastes, and I feel like a kid when I eat it.
Just walk to the car and back!