Why do freshly made burgers you grill yourself taste better than chain resturant/fast food burgers?

Cafe Society
62

I’m a good cook and burgers might be my favorite food, definitely top 3, but only once have I ever made a burger at home that was better than a restaurant burger… with some caveats. I don’t eat burgers from all the chains because some are just too yucky. So I guess all my homemade burgers to me are better than a McDonald’s burger. The ones I do like are just so much better than what I can do at home. The one time they came out amazing was when I splurged and got nice brioche buns instead of the 8-pack for $.99.

Maybe one of the things I like about them is not having to cook them myself.

63

I used to work at Burger King. Every once in a while we would have somebody order a sausage patty (during breakfast) or a burger patty for their dog.

64

I don’t know why they’d do it. Maybe they don’t, for the most part.

I can tell you that I have seen court papers involving a meat-packing company and some corporate entities that purchased large amounts of ground beef from that company. Some of that meat had been frozen for two years between walking around and being served up on a bun.

But maybe that’s an exceptional case. I certainly hope so.

65

I wouldn’t be surprised necessarily if novelty had something to do with it. Budapest at the time (c. 2000) had McD’s, BK, and Wendy’s (although I think Wendy’s is gone now.) So it was certainly different than all those. And those little burgers sure are cute.

I can’t speak for her, but for me it’s not really nostalgia or novelty. I just love the damned things. That oniony-ness and those pillowy buns and soft “steam-grilled” beef.

If we’re going for novelty, I’m intrigued by these boiled – yes, essentially boiled – hamburgers in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

66

I’m going to be a weasel and agree/disagree with the OP.

First the agree - my homemade burgers are hands down better than most of the burgers at the “kids” end of the fast-food train. McDonalds being the absolute worst, with BK and Wendy’s being up near the top of this section.

The next level is the ‘big kids’ / adult fast food burgers, such as 5 guys and the like, and I’d put my homemade burgers at better, but with a much smaller margin in terms of the burger, but still rocking ahead on condiments, seasoning, bun, etc.

Past that, most chains that serve burgers, serve them as a part of a larger menu, the whole Chili’s, Red Robin, etc. Their burgers honestly aren’t any better, but then again, they don’t make them the main focus of their menu.

Now, for some of the exceptions - local chains. I am a huge fan of the New Mexico based chain Lotaburger. They do traditional fresh meat patties on a huge griddle, up to a few dozen at a time, buns on the griddle, with New Mexico green chile for the asking. They are one of the things I miss most about living in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.

The Owl Cafe in Albuquerque is another ‘chain’ although only the original location in San Antonio is involved in the chain, and they too do amazing green chile cheeseburgers, although with a much more heavily seasoned beef patty.

Despite years of trying, I haven’t been able to fully equal either, but my feeling is that it boils down to a few things, that may also apply to what others crave from the chains. One, they can get their patties thinner than I manage without overworking the meat, then cook them fast and hot on a huge griddle, which I cannot fully replicate at home. This leaves the meat more tender, with less fat loss to the pan, and less chance to overcook. The last thing I suspect, but cannot prove they do, is the one that I bet makes us sometimes crave Fast Food burgers, and that is they probably salt the hell out of it.

A former full time cook I know ( worked at a local chop house, so not super high end, but made solid wages, far more than the min wage fry guys mentioned before) always said ‘when in doubt, add salt’. And he was right, the closest I’ve found to the taste of a FF burger when I cooked it was to salt the hell out of it during forming. And it tastes . . . better? Not really salty, but more meaty and flavorful.

So that’s it from me. I can cook a damn good burger, with great toppings and condiments, on a fresh baked bun. But if I want it to taste great, or taste like it came from a great burger joint, it’s all about a ton of salt.

67

I hate burgerfries. The ones I’ve had in restaurants are sometimes OK. I do love food cooked on a charcoal grill, though Mr. Salinqmind charred everything to a cinder, terrified of ‘raw hamburg’ and I never had the patience to futz around with it, and babysit it…I do like as far as fast food Whopper Jr.s from Burger King to this very day. I loathe McDonalds, for many reasons, one of which is no matter how they turn themselves inside out trying to sell their crap, it will always be Ronald McDonald tainted, to me.

68

Chains differ a lot in quality. A few local chains and independent shops here produce much better burgers. I like my own best of all.

Chains are about consistency. They try to appeal to the love for salt, sugar and fat. Nothing wrong with that as such. But they are likely to use much more salt, more sugar where it shouldn’t be and chemical additives and artificial flavours you don’t have access to. These mimic smoke, beefiness, grilled flavours etc. Use of actual spices is less. Their burgers are bland, or bland with a spicy sauce of limited subtlety.

I like cheese on a burger. Chains use sliced American cheese. Melts well. Holds the bun on. Not much flavour.

If you just eat a piece of a McDonald’s patty, it doesn’t taste that great. Mostly salt. Other chains do better, but they don’t try too hard with the patty. Lots of things improve its taste.

Hunger is the best sauce, and most chains produce an edible product. Many produce a delicious one. Since burgers are delicious, a mediocre one is still pretty good. At home, you could use better ingredients. Maybe a better bun. Problem is frozen patties essentially suck.

69

Okay, those are kind of fascinating. I generally take my burgers without cheese anyway and that meat looks pretty decent at a distance. Sadly the nearest friends to Prairie du Chien I’d consider imposing on are in Minneapolis and I doubt I’d make the four hour trip just to try a boiled burger.

But never say never, I guess…

70

Quite right. I realized tonight when I was cooking pork chops for dinner that I had gotten the number wrong. I cook them to 160F.

71

See my post above, where I confess to having a sick, self-loathing part of me that sometimes craves White Castle.

72

Ok, because those arent really higher end. What the guys at In-N-Out do so well is the perfect match between burger, cheese, sead, pickles, lettuce, etc, plus a grilled bun.

Now you go to a steak place, I dont mean Mortons but someplace with a $15 burger and it is hard to beat that. I can equal it, but rarely beat it and the fries are always better.

You use better meat than nearly any fast food place, and altho you can beat the fresh veggies at In-N-Out, you can easily equal them.

Hand made patties are also better, due to texture, better meat, etc. You also use the seasoning that YOU like, like perhaps garlic salt , (I like Lawry’s) whereas the rest use salt- and lots of it- and pepper.

73

The Whopper??? :astonished: I mean, yeah In-N-Out is a little hard to beat with all those fresh cut veggies, but I can easily beat their patty. But Burger King??? Other than In-N-Out, no fast food chain ( Five guys? Ok, some people like them) has a good burger. Yes, they are fast and cheap, so sure, I grab one once in a a great while, but…

74

I mix Worcestershire sauce in, lots of fresh black pepper and a little Lawry’s.

75

Well what exactly is your definition of a great burger at a chain restaurant?

76

The car stereo that I installed myself sounded better than paying someone to install the same thing. There’s some psychological satisfaction there. But people do take care to do it right when they’re the recipient, too.

ISTM that we ought to acknowledge a few things.

If you like something like avocado on your burger, it may not even be available at a fast food place like McDonald’s. If you’re going to compare the taste of the burger you make to McD’s, then I would also put the avocado on the McD’s offering so it’s a fairer apples-to-apples comparison. Different cheeses, different buns, condiments, etc. can make a huge difference. And there are calorie differences that go along with that.

Also we need to acknowledge cost differences. A) that’s cost in terms of money…I could get tenderloin and grind it, add truffles, use fancy imported cheese, etc. and blow away a 69 cent McDonald’s hamburger. My ultimate burger wouldn’t cost the same 69 cents to make, though, so that’s not a fair comparison. But I don’t have the clout they do for buying massive quantities of ingredients to bring the prices down, either. And B) there’s cost in terms of time. McDonald’s often puts it right in your hand as soon as you pay—what kind of time does it take to make one at home? First, you shop at the supermarket for supplies…(lots of things happen to prep and cook)…finally, you put away the last dish from the dishwasher, put the lettuce back in the fridge, etc.

I don’t actively dislike any of the fast food burgers, but some are better than others. And I do enjoy cooking but convenience is often welcome…and don’t forget those fries. Then again, I suspect McD’s is more unhealthy than the burger I make at home (not that either is what Olympians-in-training are eating).

There’s room in my world for both fast food and home made.

I heard or read years ago that McD’s has a contract with a cheese supplier to make theirs and it’s proprietary. IIRC it has a higher fat content that gives it a different taste. So you can attempt to make an Egg McMuffin at home but it will never turn out quite right because of the cheese. I would guess they’ve also customized other ingredients. If you want one, there’s only one place to get it.

77

Atmosphere including seeing, hearing, smelling others with the same food plays a big part in enjoyment or the opposite when eating.

Every once in a while when I eat at a fast food burger place, I remember seeing a TV show about a financially struggling woman who viewed taking her kids to McDonalds as a very special treat when she could afford it. I don’t think she ate. Just her kids. But she talked about how nice it was to sit there and see her kids enjoying themselves.

78

The USDA says pork chops are safe when cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and they’re way better at that temperature. I usually sous vide pork at an even lower temperature, but you’ve got to hold it at that temperature for some time, and that isn’t feasible with conventional cooking.

79

I used to eat burgers in a small snack bar.
They bought meat fresh each day.
Grilled em on an electric griddle, & they tasted marvelous.

80

I’m not doing well with the temperature communication. I cook pork chops to 145 and ground beef to 160 as the USDA specifies.
(Actually, this time the pork chops were rather sadly overcooked because I was in the basement and didn’t hear the thermometer beep)

81

A medium rare pork chop is superb. I sous vide pork chops at 140 for two hours, then sear on cast iron for ten to fifteen seconds a side.