RANT: Cheap Cheeseburgers
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Burger King v. McDonalds
The other day, I was driving down El Camino Real in Millbrae and I passed a Buger King. In the window, I saw an advert for two double cheeseburgers for 2 dollars. I then remmebered that McDonalds has double cheeseburgers for 1 dollar each (or 2 for two dollars) and wondered which was the better deal. I set out to find out.
First I went to Burger king and purchased two double cheeseburgers. I then went up the street three blocks to McDonalds and purchased one more double cheeseburger and a Diet coke to clean my palate in between bites.
I sat down to eat.
Dietary facts:
Burger King Double Cheeseburger
Weight 189g.
Calories: 540
Calories from fat: 280
Total Fat (g): 31
Saturated Fat(g): 15
Trans Fat(g) 1.5
Cholesterol (mg): 100
Sodium (mg): 1050
Total Carbs (g): 32
Dietary Fiber (g): 2
Total Sugars (g): 6
Protein (g): 32
McDonalds Double Cheeseburger
Weight 173g
Calories: 490
Calories from Fat: 240
Total Fat (g): 26
Saturated Fat (g): 12
Cholesterol (mg): 85
Sodium (mg): 1220
Total Carbs (g): 38
Dietary Fiber (g): 2
Total Sugars (g): 8
Protein (g): 25
First impressions:
Initially, I notice that the burger king burger seems to be a little larger and more dense.
While the Mcdonalds burger seems to be made for a child. Also, the build quiality on the BK burger far outweighs the quality on the McD’s burger.
I also notice that the McDonalds burger feels a little more greasy. Also, looking at the cheese and toppings frther drive home this point.
Notice that the McD’s burger looks like it has old cheese and bad meat, while the BK burger actually looks a little appetizing. The BK burger looks like it is put together well and prepared properly while the McD’s burger appears to be strewn together with parts from other animals. At this point, I am a little afraid to eat the McD’s burger.
First Bite:
The first bite of both sandwiches is quite underwhelming. The Burger King burger seems to taste most like a quality burger. There is plenty of pickles and mustard. This is a good thing since with all that vinegar and brine, you cannot taste the meat or cheese. Also, there is a lot of cheese in these burgers and while the BK burger has pretty good cheese, the McD’s burger seems to have some sort of cheap government issue cheese. Also, after the first bite, you can really see that the BK burger is much bigger than the McD’s burger.
I take a bite of the McDonalds burger and swallow. Then I take a drink of the Diet coke to kind of “reset my taste buds”. After I feel that I have no adverse flavors in my mouth, I take a bite of the BK Burger.
The initial taste of both of these sandwiches is that of a cheap burger. They both taste like they were left on the grill too long and the bad taste of the cheap meat is being masked by the toppings. The BK Burger tastes like it has a slightly better quality meat and gives the illusion of being cooked over an open flame as opposed to a microwave by its dryness. The McD’s burger on the other hand, is EXTREMELY greasy. The meat is dri[[ing with grease and it is starting to infest the bun. I think t this point, the BK burger is winning the taste test. The only thing the McD’s burger has going for it at this point is that it is smaller.
Also, and I cannot stress this enough. The BK Burger LOOKS much better than the McD’s burger.
Successive bites:
After a few bites, I learn that the McD’s burger has onions on it. A scattering of a few onion shards and one pickle. The onions help mask the flavor of the meat, so that is a good thing.
I am almost done with the burgers and I am still getting bites of pickle in the BK burger. Being that I like pickles, this ranks high on my scale.
You can see from the picture that the BK Burger is still much larger than the McD’s burger. This is after 7 bites. Also, the grease in the McD’s burger is getting cold and staerting to gelatonize mildly. The BK Burger is still dry, save for the excessive ketchup and mustard.
After 8 bites, the McD’s burger is practically gone, and there is still two bites left on the BK Burger.
I have also gone through my diet coke and a few fries. I do not want to finish the McD’s burger nor the BK Burger. Since the burger is almost gone, there is almost no meat left on the bun. This is the point where I get to compare the buns.
The McD’s bun is sweet. Almost too sweet, considering this is a burger I am eating. Where as the BK bun has sesame seeds. I like the sesame seeds because it makes you feel like you are eating at a fancy place when you are picking the seeds out of your teeth.
The Wrappers:
The burger king wrapper is kind of art neuveau. The colors make you think that you are eating a double cheeseburger, and that you are eating it at Burger King. The writign is legible and clear, there is a space on the side for options you want or don’t want on your burger. All in all, I give this an A. It could be a little better, but not much.
The McD’s wrapper on the other hand is a disgrace. First of all, Its yellow on white. That makes it somewhat difficult to read. Add to that that it has letters going in every different direction and you do not want to look at this for long periods of time for fear of vertigo. They show you the trademark “Arches” plenty of times, but do not actually tell you where you are eating, unless you carry a magnifying glass around with you so that you can read the fine print in between the arches. Generally speaking, this is a bad design and I don’t like it at all. However, it does keep a burger clean, so it cant be all bad. D+
After 4 dollars, 1030 calories and an upset stomach, I decided that I would rather not have either one again.
For what its worth, the Burger king burger is better. But its not that much better.
*Nutrition facts taken from burgerking.com and mcdonalds.com respectively.
post id: 26734453