Burger King

[Jinmyo]

how can one deny the delicious simplicity of the BK double hamburger, or the salty sweetness of the Sante Fe chicken sandwich?

Uh.

The second looks like the inside of a handkerchef.

Gah! Jinmyo! What you been blowin outta your nose lately?

Yes, Jin. This has been haunting me for days. Excellent.

Yeah - what they said and what I said two pages ago. GAH!

Just how manky is it?

But it's not my manky hanky; it's tommy's, I think.

[elyse]

[Toliver]

In the midst of their "Wake up with the King" advertising campaign comes another real winner:

ChickenFight.com

I saw the commercial for this over the weekend. In the commercial, giant-sized chickens wearing shorts and brandishing boxing gloves are wholloping the heck out of guys in a boxing ring. The gist of it is that these chickens are in training for the ultimate match against each other.

Apparently, there's room for only one chicken (sandwich) at BK and they want people to go online to vote for the one that should stay. A surprising number of people apparently have a lot of free time on their hands judging by the number of votes posted for each chicken.

There's not much to the website, just click to vote. Move the cursor over each chicken head to hear an announcer.

And who would of thought I would ever in my lifetime type a sentence like that...

I won't mention the Mexican wrestler movies (see the chicken heads on the website)/hispanic cockfight theme this commercial has...I hope it's a matter of reading more into than was really there.

[wilewil]

I remember, I think, that in the early 60's when I worked at BK the whoppers were square and thicker. They were cooked on a char grill located in the counter. The counter had stools on the customer side. The shake machine was itself a whopper, occupying a separate glass inclosed room at the end of the counter. It had lots of plastic tubes etc.

My job was to clean that monster shake room each nite about midnite. In return I got free food all day! College student's dream job.

As an aside, the best meals I had there were after midnite when we would sometimes cook steak or chicken from the local grocery on that grill.

Even then the fixings were "have it your way".

Edited October 18, 2004 by wilewil (log)

[Chrisser]

pressed with a spatula so that the outside edges have a crispy brown component.

And so that all the tasty juices have flowed out as well?

Anyone seen the BK chicken gimmick? www.subservientchicken.com

Edited October 18, 2004 by Chrisser (log)

[FistFullaRoux]

Jimyo's hanky comment has been stalking my dreams since I read it for the first time last year.

[Squeat Mungry]

There's not much to the website, just click to vote.  Move the cursor over each chicken head to hear an announcer. 

And who would of thought I would ever in my lifetime type a sentence like that... 

This reminded me of the late Herb Caen's (I think it was him) vision of puzzled future archeologists trying to put together a picture of life in the 20th century based upon such bits of evidence as a piece of a red and orange plastic sign reading, "Please speak into clown's mouth"! (Actual quote from the Jack-in-the-Box drive-through menus back before they "blew up their clowns", which of course was well before they brought one back from the dead and made him CEO.)

[Chud62120798]

107 postings for a discussion about fast f*****g food. Now that's not just manky, it's boggin. Doesn't anyone want to talk about how they made their own fois gras without the significant other getting suspicious about the squealing and squalking coming from the walk in closet?

P.S. The Great Aunt in Rhode Island used to make hamburgers by grinding up filet mignon. Go figure.

P.S.S. Harvey's makes a Hambuger ....a beautiful thing.

[Chud62120798]

That's hamburger..."hambugger" is a top secret movie in pre-production with top secret stars....all vegan and ....ow! stop hitting me...*thunk*

[Jason Perlow]

To celebrate the successful launching of my personal (Food, Technology and general Jason-ness commentary) blog, Off The Broiler, Rachel and I made our semi-annual visit to Burger King, in order to partake in some fast food goodness and to cause POS-system trainee mayhem.

Order #1: Whopper With Cheese (No Onion, Extra Pickle, Off The Broiler, Cut In Half), Angus Cheezy Bacon Steakburger (Off The Broiler)

Order #2. Double Whopper (No Onion, Extra Pickle X2, Off The Broiler, Cut In Half)

We arrived at around 8:40 in the evening, with few people in the restaurant, in order to ensure good service.

I will say that "Having it Your Way" definitely adds major improvement to the overall burger experience, but there are some caveats. Rachel's first Whopper with Cheese came out a little cold, probably because the completed patty was waiting for my burger to be completed and then the cold vegetable matter added on top of it brought its temperature down more so. However, the lettuce and tomato was fresh and the burger did taste better overall because it was prepared fresh. I also specified on both orders that they do not use the microwave to bring the burger up to temperature after the patties were broiled and waited to be sandwiched -- apparently, this is normal operating procedure at Burger King because the burgers do cool down rather quickly after cooking and if you have more than one sandwich in your order to be prepared, the patties will wait in sequential order to be re-freshened in the nuke box.

The Angus Cheesy Bacon Steakburger just had too much crap on it, and the "Angus" burger itself texturally didn't seem like much of an improvement over the traditional Whopper patty. In fact, because it was thicker may have actually contributed it to tasting LESS flame broiled. Still, it tasted fresher because it was an Off The Broiler burger.

The Third and most successful burger, which was ordered separately after we consumed the first two, combined the perfect synergy of meatiness and broiled-ness, while at the same time provided the simplicity and traditional Burger King-istic-ness we were really longing for -- this was a Double Whopper, No Cheese, No Onion, Double Double Pickle, Off the Broiler, Cut In Half. For starters, "Cut In Half", while likely to annoy the staff if you ask for it during a busy lunch hour, definitely improves the experience because its easier to share and also won't make your hands and clothing a complete mess while trying to eat the thing, particularly if you are condiment-heavy. The double-patty Whopper came out piping hot (due to it being a single sandwich order) and because each patty was cooked separately as opposed to a larger single-patty of the angus, resulted in increased flame broiler surface area and a more charcoal-ey taste. The "no-cheese" and lack of other distracting condiments endemic of the "specialty" burgers (other than the mayo and lettuce, tomato and ketchup) really brought out the flavor of the innate burger-ness, and the Extra-Extra pickle added the appropriate amount of brinyness to contrast with the larger amount of meat.

All in all, a very pleasant Burger King experience, and we'll be back, ready to traumatize the trainees again.

NOTE: It appears that Burger King has yet again changed their POS system, so "HIYW" is no longer depicted after every line item on the receipts.

[burgerjunkie]

Just found this site a few weeks ago and this helped out a bunch.

Though the last post was back in 04 and a bunch has changed as far as some BK locations doing what youve asked.

For those of you that said your burger was pipin hot when you ordered it OTB they must of microed the burger. In my area the burger might be about 110* when ordered OTB so I can see why BK micro's the burger to bring it up to temp per food safety guidlines. They state beef must be cooked to 160* and kept @ 140* so if the burger is only 110* when comming OTB they really need to micro the burger to bring it up to temp to within food safety guidlines. Though at one loaction when I ask for it OTB and do not micro it they will do as I ask with no problem. One of the other locations in my area it's a different story and have talked to BK Corporate about it to see if I might be in the wrong. According to them I was in the right so they should be able to do my order as I ask and should start a "New" order at that point no matter if some patties just came off a few monents before and put a uncooked burger on the broiler.

When I order I first state that my order will be a special order then I ask for the burger to be done Fresh Off The Broiler, Minus the pickle, Minus the Onions, and since it's OTB not to micro the burger, and the burger to be cut in half. In one location they have never messed up and will do as I ask. The burger at that location does taste better but it's not very hot at all about 110* which is fine since I really dont wnat my lettuce wilted. The other location they seem to think that a few minutes is still OTB or if they just came OTB that that is just fine. On the contrary it's not and according to BK Corporate they Have TO start a new order and Flame broil a uncooked burger and run it through the broiler as stated no matter if they just came off just a few seconds before.

The bad news is that the one lcoation that does my order correct is on the other side of town and the one that doesnt is close to my house. So it looks like Im going to conatct the owners and complain to them and see if that helps. If not I guess Ill have to go to the other location.

Burgerjunkie

[Holly Moore]

A double cheese Whopper, hot off the broiler, back when BK had their flame broil conveyor broilers was a great hamburger. McDonald's and the others had nothing to compare.

In the early 70's, when I did regional marketing for BK in metro New York, it was a point of personal pride that I could do 70 down the LIE while eating a double cheese Whopper, and not get a crumb or drip on my shirt. That was back when I considered grease stains a bad thing.

My other crowning achievement, as long as we're talking about the King and I, was running the Grand Opening for Burger King's first Manhattan restaurant - a converted Horn and Hardart on 58th or 59th Street just off Central Park. We threw a Whopper eating contest between the Jets and the Giants. Marve Albert did the bite by bite announcing and an unknown kid by the name of Andy Kaufman was the referee, complete with blaring whistle. We made the Today Show and the back page of the Daily News - and I got to spend a couple of expensed weeks at the Plaza. Those were the days.

Edited August 14, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[CDRFloppingham]

As a high school student, I worked at BK for a couple summers back in the early 80's.

It was all as previously described for that era.

Burgers were broiled, mated with bun, and placed in the steamer.

Upon an order, the bottom was nuked and top assembled. Pull the bottom, add ketchup (Heinz), onion, pickle, top with assembled top bun and wrap. Only ingredients that were appropriate for nuking were nuked.

We were told to discourage "off the broiler" because it slowed down operations.

I remember at least one guy not wanting any nuking because he thought it would give him cancer.

Good times.

[rooftop1000]

Back in the '80s we had one customer that wanted their burger nuked on 5 and then on 3 and no he didnt think it was funny when we nuked it on 8

hey 5 and 3 make 8 right?...also make a burger into a hockey puck

tracey

[tino27]

For some odd reason, this thread popped into my head tonight and I decided to try a Whopper "off the broiler". I stopped eating BK beef a while ago because I just found it to be, how shall I put this, um, just not very good. So after reading earlier posts about "off the broiler" being the way to go, I thought I would give it a second go.

Surprisingly enough, the cashier taking my order had heard of "off the broiler" and took it in stride. In fact, I could hear the assembly line crew talking about "off the broiler". I was mildly excited about the possibilities, until I tasted it.

Friends, don't kid yourself. It tasted exactly as bad as a burger that wasn't "off the broiler".

This burger may have had it's hay day in the 60's and 70's, but this is just one burger I can't do anymore, microwaved or otherwise.

[Toliver]

Burger King is being sued by its franchise owners for forcing them to sell the double cheeseburger for $1. The franchises are losing money on the burger:

Burger King campaign leads to lawsuit

[PopsicleToze]

I don't buy many burgers -- but find myself going through drive-thrus for large Diet Cokes at least once or twice a week. $2 for the large soft drink I'm pretty sure is mostly profit. I know I shouldn't do it, or even drink them, but one has to have some vices, and it's one of my lesser vices, so I ignore it.

Rhonda

[gfweb]

diet coke is good for you compared to the sugar loaded real thing.

[Toliver]

diet coke is good for you compared to the sugar loaded real thing.

Not to go too far off topic, but diet sodas may not be that good for you, if you believe this article:

"Diet Sodas May Be Hard on the Kidneys"

A supposed 30% decline in kidney function is alarming, if true.

I would hope the next test would be to see if the decline in kidney function can be attributed to all sodas or just diet sodas which could determine it's not the artificial sweetner causing the kidney function decline but can be attributed to some other ingredient in the sodas.

Getting back on topic, I wonder if other fast food chain franchises (McD's, Wendy's, etc) are facing the same financial dilemma with their $1 double cheeseburgers.

[gfweb]

there are so many ways that these sorts of study can be misleading. The soda could be an epiphenomenon... a factor that is linked but not causal. For example fat hypertensive people try to lose weight by drinking diet soda. Obesity ad hypertension are both causes of kidney damage and the diet cola just a marker for the real risk factor. Another issue is that there are many different sweeteners of varying structure and presumably potentially varying effects on the kidney. The study did not appear to differentiate. If all were of equal renal risk then that is strong inference that they finding is an epiphenomenon.

I have plenty of examples of bogus statistical correlation eg rock music and oil production...banana imports and genital cancer etc etc

I'd wait for confirmation.

[OliverB]

fun old thread popping up! I haven't eaten at BK in probably 10+ years, always thought their flame broiled tasted as advertised, a lame patty that some gas flames flavored with soot. I'm curious about the off the broiler thing though, maybe take the kids some day.

It's very rare that I get a craving for this kind of stuff, but if I tend to go to McD or JitB, especially since the later is the only thing open 24 hours in my town. Their fries are an abomination, do they cook them in a steamer >after< frying them? Talk about a limp noodle. But the bacon bacon cheese burger can hit the occasional 2am SPOT. And the jalapeño poppers, though I usually regret those the next day, LOL.

McD I maybe go once a year and get a big mac meal plus a cheese burger, sometimes that sloppy floppy thing is just "right" right now.

The best fast food nutty burgers I've had in the recent years are at Carl's Jr though, they slop so much stuff on, they probably have their test and develop kitchen somewhere up in the deep Northern California woods, employing currently unemployed pot trimmers to come up with the next "you can't do that" burger, LOL

The worst burger I've had in a long time, including terrible service (if that's even possible at a fast food place) was at In'n Out, where they don't even have bacon!?! WTF? It took for ever to get a really bland and boring burger with so so fries. 2nd time I've been there, first time I pulled over just in time before my wife got violently sick of the burger we just had eaten. I felt fine, but I have an iron stomach.

Our local foodruckers was also way down in quality last time we went, some two years or so ago. Since then I pretty much just make my own burger if I feel like it. Unless on the road, then it's Carl's Jr if I can find one, or McD, unless my wife is along for the ride, then it's JitB.

[Marya D.]

I am so glad that you point out that 20 or so years ago McD's & BK had respectable burgers, I might have thought I was crazy. Having gone off on the "food snob" train I hadn't had one since, until earlier this year, on 45mg of Prednisone. All I wanted was a McDonald's Cheeseburger. How was I to know that what I really wanted was a 20 year old McDonald's Cheeseburger? I was crushed and annoyed all at once.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The worst burger I've had in a long time, including terrible service (if that's even possible at a fast food place) was at In'n Out, where they don't even have bacon!?! WTF? It took for ever to get a really bland and boring burger with so so fries. 2nd time I've been there, first time I pulled over just in time before my wife got violently sick of the burger we just had eaten. I felt fine, but I have an iron stomach.

Our local foodruckers was also way down in quality last time we went, some two years or so ago. Since then I pretty much just make my own burger if I feel like it. Unless on the road, then it's Carl's Jr if I can find one, or McD, unless my wife is along for the ride, then it's JitB.

As far as burgers go, I know this isn't really fast food, but local for both of us... Nations makes a MUCH better burger than In-N-Out. Sure, a cheeseburger at Nations costs twice as much as an In-N-Out burger, but it's worth it.

I love In-N-Out and Carl's Jr, but I'm originally from SoCal, where both are more common. I'm a sucker for a Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carls.

If you want a good local burger, there's this little hole in the wall place here called Gordos, near the hospital, that makes a mean burger and awesome fries.

[Toliver]

Recently BK franchisees had sued BK corporation because the corporation told them they had to sell the double cheeseburger for $1 when, I believe, it actually costs the franchises $1.10 so they are losing money with each one they sell.

The court ruled in favor of the BK corporation: Court upholds $1 BK double cheeseburger

But at last, this food fight is nearly finished after a judge ruled recently that Burger King management has the right to dictate value-meal pricing to franchisees. That means the $1 BK menu item should stick around.

All of this was started in response to McDonald's $1 double cheeseburger on its value menu.

[haresfur]

Recently BK franchisees had sued BK corporation because the corporation told them they had to sell the double cheeseburger for $1 when, I believe, it actually costs the franchises $1.10 so they are losing money with each one they sell.

The court ruled in favor of the BK corporation: Court upholds $1 BK double cheeseburger

So could a competitor sue them for unfair trade practices for dumping? Or does that only apply to international trade?