Lookin for an Unhealthy Burger for the Holidays

Sick of Turkey . . . ready for some beef? Check out the 5 unhealthiest burgers

The five worst gourmet burgers are:

*Worst: Wendy’s Bacon Deluxe Triple Burger with 1,140 calories, 71 grams of fat, 31 grams of saturated fat, 290 milligrams of cholesterol, and 2,470 milligrams of sodium.

* 2nd worst: Carl’s Jr. Guacamole Bacon Six-Dollar Burger with 1,040 calories, 70 grams of fat, 25 grams of saturated fat, 145 milligrams of cholesterol and 2,240 milligrams of sodium.
*
*3rd worst: Burger King’s Steakhouse XT Burger with 970 calories, 61 grams of fat, 23 grams of saturated fat, 135 milligrams of cholesterol and 1,930 milligrams of sodium.

*4th worst: Jack in the Box’s Sirloin Cheeseburger with 941 calories, 59 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 143 milligrams of cholesterol and 1,890 milligrams of sodium.

*5th worst: McDonald’s Angus Bacon and Cheese Burger with 790 calories, 39 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 145 milligrams of cholesterol and 2,070 milligrams of sodium.

Fast Food, Up Close

The horrors of the fast food world have been a popular motif in popular culture for years now, but photographer Jon Feinstein sheds new light (too much light!) on the subject with his series, simply titled "Fast Food."

His up-close photos of fast-food "delicacies" might make you think twice the next time you're pulling up to the drive-thru.

On the other hand, it's not like it'll make those guilty pleasures any less tasty. Just don't look too close.

See the whole series here.

Now That's A Tasty Burger

Just ran across this on C Trent's Blog -10 Essential Steps To The Perfect Cheeseburger (btw did you know Amazon had blogs?)

The 10 Essential Steps to the Perfect Cheeseburger

1. Use 6 oz. of meat per patty, no more and no less. Don't guess; weigh it.

2. Shape it with your hands into patties. Ignore the common advice about not "overworking" the meat.

3. Liberally salt (use Kosher salt) and pepper both sides. Salt is the glory of red meat; don't stint.

4. Make a deep thumbprint in the middle of each patty (it evens out the burger when it cooks, don't ask why).

5. Refrigerate the patties until you're ready to grill. You can salt and pepper well ahead if you'd like.

6. Make a HOT charcoal fire.

7. Liberally oil both your grill and the meat before you start.

8. For medium-rare, grill the meat EXACTLY 3 minutes on one side (grill lid closed) and 2 minutes on the other.

9. Add the cheese, cover each patty with a burger cover, and cook for 1 minute more.

10. Remove the meat and quickly grill the buns (the only civilized way to eat hamburger buns).

It's just cool...

I have nothing witty, smart or funny to say about this other than it's just flat out well done. Enjoy:

www.cheeseandburger.com/

Tip of the cap to Grant for the forward.

Cheeseburger in a Can

Going Camping? Perhaps you want a Cheeseburger in a Can.

Here's what they catalog said it would look like

See what it really looks like.

Thanks David F.

Four Guys (and a co-op) at Five Guys

We finally got there. Two weeks after the long awaited opening, the IGT squad finally found ourselves all in the same city long enough to try the new Five Guys Burger and Fries in Clifton. Life is tough. Because we all appreciate mega-numbers and lists, we thought we'd give you the top 5 reasons we loved Five Guys Burgers:

#2. Seemingly bottom less fries. They fill a "small" carton full of fries and then for good luck, dump another shovel full into the bag.

#3. We found yet another reason to go back to a college campus.

#4. Free peanuts

#5. A freaking delicious burger, with over 16 "FREE" toppings to choose from for a grand total of...wait for it...250,000 possible ways to order your burger.

The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts

NY Times takes on the perfect burger:

By most accounts, the burger’s upward journey began eight years ago, when Daniel Boulud stuffed ground sirloin with truffles, braised short ribs and foie gras at his DB Bistro Moderne in Manhattan. A few weeks ago, Mr. Boulud brought things full circle, opening a burger bar on the Bowery called DBGB Kitchen and Bar.

While some chefs have groused quietly about the insatiable demand for burgers, most are philosophical. “All chefs can be frustrated by the buying public sometimes,” said Clark Frasier, a chef with restaurants in Massachusetts and Maine. “In this economy I’m happy to sell anything they want to eat.”

All this high-powered attention has produced some new ways of thinking about and cooking burgers. Interviews with 30 chefs provided dozens of lessons for the home cook that aren’t terribly difficult and don’t cost much money. And it all yielded the ideal burger.

New York Times

Keller's: Dallas TX

The IGT team took advantage of their amazing multi-tasking skills by mixing blogging pleasure with work travels. This week took us to Dallas, TX where some quick googling and a friendly recommendation (thanks to loyal reader Grant for the tip) led us to the famous Keller's Drive-In burger joint. The key statistics and ever-important pictures:

Travel time from hotel: 105 minutes (GPS failure)
Restaurants that specialize in coffee, tacos and muffins: 1
Number of potential homeless that directions were sought from: 1
Times referred to as "Yankees:" 3
Number of tater tots consumed: 67
GQ rank of national burger joints: 10
Travel time back to hotel: 17 minutes

Overall, the burger was good. Number 10 nationally may be a stretch, but the atmosphere, lovely waitresses, and drive-in niche definitely elevated it in our minds. Their specialty is the "No. 5" which is a double cheeseburger topped with thousand island dressing and freshly grilled onions. Overall, a very good, juicy burger with delicious tater tots that proves Texans know more than just their steaks, football and 10-gallon hats.

White Castle-role

Painter sent me this. I can't even determine what food groups are being displayed here besides the ever present White Castle Burger . . . is that marshmallows?



BTW - Do you know why White Castle burgers have 5 holes? It takes 5 shots to kill a rat.

NEW BURGER JOINT IN THE QUEEN CITY!!!!

Maybe I'm the only THAT excited about this, I don't use exclamation points often, but I do love my burgers. The acclaimed Five Guys burger chain is opening a location in Clifton...with 15-20 more area locations to follow.

Per the Business Courier

Why have one bypass when you can have a double

Last night I worked a bit . . . on clearing off the DVR. Catching up on my Man v. Food (see prior post ), I witnessed perhaps the greatest sandwich known to man - The Double Bypass. Having lived in Atlanta for 7 years, and being a connoisseur of fine foods, I can't believe neither my friends nor myself ever witnessed/tried to eat this beast.


The Double Bypass is one of many burger at the Vortex, an "upscale" biker bar that is like a TGI Fridays that is cooler and has good food (especially awesome Tater Tots), so now that I think about it, it's nothing like a Fridays.

DOUBLE BYPASS BURGER
Topped with two fried eggs, four slices of American
cheese, and 5 slices of bacon, with two grilled cheese
sandwiches replacing the buns.

Over the years The Vortex is consistently voted Top Burger in Atlanta, which is somewhat agree with. It's a good burger, but I've had better in Atlanta - Ted's Montana Grill (Bison), Ann's Snack Bar, and others. Well, regardless, the Double Bypass is a beast, and I'm kind of hankering for breaking that New Year's Resolution.



fyi - here's the full menu

A Perfect California Marriage

The Where-Is-Your-God-Now? Burger from MAKE MOVIES on Vimeo.