The big fast-food burger. One wide, flame-grilled patty, and above it everything cold: pickles, raw onion, ketchup, tomato, and lettuce, with mayo on both halves of a toasted sesame bun. The char from the grill is what sets it apart from the griddled burgers. I made these for about five years as a teen, and they’re the base of the burger I make at home today: The Bruce burger.
Picks
Smoky and fresh; big and cold on top.
- Forming burger patties: One wide patty, 115 g (4 oz), 80:20 chuck
- Seasoning burgers: Salt and black pepper
- Cooking patties: Flame-grilled
- Assembling burgers: Hand-torn or shredded iceberg, two or three slices of vine-ripe tomato, thin white onion rings, three dill pickle chips, on a large sesame seed bun
- Sauces and condiments: Mayo on both buns, ketchup over the onion
Where it comes from
Burger King co-founder James McLamore created the Whopper in 1957, after noticing that a rival restaurant in Gainesville, Florida, was succeeding with a larger burger. He took size to be the reason, and named it for the “imagery of something big.” It sold for 37 cents. The bun was plain until around 1970, when it switched to sesame. Other chains didn’t answer it until the early 1970s, with the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder and Burger Chef’s Big Shef. Today it’s a 4 oz (113 g) flame-grilled patty with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion on a sesame bun, and anything can be added or left off: “Have It Your Way.” (Whopper, Wikipedia.)
| Constraint | Pick it explains |
|---|---|
| Beat a rival on size | A 4 oz patty, wider than most, on a large bun |
| A flame grill, not a griddle | Char and smoke instead of a seared crust |
| “Have It Your Way” | Simple toppings, each one easy to add or leave off |
Why these picks
- Flame-grilled. Char and smoke from the grill, and a looser, juicier patty than a smash. The fat drips away instead of frying the crust.
- Mayo on both buns. A barrier against the patty’s juice below and the tomato above, and richness in every bite.
- Cold on top. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle sit above the hot patty, so the top of the burger stays cool and crisp.
- Ketchup on the onion. The only sweet thing on the burger, against the sharp onion and sour pickle.
How it fails
- Soggy bottom bun: no mayo on it, or the bun wasn’t toasted.
- Dry patty: lean beef, or overcooked on the grill. A wide, thin patty cooks through fast.
- Bitter: flare-ups blackened the patty instead of charring it.
Variations
- Whopper Jr.: the same build on a small hamburger bun. It started in 1963 in Puerto Rico, when the Whopper buns hadn’t arrived for an opening.
- Cheese or bacon: American cheese on the patty, bacon above it.
- Double or triple: two or three patties.