McDonald's vs. Burger King: Who Makes the Better Hamburger?

Who has the better hamburger: McDonald's or Burger King? Both of these well-known fast food restaurants have been in business for over 50 years. McDonald's boasts over 31000 locations worldwide and still expanding. Burger King is in the process of adding to its 11,200 worldwide locations by expanding in Japan, Hong Kong and adding Macau. McDonald's had over 21.6 billion dollars in revenue last year. Burger King had only about 10% of that with the sales totaling 2.06 billion dollars last year. Do these statistics reflect that maybe McDonald's has the better hamburger?

Some might say yes, but let's take a closer look. I went to both www.mcdonalds.com (McDonald's website) and www.bk.com (Burger Kings website) and checked out the nutrition information that they have available on each of their sites. I compared hamburger size: McDonald's weighs slightly less; it is only 100g while Burger King's weighs 121g. Next, I looked at the total fat content for each of their burgers. McDonald's hamburger has only 9g of total fat; while Burger King's hamburger had 12g. If you take into account their size difference; the fat content is comparable. I was also interested in the salt content of each of their hamburgers. McDonald's hamburger has 520g of salt; while, Burger King's hamburger has 560g of salt. Again, taking into consideration the size difference; the salt content of each is about the same. The last thing that I looked at was the carbohydrate count in each hamburger. Burger King is the better choice for those interested in their carbohydrate intake. Burger King, while its hamburger weighs more than McDonald's hamburger, has less carbohydrates only 30g per sandwich. McDonald's hamburger has 31g of carbohydrates in it.

When you compare the nutritional value of both the Burger King hamburger and the McDonald's hamburger; there really is little difference. We must continue to look at the two chains to determine which has the better hamburger.

Burger King claims that their hamburgers are 100% pure beef. McDonald's makes the same claim. Burger King flame- broils their burgers. This gives the Burger King hamburger the taste of outdoor barbeque grilling that many Americans love. McDonald's fries their burger over a flat grill so it tastes more like indoor cooking. Burger King dresses their hamburgers up with ketchup, mustard and pickle. But, Burger King's slogan is: "Have it your way!" so you can take off any of the condiments or add more of them to your sandwich. McDonald's hamburger comes with ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion. You can special order their hamburger to fit your taste. The cost of the McDonald's hamburger is slightly lower at $0.89 while Burger King's hamburger costs $0.99. But, if you take into consideration that the Burger King hamburger is bigger than the McDonald's one; they really cost about the same

Both McDonald's and Burger King have another version of the hamburger on their menu. McDonald's offers the "Big and Tasty" and Burger King offers the Junior Whopper. The difference between the "Big and Tasty and a regular McDonald's hamburger is that there is lettuce and tomato and sliced (instead of chopped) onion on it. And the Junior Whopper is a Burger King hamburger with lettuce, tomato, onion and special sauce. Both of these hamburgers cost slightly more than the regular hamburger at each of these restaurants.

So, who has the better hamburger McDonald's or Burger King? So far they appear almost comparable. Burger King comes out slightly ahead if you compare size (which is larger than the McDonald's hamburger) or if you are concerned with the carbohydrate count of the sandwich (Burger King's hamburger has one less gram of carbohydrates in it). But, for the most part they appear to be comparable. I guess that the answer to the question: "Who has the better hamburger?" comes down to personal taste.

In my family, we are equally divided about who makes the better hamburger: Burger King or McDonald's? I prefer McDonald's hamburger because it seems to be juicier and whenever I eat a Burger King hamburger it tends to upset my stomach. On the other hand, my husband swears that the Burger King hamburger is far better than the McDonald's hamburger. He thinks that the Burger King hamburger is made from a better grade of beef and he also prefers the Burger King's hamburger bun over the McDonald's hamburger bun.

Who has the better hamburger McDonald's or Burger King? The answer is: only you can decide.

Resources for this article:

www.bk.com

www.mcdonalds.com