Homemade Big Mac

 

You like Big Macs? You want to make one a hundred times better than the one you'll get at McDonald's? Okay, let''s do it!

So let's start with what everyone probably already knows. What is a Big Mac?

Based on the picture to the right, McDonald's serves up two beef patties, separated between one and a half sesame seed buns, with special sauce, American cheese, lettuce, pickles and onions. Okay, nothing too fancy, but definitely one key ingredient that you're not going to find in stores.

First and foremost, we gotta make that sauce. Now, if you look on the inter-web, you'll find several copycat recipes to play with. Some are close. Some try to zhuzh it up. Some miss the mark completely. Some don't even try to be similar. Alternatively, you can go to your local McDonald's, and ask for just an order of special sauce. Many locations now sell it in bottles. However, for the purpose of this cooking session, that's not falling in line with being homemade. So, let's make the sauce.

My recipe is pretty similar to others out there.

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish
1 1/2 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard
1 1/2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1 Teaspoon Paprika
2 Teaspoons Sugar (Optional)

Now, there's a couple things to keep in mind with this sauce. First and foremost, the sugar will make it taste closer to that of McDonald's recipe, but it's definitely not needed if you simply don't want more sugar in your food. I don't use it myself. Second, you want to make this in advance, because you want this sauce to sit in the fridge for as long as possible before use. I make mine one day to one week in advance. Trust me, it only gets better as it sits, and if stored in a container or plastic bag, it will last a while. I recommend using a cleaned out condiment squirt bottle. Any will work.

Okay, so you have your sauce, and you've let it sit for a few days to get happy in the fridge. Now it's time to make those Macs.

When it comes to your beef, you have options. You like grass fed? Use it. You like Wagyu? Use it. You like pre-made store bought patties? Use them. For my burgers, I'm using The Emperor brand pre-packaged Wagyu beef patties.

They're not as fancy as they sound. A package of four can be grabbed from your local Safeway (or other grocery stores) for $9.99, and they're usually on sale for $6.99. If I really wanted to go fancy, I would have gotten my local grocer butcher to grind me up a half and half blend of brisket and short rib. But, these will work just fine.

For the remaining ingredients, you'll want some iceberg lettuce, onions, dill pickles and sesame seed buns, For the onions and lettuce, I'm taking a shortcut. I grabbed a container of pre-diced onions from the produce section of my local store, as well as a pre-shredded bag of iceberg lettuce from the salad bag section. The only thing buying whole vegetables will do is add a step of slicing and dicing.

The pickles and buns are dealer's choice. I went with Pepperidge Farm sesame buns, and a jar of Open Nature pickle chips. You don't even have to use sesame seed buns if you don't want them. But, for the purposes of mimicking a Big Mac, I'm doing just that.

Alright, let's get to cooking.

I seasoned my burger patties with a one part pepper to two parts salt mixture, sprinkling it on both sides before slapping it down on a hot grill. It doesn't take much, but season to taste.

Look at that fire kiss those burgers so sweetly. Mmm. Fire plus meat equals good. Depending on the temperature you want your burgers, and their thickness, let them go and flip appropriately.

When they're just about to the desired temp, I slapped each one with a slice of Kraft singles American cheese. That's the traditional cheese of choice at McDonald's, but you can use whatever kind you want. I also put my one and a half buns on the grill to give them a little toasting.

Let the cheese melt, and the buns get happy on that heat. Toast them, burn them, whatever you like. You can even butter the bottoms before putting them on the heat, or don't toast them at all.

When you're done, take everything off the grill. It's time to assemble.

Put one of your bottom buns down, and put a delicious spoonful of that special sauce down, spreading it across the entire surface. Top it with a sprinkle of onions and some lettuce.

Put your first burger on top of that, and give it a little press down to ensure it doesn't slip off, and top it with another spoonful of special sauce.

Top it with your second bottom half bun, and repeat a layer of more special sauce, onions and lettuce. I gave my middle bun a bit of a pressing between my hands before putting it down. This gave it a much more compressed and sturdy feel for that weight it was going to need to hold.

Put your last burger on top of this, giving it another gentle press down to ensure stability, and put a couple pickles on top.

Finish it off by spreading a little more special sauce on your top bun, and crown that bad boy.

Then dig in!

This burger was amazing! Think of everything you love about a Big Mac, then multiply it by a hundred (or more). Freshly grilled burgers, toasted buns, tangy sauce, and crunchy vegetables (don't forget those pickles) come together to make a masterpiece of a burger.

Not only is it delicious, but it's filling. I had nothing to eat all day, made this around 3:00 PM, and after eating just the one shown, I've been satisfied all day, even leading up to this post being written as I get ready to call it a night. It really was more than enough for an entire day, and probably has the calorie count to back it up. I don't think you want to eat two of these. Well, you do...But you shouldn't.

See what you missed, George?

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