And the Country's Best Burger Is...

Skip the mundane (ketchup, lettuce) and the overly fancy (brie, Kobe)

(NEWSER) - Kevin Pang sent six months eating cheeseburgers, and he's sharing his hard-earned expertise with his fellow meat-eaters. From the Chicago Tribune:

• Cheese: Just say no to feta, bleu, or brie.
• Condiments: Skip the ketchup and mustard; head directly for the mayo.
• Bun: Yes, there is a taste difference between toasted and untoasted. Opt for toasted, preferably buttered.

Physicians group wants president to stop unhealthy photo ops

(NEWSER) - Part of being president is being photographed chowing down on burgers and hot dogs, but a group of DC doctors thinks President Obama needs to put a stop to the practice. “The White House would never set up a photo op of a president with a cigarette, so why show him eating foods that cause cancer?” says a director at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. More»

Sadly, it's not as exciting as it sounds

(NEWSER) - Just in case KFC’s Double Down isn’t sufficiently artery-clogging for you, Carl’s Jr. has the solution: A footlong cheeseburger. Creatively dubbed the “Footlong Cheeseburger,” the $4 sandwich is being tested in at least one California restaurant, the Orange County Register reports. The good news: The sandwich actually sticks out of the to-go bag. The bad news: Rather than crafting an actual footlong burger, Carl's Jr. employs three normal-size patties. More»

AP runs a food test, and the slime doesn't do well

(NEWSER) - Pink slime, now available in schools , certainly sounds disgusting—but does it actually affect a burger's taste? Writing for the AP , a food critic conducted a taste test to find out. In the process, JM Hirsch learned that unless your meat is organic—which guarantees no slime—it's very difficult to tell from a burger's label whether it contains the stuff. Because pink slime is, in industry terms, just "lean, finely textured beef," there's no need for producers to mention it as an ingredient. More»

New version will be thicker, a little less square

(NEWSER) - Wendy’s classic burger hasn’t changed for more than 40 years—but with sales struggling and new competitors emerging, the fast-food chain finally decided it was time for something new. To that end, it has created the new Dave’s Hot ‘n’ Juicy burger, named for the restaurant’s founder, Dave Thomas, the AP reports. It wasn’t an easy task: Execs began working on the new burger in 2009, wrestling with crucial decisions like whether to use red or white onions. More»