Re:Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad
by iharris on Wednesday June 20, 2012 @04:11PM
(#4138873)
Yeah, there was a kids' documentary made about fast-food photography a few years back. Basically they will just use a skillet to surface cook (brown) the outside of the patty to avoid the shrinkage that occurs when you grill a burger (lots of water and fat drip out and evaporate). This sort of answers the parent's question too. It's definitely not safe to eat.
IIRC, in the Burger King ads they heat thin metal strips and use them to sear lines into the patty, giving the "flame-grilled" illusion without having to cook and shrink the patty.
Re:Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad
by iharris on Wednesday June 20, 2012 @04:21PM
(#4138914)
Actually, here's the children's documentary I mentioned. They also use a couple other sneaky tricks to make the product appear larger without image manipulation software.
Re:Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad
by sophacles on Wednesday June 20, 2012 @03:55PM
(#4138823)
Further, the burger press used in store, is usually pushed on a bit by the employees to cook the burger faster, but also flattening it a bit, and getting rid of some more juices that make up volume.
1) they stack up all pickles/onions/etc in the front for ads.
2) the real burger goes in a box and the steam makes the bun shrink a little
Also, they didn't say it but they showed it:
The burger is cooked differently for the ad. I got the impression they were just grilling it to make it look good but with minimal cooking (I wonder if it's even safe to eat the ad one). If you've ever cooked a burger, you'll know they shrink when you cook them.