Posted on 04/20/2021 12:53:19 PM PDT by mylife
Takeout contributor Danny Palumbo recently wrote about how the fries at beloved West coast burger chain In-N-Out are very bad. Those are his words, not mine. These are now my words, not his: The fries at In-N-Out are bad. I still eat them, though, usually animal-style (mostly out of novelty, and yes, I know, I know, the fries get weird when the cheese starts cooling off, but I’m well aware of what I’m getting into).
I get the obsession with In-N-Out. The burgers are awesome, and I love my Double-Doubles, animal-style. If I’m in an area that has an In-N-Out, I’ll stop bye, It’s a solid place. But there are great burger places a lot closer to home, too, and I started to wonder: does the Midwest have a spiritual analogue to In-N-Out, something we can only get here, and which is special to us in the same way as Californians embrace In-N-Out? After doing some soul-searching I came to a conclusion. The answer is yes: We’ve got Culver’s.
Now, people often feel the need to compare In-N-Out with Shake Shack. This seems like an unnecessary, played-out, coastal ego war. Shake Shack is great too, but it’s brutally expensive. At the location nearest to me, a double Shackburger, fries, and shake, plus tax, costs around $20. Bye!
By the numbers, Culver’s has the bigger spread, by a long shot. In-N-Out currently has 358 locations in 7 states. Culver’s website indicates 796 locations (as of April 2021) in 25 states, The two states with the most Culver’s locations by far are Wisconsin (where it was founded) with 142 outlets and Illinois with 122. There are four lucky states that get to enjoy both In-N-Out and Culver’s: Utah, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado, for those who want to do a side-by-side comparison.
(Excerpt) Read more at thetakeout.com ...
so moist...
JJ’s restaurant here in Texas has the biggest, and the bestest hamburger! Don’t know if it’e a chain or not. Great home cooking meals, too! Worth the money!
Any body got an opinion on Portillo’s? In Michigan and Wisconsin now. Expensive, but they ship various sandwich packs and even different packs each month for a year ($750)
“Those cheese curd things are great!”
Are you talking about Culvers? What are you referring to? I want to try it.
They don’t have to pretend to socialize. They can just stare at their phones.
Smashburger is my favorite of the burger chains for the burger.
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It ok. Decent burgers, on the high price side. At least the owners of Smashburger (Jollibee) haven’t turned them all into Jollibee yet
“But to be honest, where I am at now, they just introduced In-N-Out in the last year or so and they are almost always packed. No burger is worth sitting in the car line for an hour.”
It’s true. Everywhere there is an In n Out there are ridiculous lines. Every single one.
It’s real life proof In n Out is best.
Thank you very much, Mr French-Fry Thread Cop. I’ll comment on anything I damned well please.
Culver’s is different.
Poking around online it says they use Kennebec potatoes, but they go fresh from sliced to oil. “Proper” cooks say Kennebec should be soaked overnight before frying. That will give them a crispier exterior and softer interior. They definitely have room for improvement.
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Yes. Kennebec potatoes. Thanks. I couldn’t remember. I knew they aren’t russet.
But they go from slicer in to water. They definitely soak in water before they’re fried. I don’t know for how long.
You got that right, but it’s not just Fuddruckers. Too many businesses make stupid decisions and the next thing you know, they are out of business.
100% agree, although Whataburger is better (but slower than hell).
Fuddruckers is a burger joint.
The few times I’ve tried In & Out, the fries were not cooked through. Once might be a lunch rush issue, three times is not.
You should have gone a little further to Fort Worth and had a burger at Kincaid’s. Best burgers in Texas. :)
(Which is not to say that I don’t like the others. Never tried Culver’s, though. Perhaps I should look them up.)
In n Out slices them in to a bucket of water with a press slice.
I don’t know how long they keep them in the water or if they blanch them like you describe. I don’t think any fast food blanches like that.
Also, as someone pointed out, In n Out use kennebec potatoes.
In n Out’s problem is they get hard fairly quickly as they cool. They’re good when hot, just made.
“They just taste healthier and the staff is always not rude or mad at the world.”
They. And fresher.
Culver’s is good, but the best? I think Plan B is good and GOODY GOODY is great. It is subjective...
Not very long from what I’ve seen. They’re basically gunning towards fresh. So they seem to really just slice them into the water for the next wave. Definitely not sitting there overnight. Should note that in the discussion I saw “proper” french frying of Kennebec was way too much work for fast food. Not only did they want to soak them overnight, but then blanch them in low temp oil for 5 minutes then FINALLY cook them in 375 degree oil. Overnight soaking and a 2 step close to 10 minute cooking process just can’t happen in burn and turn. So the In and Out problem could just boil down to they buy potatoes that are great for gourmet cooking and then don’t gourmet cook them.
The cod dinners are pretty good too.
A little too much breading but the fish is nice and thick.
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