Burger King has been around since 1953, when it was founded as Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville Florida, inspired by early McDonald’s franchises — which it follows as the second largest hamburger chain in the U.S. Burger King is known for its flame-grilled burgers, particularly its Whopper, which was invented well before McDonald’s Big Mac. To be fair, the chain’s burger patties do have that flame-grilled flavor to them. But are they really flame-grilled, or have they just hung onto that cooking-style nugget to continue driving demand and sales?
As it turns out, it’s 100% true that Burger King does indeed flame-grill its patties — however, it’s probably not in the way that you think. When we think flame-grilled, we generally picture a smoking-hot open grill with flames licking up between the grates, and a chef deftly wielding his tongs or spatula to ensure the patties get the perfect amount of sear without burning.
Not so at Burger King. While the flames are definitely there, the restaurant chain actually uses a commercial broiler to prepare its flame-grilled patties. BK has used a commercial broiler right from the get-go, and updated the models along the way. Today, it’s not just any broiler – it’s a proprietary one that was developed specifically for the chain. The chef pops a bunch of frozen patties onto a tray in one go, slides them into the broiler, and then the enclosed flames and circulating heat cook them to flame-grilled perfection. They pop out into a tray on the other side, ready to be assembled into whatever burger the customer has ordered.
The BK broiler saves money and cooks just about everything
Burger King made its mark on the fast-food industry with a high-tech new broiler that took three years to develop. It was crafted to keep burger patties hot for longer, keep the burgers juicy, and also help reduce utility costs. These were launched in 2007 and enabled Burger King chefs to load eight patties into the machine in one go to cook at the same time, as opposed to feeding them onto a conveyor belt, one by one, which was the slower previous system.
Because the broilers are enclosed and not open-air grills, they heat up the food faster, with three burners to cook them at speed. What’s also really cool (especially when it’s lunchtime and the staff need a super fast turnaround of food) is that the temperatures are pre-programmed to the perfect heat, as well as the ideal cooking time for the burgers. All the staff have to do is push the tray in and press a button. The burners also only run when the machine is cooking, which has been calculated to save up to 40% on energy costs.
But these fancy broilers, made by two companies, Duke and Nieco, are pretty versatile too, and don’t only cook burgers — which makes sense, as Burger King doesn’t only sell burgers. There’s a flexible part to the broilers that allows the kitchen team to cook other items like the vegetarian Impossible Whopper, various chicken products, and other items on the menu, too.
