Hamburgers & Fries Watch 11/28/10

Day 32 - Hamburger Watch

Day 11 - French Fry Watch

My burgers are officially a month old now. I have officially wasted a month watching hamburgers dry out. Note: The Wendys burger that was oily/greasy most of this month has changed little, except that the original droplets are now more of a greasy film.

My son thinks someone could reheat the french fries and not notice a difference because the fries still have a strong french fry smell. I keep the tray covered by a big box, so the smell lingers a while after removing the box. The only change is with my own french fry creation. It is turning a darker color and it is possible, based on a close inspection, that they are rotting on the inside. Time will tell.

Next update: Wednesday - I will have more information on "Acrylamide". I found a video on good & bad foods that mentioned french fries, among other things, can affect short term memory. In searching further, I discovered that acrylamide occurs naturally when cooking foods such as french fries and is a possible carcinogen. I will research further and report on Wednesday.

Hamburgers & Fries Watch

Day 28 - Hamburger Watch

Day 7 - French Fries Watch

I really need a better camera. The picture to the left just doesn't do these foods justice.

What can I say about the burgers except... Same story, different day. I will however continue to watch the Wendys burger closely.

The fries are a bit of a different story. The three fast food french fries are as expected, unchanged. My fries are sporting a white fuzz in a couple spots. My camera does not pick it up clearly, but I expect in another week or so we should see some clear changes.

So what about these fast food fries? Just as we allow our hot dogs and other processed meats to contain chemicals to help us find them pleasing to the eye, so to do we accept our french fries to be treated for our appeal. Lets face it, who wants to buy grey hot dogs or bologna and who wants dark colored french fries with a less than fluffy consistency?

Thats right, these fast food french fries go through a special process to help them maintain color and consistency... Just before they are frozen, packaged and shipped to a restaurant near you for a quick fry and serve.

For starters: These french fries include either sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color) or Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (color protector), both are chemical food additives that are GRAS (generally recognized as safe).

In looking over resources on french fry ingredients, what I found was that I could find more details on the McDonalds fries than the others. The details I found or didn't find, raised some more questions on processing which I will explore further and report back at a later date.

Next update Sunday. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Did you know I have another Blog? Please check out A Healthier You Too

Hamburger & Fries Watch

Day 25 - Hamburger Watch

Day 4 - French Fry Watch

We have already determined that it is highly unlikely that the hamburgers are going to render any new surprises, aside from the slim potential of the Wendys burger that has an oily/greasy film that was droplets.

The droplets on the Wendys burger are slowly dissipating and it won't be long before this burger is dried out like the rest. Maybe!

I have high hopes for the French Fries. Here are todays pictures and except for my own creation, my 10 year old wants to heat up the fries and eat them.

While the fast food fries look as fresh as the day they were bought, my own French Fry creation is already looking a little weathered. I really expect these to start growing fungus at some point.

Did you know that many fast food french fries have in them things like potatoes... It may be hard to believe, but aside from the way the potatoes are processed before shipping and some of the "ingredients" used to prepare them, they are after all... Just potatoes. Until anyone can show me otherwise, I will continue to search for information to prove otherwise. I will also explore further the processing of these fries and the "ingredients" used for preservation.

For now, I will leave you with this reminder. We know that eating to often at fast food restaurants is not good for you and that a good home cooked healthy meal is best for a lot of reasons... Including bringing the family together at home.

Look for my next update on Wednesday.

Day 21 - Hamburger Watch

Day 21 - Hamburger Watch

As you can see, I have added french fries to my selection. So today we begin "Day 1 - French Fry watch". From left to right, we have hamburgers and fries from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's and of course, my own creations. Note also how I have a mixed bunch of fries on the right. I have a perfect for eating bunch near the bottom of the picture, a slightly over cooked bunch next to my hamburger and an overcooked bunch in the middle. I tried to get a good variety for what I expect to be an interesting experiment.

To tell you the truth, I am not sure what to expect with the fries. With the burgers, as I have suspected from the beginning, all four have the potential for surviving for years. Perhaps the Wendy's burger may surprise me because of the existing oil/grease on the surface that is not dissipating, but is changing consistency somewhat from a clear oily substance to a not so clear slimy substance. Also, the small amount of mold growth on my own burger has faded away.

Here is what I have been able to find about all of these hamburgers. There is nothing different about them other than possibly suppliers, cuts used and seasoning. No magic chemicals that I can find are keeping them alive. What is keeping them from molding is completely in my control. They, like many examples before them, have or will simply dry out. If I wanted to create mold on them, I could have sealed them in plastic bags to contain the moisture and promote molding or left them out in warmer weather to allow the bugs to get at them. Mystery solved! However, in my research I have discovered that GMO's may be more a part of our life than we think, including much of the meat we eat. More to come soon.

As for the fries, I still have some work to do with these because the fries are not simply made from 100% potatoes. They have a laundry list of ingredients that I will start analyzing.

Check back on Sunday, 11/21 for an update. Here are some other shots of my burgers & fries.

Day 18 - Hamburger Watch

Day 18 - Hamburger Watch

Very curious. Like watching grass grow, you know things are progressing but the changes are so subtle that you can eventually... Get very bored with the whole thing.

I never expected all four hamburgers to last this long, so what does that say about my experiment and for those who have experimented before me? I am going to need to do some more in-depth research.

Check back Wednesday night for the next update. Even grass can only go grow so much!

Day 16 - Hamburger Watch

Little has changed since the last report on Wednesday.

The Wendy's burger seems to have stopped sweating. The grease/oil is heavier on the bottom now, but it appears that the droplets that have pooled together may be starting to harden or at least become discolored from the clear liquid they were.

Next report Sunday.

Day 14 - Hamburger Watch

Day 14 - Hamburger Watch

The only change since Monday is the appearance of more grease/oil

on the bottom of the McDonalds burger. Not yet enough to photograph.

I thought that I would surely be measuring or reporting new mold growth on my burger or the Burger King burger.

Next post Friday.

I have the honor of speaking to Veterans at a ceremony in LaSalle IL on Veterans day. Thank you to all of our service members past & present and a special thank you to their families for their sacrifice and support.

Day 12 - Hamburger Watch

Day 12 - Hamburger Watch.

Not a big change from yesterday.

McDonalds hamburger - Just a hint of grease/oil on both sides of the hamburger and a bottom bun that is cracking.

Burger King hamburger (pictured below - on left) - Just a hint of grease/oil on both sides of the hamburger and although it is hard to be sure because of the way the bun had stuck to the burger in the beginning, I believe fungus may be growing on the burger/bun where the bun is stuck to the burger.

Wendy's hamburger (pictured below - on right) - This burger continues to amaze me. The grease/oil that covers both sides of the burger has got to be leading to something. Just picking it up, even though I try to do it carefully, leaves my fingers greasy. There is little bread residue on this one. Most of what you can see in the picture is grease/oil. This bottom bun is also beginning to crack.

Terry's Burger - Not much change in this one. The mold is there, but growing slowly in just the one spot.

I was talking to my older children about the burgers this evening and we were joking about eating them soon... Yuck! Of course, in the back of my mind, I still wonder what they might taste like or how hard they would be to bite into and of course there is the question of food poisoning. My children are already fighting about who gets what hamburger, assuming the burgers out live me, when I pass and become worm food.

I will report back Wednesday with the next update. Away for the day again tomorrow and back tomorrow evening in time for a late meeting at church.

Day 11 - Hamburger Watch

Day 11 - Hamburger Watch

Playing catch up today after a trip to Iowa, with my friend Dr. Z - Mindset Speaker, for the APCA conference. When I wasn't manning a booth or helping Dr. Z with his presentations, I was enjoying some great presentations & performances by other professional speakers, magicians, comedians, musical acts and performers. I also made many new friends.

Here is an update to get you caught up. The following are daily pictures taken by my daughter. 11/7 is above. 11/4, 11/5 & 11/6 are below in date order starting with the oldest.

As I reported on Day 7, mold is developing on my own hamburger creation. Below is a picture of the moldy burger. The mold is easy to spot on the bun. It is the three spots near the center. On the burger the mold spot is just to the right, and below, of the two white spots on the upper left.

The Wendy's burger had already developed what appeared to be grease or oil all over. Now those droplets have pooled together in many places and are easier to see on the burger pictured below.

Last, but not least, two of the buns are starting to crack. The bottoms of both the McDonalds (left) and the Wendy's (right).

I am still considering the French Fries experiment. I need the time to cook up my own sample. I will work on that this week.

Stay tuned everyone. The Wendy's burger, and my own, are changing slowly but surely.

Day 7 - Hamburger Watch

Day 7 - Hamburger Watch and "Thar she blows"! As expected, mold has begun to rear its ugly head. And as expected, it is on the hamburger that I grilled myself. I tried to create this hamburger at the beginning to be as thin as the rest and as cooked through & through as the rest and I even though that perhaps I had over cooked it to the point of drying it out. The mold spot on the bun is near the center and is very easy to see, with two smaller spots next to it. The mold spot on the burger is harder to make out. If you draw a line in the center of the hamburger, from right to left, just left of the center on the line are two spots. The one on the right which is not as clear as the other on the left (sticky bun) is the mold spot (looks like a circle drawn).

I had been getting a feeling that the Burger King burger would be the first to mold because of the amount of bun that had stuck to the burger, along with the amount of moistness. Pictured here is an example of the backside of the burger/bun potential for trouble. After very close inspection, there doesn't seem to be any sign of trouble yet.

The Wendy's burger is still covered, front & back, with what is probably little droplets of grease or fat. It doesn't seem to be dissipating as I expected and it doesn't seem to be affecting anything.

Of course we can't forget about the McDonalds hamburger. I have a feeling that because the bun is toasted and the patty seems to be a little thinner than the rest... This one has an edge when it comes to survival.

Things should really start changing now... Right? Time will tell.

My next update will be Saturday night. I will be traveling and my traveling partner might not appreciate the old burgers coming along for the ride. My daughter is going to take pictures each night and give me some noteworthy updates.

Coming soon! I will be adding french fries to my experiment. If you read my latest Blog post at "A Healthier You Too" you would have seen a video link for a video piece that claimed to be showing french fries that were years old and still looked fresh, and felt salty & greasy.

Day 6 - Hamburger Watch

Day 6 - Hamburger Watch. It has been an interesting evening, but then again I get excited easily.

The Wendy's hamburger is still sweating like a pig, but the McDonalds and Burger King hamburgers are both now sporting a few small droplets of moisture. Could it be that they too will be sweating with more enthusiasm soon? What took them so long?

There is also a stronger smell of hamburger coming from the burgers and I can only guess that this is a result of the moisture they are producing.

I believe that we could see some important results very soon.

I have created a new post with additional information on my other Blog at "A Healthier You Too". That post includes a video that talks about the french fries we might be ordering with our hamburgers. Thank you for following this experiment with me.

Day 5 - Hamburger Watch

Day 5 - Hamburger Watch. I am beginning to think that further studies are warranted, given the fact that my Wendy's hamburger seems to be sweating like a pig. The other burgers are almost as dry as the Sahara desert.

I have been searching for the dirt on these fast burgers and what I have discovered is that there are a lot of articles & stories about cows eyeballs, twisting of word meanings, use of unusual fillers and if I had not been distracted by the need to accomplish some other business today, I would tell you all about it. That I will need to save for tomorrow, so I can get some sleep in preparation for a meeting in the morning.

Until tomorrow (or later)... Life is good, tomorrow is another day and my hamburgers have still not revealed to me any earth shattering revelations.