The Takeaway Secret Mega Burger

Review of The Takeaway Secret Mega Burger by Kenny McGovern

What they say:

This classic burger has an added bread layer in the middle and two burger patties, served with the famous Special Burger Sauce.

Brought to you today via Free McDonald’s Wi-Fi…

Now this isn’t your standard Burger Lad® review but we thought it would make a change to try something a bit new on the website and actually cook a burger recipe. And what better than the Kenny McGovern take on the iconic McDonald’s Big Mac?

Kenny is the author of The Takeaway Secret and I received it as a present from a good friend. In fact, that said person was an expert at re-creating his amazing Lamb Doner Kebab recipe and while it was identical, it really was better than the local kebab houses.

I decided to use my brand new food processor on the steak mince and after nearly smashing it to pieces I made four decent sized patties. After wrapping them up and sticking them in the fridge I made up a batch of the ‘Special Burger Sauce’ – I think next time I would grate the gherkins instead of finely chopping them.

We once had a canister of Big Mac sauce from a burger insider and were the most popular people in town. Everyone wanted us at their BBQ but that has since long gone, so how would this version fare?

Anyone can tell you that ketchup, mustard and mayo are not my favourite things in the world so as I mixed all three together I did wonder just how much I would enjoy it.

Here is the finished article…

I definitely made the patties too thick but their circumference was spot on for the buns. The overall taste and texture of the burger was scarily close to the real deal. OK the buns are slightly different
but without hijacking a McDonald’s delivery truck (we do not endorse this on Burger Lad®) what can you do?

The patties are missing that ‘processed’ taste and next time I would add some more seasoning. We are no strangers to that classic Big Mac taste and you can see our quest for the Double Big Mac here.

Most people will know the taste of the flagship McDonald’s burger with the “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun”.

I cannot stress just how close this burger recipe is! The sauce works and is a very close copy. I wish for presentation purposes I’d had a bit of lettuce coming out the sides but for the taste test this really was a “Big Mac Attack”.

On my next attempt I am definitely making those patties thinner! I did wonder how close this would be to the Big Mac and was surprised just how great it turned out. I have now got a batch of special sauce that needs using so I guess I will just have to do another!

I would recommend buying this book in an instant, it’s a shame there are no pictures as a guideline but for the price it is worth the aforementioned Kebab and Mega Burger recipes alone. There’s a bit of prep involved and obviously more effort required but it is rewarding, has less calories and dare I say it a better burger…?

Let’s take one last look at when Burger Lad® cooked Kenny McGovern’s excellent Mega Burger – I would not hesitate doing it again!

We’ll see you again very soon! Thanks for reading.

This review is dedicated to my Chocolate Labrador Murphy. RIP my friend, you saved me a long time ago and my family, friends and I will never forget you. Thank you for the memories. See you on the other side.

Burger Lad®