I gotta hand it to Burger King: Taking on McDonald's at breakfast time is a bold move; the Egg McMuffin practically created the "breakfast sandwich" fast food category. And I love the way they just outright admit they're copying McDonald's creation.
The real question, though, is How well does the BK Breakfast Muffin Sandwich stack up against McDonald's Sausage McMuffin With Egg?
Right out of the wraps, some of the differences between the Sausage McMuffin with Egg and the Breakfast Muffin Sandwich are evident. Size, for one thing. Texture as well - the BK version is built on a softer and somewhat fresher-tasting English muffin than the McD's variety. Let's check them out individually, starting with the McDonald's sandwich:
McDonald's always uses fresh whole eggs for their Sausage McMuffins With Egg, fried in an egg ring to conform to the proper size, and cooked long enough to solidify the yolk. This is important not only because runny yolks skeeve some people out, but because it would be pretty damn inconvenient to have yolk running all over your hands, face, and shirt while you're eating a sandwich in the car on your way to work. The sausage patty is one of the best in the business, with a near-perfect balance of meat and fat, and an excellent spice blend. The cheese is standard McDonald's burger cheese, which is a mild American-style cheddar made under contract for them by Kraft (it's very similar to the Old English Brand slices Kraft used to make, but which is no longer on the market.) And, of course, there's the muffin, which in my opinion is somehat under-toasted, raw-tasting, and a little tough. Even though I think the way Mickey D's prepares the muffin is the weakest part of this sandwich, I still consider the Sausage McMuffin With Egg to be the pinnacle of breakfast sandwiches - McDonald's has made it possible to eat a good solid breakfast (egg, meat, toast) on the go by ingeniously combining them into the perfect handheld breakfast.
Burger King's Breakfast Muffin is an obvious (and obviously inferior) knock-off. Instead of a fresh egg, BK uses a thin square of highly-processed scrambled egg which doesn't even come close to the weight or volume of a whole egg. The sausage patty is the same size as McDonald's, but it's wetter and spongier in texture, greasier, and much milder in flavor. The muffin I got the day I sampled these was thin and kind of roughly cut, but it was much fresher-tasting and softer than the McMuffin (though it was still inadequately toasted/grilled for my taste. The cheese really doesn't deserve comment, because it is nearly identical to the McDonald's stuff.
Burger King is selling their version for $1.00. In my opinion, the price is about right for what you're getting - the sausage is acceptable but inferior and the egg is downright lousy - and I wouldn't pay so much as a dime more for it. Burger King's actual burgers are much, much better than McDonald's, but when it comes to breakfast, McD's still rules the roost.
4 comments:
Great entry....
Even though I'm sure that the BK sandwich is inferior to the McDonald's one it's ripping off, I still gotta root for the King. That commercial was hilarious!
Plus, as a rule, I don't go to McDonald's. Glad to see BK picking up some of what they do.
I like McD's hash browns, too. :)
I dunno where BK is getting the sausage they use here in the Great American Outback - but, it isn't even up to the quality you had in your sample. They use the same patty in their Croissanwich - and it's waaaaay too salty and much too underspiced.
Breakfast stuff is about all I ever get at the Sign of The Clown. Sausage Egg McMuffers and the Sausage and Egg burritos off the dollar menu. Two of those, a hash brown puck and a senior coffee and I have a good, tasty breakfast for U$3.91 including tax.
I like BK's breakfast Croissanwich with ham, but that's it for the chain (including their burgers and everything else). At one time BK replaced their prescrambled egg patties with a fake egg "roll" -- looked like a big white tube with a yellow yolk center inserted, that "slices" were cut from. Watch the opening of "Clerks II" for reference. It was extra-yuck: I don't like egg whites to begin with, bit this fake stuff was worse. For a long time I avoided BK until they changed back.
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