Burger King's New BK Stuffed Steakhouse

Burger King has a spicy new sandwich on the menu:  The BK Stuffed Steakhouse.  It's a large patty "stuffed" with chunks of jalapeno pepper and orange American cheese, topped with lettuce and tomato, and finished off with a creamy poblano chile sauce on a "corn dusted" bun.  We stopped at the local BK yesterday to give them a try.

When I stepped up to the counter and placed my order, the young man behind the counter looked down and sighed deeply, "The Stuffed Steakhouse."

"Please don't tell me you're out of them," I said.  "I've been looking forward to trying one since I first heard about them."

"No, we're not out of them.  I had one for lunch today and..." his voice dropped to almost a whisper, "they're so awesome."

Wow.  Seriously, how many times do you find that level of enthusiasm in a kid who has to stand behind a counter all day selling burgers and fries?  (Actually, I run into it pretty often at this particular Burger King, because the kids working there are always pretty fast and efficient while still managing to be friendly and kind of goofily cheerful on the job.  It's one of the reasons I really like going to my local Burger King.  But I digress.)

The strangest part of this sandwich is definitely the patty.  It's not so much "stuffed" with cheese and jalapeno bits as it is "studded" - the meat has been formed with the pepper and cheese tumbled in.  Even with the additions, though, the burger retains it's typical BK flavor profile.  And incorporating the peppers and the cheese into the meat hasn't hurt the burger's texture, either - it doesn't crumble or fall apart, and it isn't tough or overworked either, the way ground beef can be when it's been handled too much.  And I have to take a minute to mention the creamy poblano sauce.  That shit's amazing.  Really.  If Burger King were to put it in a bottle and sell it over the counter, they would have a huge hit.  It would be awesome for so many other dishes, you can hardly imagine - Lynnafred, for example, mentioned that it would be a perfect replacement for the sour cream that Taco Bell puts on stuff like the Crunchwrap Supreme, or on nachos, or on just about anything else.

So, you ask, what is the actual sandwich experience like?  In a word: bitchin'.  The heat level is just right for a non-burn-your-ass-off lunch.  I thought it was comfortably spicy with a good kick.  Lynnafred, whose heat tolerance has been steadily building over the past couple of years, thought it was even a bit on the mild side.  We all really liked the burger and would absolutely get it again.

Cross-section of the stuffed burger, enlarged to
show the texture in disturbing detail.

There were a couple of things less than optimal about the BK Stuffed Steakhouse, though.  Our January-purchased burgers suffered because of the crappy winter tomatoes that were sliced onto the top of the burger.  It would be so much better in the late summer, when delicious red ripe tomatoes are available.  And I wish that the jalapeno distribution was a little more even within the patty.  The random distribution of the peppers and cheese through the meat led to bites with no jalapenoey goodness within (though I freely admit that they were much more even than trusting the BurgerLord behind the counter with sprinkling on jalapeno slices by hand.)

Other than those little nitpicks, I'd say The King has a winner here.  I hope this sandwich finds a permanent place on the menu.