Size Difference - Big Mac & Fries - 1972 - 1990

win231

win231

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May be an image of burger and text
 

I doubt this story is true. McDonald's isn't stupid, and shrinking their burgers would be, well, stupid.

I worked at a McD's when in college and while I haven't actually seen a McD burger of any kind since 2019 (bought some for my FIL), they seemed to be roughly the same size as they had always been.

Quarter pounders were always 1/4 lb pre-cooked weight and the buns were larger in diameter than all other burger buns.

Big Macs were made with the same thin (like under 2 oz each) patties that went into hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double burgers and double cheeseburgers. Big Macs weren't appreciably larger in diameter than McD's cheapest burgers, they were simply taller because of the extra piece of bread and addition of toppings like shredded lettuce.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Strangely, big, humongous hamburgers don't sell well. Every burger chain has tried triple patty burgers, large meaty burgers, which always tanked. There is a limit to what people can comfortably eat. Fast food is cheap food, and smaller portions is even cheaper food. You can always buy two.
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I'll point to Wendy's triple, BK Double stack, JIB (Once did a 22 patty burger) In & out did a 100 patty cheeseburger, Heart Attack grill is famous for their "Quadruple Bypass Burger" and finally Red Robin.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Strangely, big, humongous hamburgers don't sell well. Every burger chain has tried triple patty burgers, large meaty burgers, which always tanked. There is a limit to what people can comfortably eat. Fast food is cheap food, and smaller portions is even cheaper food. You can always buy two.
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Fast food is NOT as cheap as it was back in the day, Before when I became Gluten... But 2 big mac meals, two whoppers, or two Dave Specials combos would cost Lorie and me an easy $25... Once upon a time, you could feed a family of 5 for that...
I couldn't believe what it was costing us... I always said Lorie, instead of buying fast food, let's get a nice roast, and go home and cook it...

Let's look at a different size difference now... But let us take a pound of bacon, which was enough to feed a family, and have one or two pieces left over, now a pound of bacon if lucky is 10 slices, at the same price or more for a pound of bacon... Blocks of cheese as also shrunk, and the same price as a pound... But they shrink them slowly thinking we won't notice... It's horrible what they are doing to us...
 
mike4lorie said:
Let's look at a different size difference now... But let us take a pound of bacon, which was enough to feed a family, and have one or two pieces left over, now a pound of bacon if lucky is 10 slices, at the same price or more for a pound of bacon...
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Not sure what you're getting at here. A pound remains a pound. Perhaps the slices are thicker, but uncooked package weight remains the same.

When my mother made bacon we each got a couple of slices, not six or more. Bacon was a side dish, not the main meal. I did the same. DH, kids and I were a family of five. When I served bacon I cooked a single pound only.

Big Macs likely appear smaller to people because they're dwarfed by huge burgers served at other places. It's not the Big Macs that have changed, it's our expectation how big a burger should be. Thus the obesity crisis.

Big Macs have 590 calories, and a Mac Combo Meal (medium fries & medium soda) comes in at 1120 calories, nearly a full day's worth of calories for most seniors, 64% of which is fat (49 g).

According to a Mayo Clinic calculator, for my age, size and activity level, my daily calorie intake should be 1550-1700.
When I worked at McDs in the early 70s, Big Macs were mostly purchased by teenage boys, young men and construction workers. Children virtually never got them.

According to numerous sources, Big Mac Meals cost $5.99 in the US.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/calorie-calculator/itt-20402304
https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/meal/big-mac-meal.html#accordion-c921f9207b-item-842cb18782
 

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