This Iconic Fast Food Chain Microwaves Its Burgers — But Not For The Reason You'd Expect

Most people order a Whopper at Burger King because they're craving that signature flame-broiled taste, which is markedly different than a McDonald's Big Mac or In-N-Out's Double Double. BK's famous flame-grilled patties are actually made with live fire, although perhaps not in the way you're thinking. There's unfortunately no open grill in the back with feisty flames and a chef skillfully flipping burgers. Rather, the uncooked meat goes through a proprietary commercial broiler, with as many as eight Whopper patties at a time. Clearly, there's no microwave involved at this point in the process, so where does that come in?

What many employees and former workers describe is the lesser-known secondary warming system officially called the "Hopper." The Hopper is most often used to melt cheese, reheat patties, or simply to ensure the entire burger feels warm when it's served. Burger King workers explain online that this specialty oven is to ensure melted cheese and consistent temperatures, but it's not an actual cooking method. 

A current employee goes into detail on Reddit: "Currently employed at BK and we put every bottom bun and patty in the 'Hopper' (trademarked microwave) to melt the cheese mostly but we still have to do it with just bun and meat, even to fresh meat, and we toast every bun fresh, so, just policy I suppose." This is an important distinction from other made-to-order burgers from Five Guys or In-N-Out — neither of those fast food chains use a microwave. 

During rush periods, Burger King's operational system requires them to flame-broil patties in batches, and then hold them warm until an order comes in. Tragically, the patty temperature can drop slightly while it's hanging out in the warmer, causing the cheese to remain partially unmelted. One employee testily remarked on Reddit that it's not their decision: "Complain to other customers about it ... they are the ones that warranted the use of these bc so often customers complain about the cheese not being melted or not having a 'hot' sandwich ... they are for customer satisfaction."

But not everyone loves this pseudo-microwave touch. On another Reddit post, a customer decried: "I stopped going to BK. Every single time my burger was either stone cold [or] so hot from the microwave (you can totally tell)." On the other side of the argument, customers do indeed complain when the cheese isn't melty. Another customer on Reddit pondered: "I think BK's cheese is the weirdest in all of fast food, you can have a steaming hot fresh whopper patty and somehow the cheese slice still retains its solid square shape and still not melted all the way."

Luckily, one fact about Burger King's Whopper is that you can actually order it in more than 200,000 ways. So if you don't want the Hopper used, simply ask. The next time you roll through the drive-thru or place a digital order, ask for your Whopper to be "hot off the broiler." After all, you really should have it your way.