It’s the usual joke when I tell someone that I’m headed to SoCal for a visit…bring me back a double-double. I usually just smile and nod, but when reminded that I could take pictures and make a blog post out of it, well then the wheels start turning.
Growing up in SoCal, for years In N Out was a real treat, limited to road trips or the occasional trip to a local walk-up-only one in a sketchy neighborhood. The chain, while still family-owned, has really grown in recent years.
Step One: Cut a hole in the box. Procure two double-doubles. Eat one while driving waiting for the other one to cool down.
Step Two: Cool down completely and wrap well. I ordered the burger that was to be frozen with no produce and sauce on the side.
Step Three: Prepare to be laughed at by the TSA agent when getting your frozen burger through security at the airport. Burger and fries and wrapped in foil, frozen and bagged in a gallon Ziploc surrounded by several ice packs (I am truly surprised that TSA didn’t take the gel ice packs away from me).
Step Four: After spending a night in the fridge, the burger is defrosting and ready to be deconstructed.
Step Five: Carefully pry the burger away from the bun. The bun is re-toasted and the meat is re-heated separately. The grilled onions seem to have survived the trip.
Step Six: While the buns toast, I tried reheating the burger in a skillet. It didn’t work because I realized I couldn’t flip it due to the cheese on the top and since it’s a double burger, it wasn’t going to get hot all the way through without flipping. I ended up putting it in the microwave.
Step Seven: Reheat the fries in the toaster oven. Truthfully, I don’t think their fries are all that great anyway (unless dipped in a chocolate shake).
Step Eight: Reassembling the burger. Add spread, fresh tomatoes and lettuce.
Step Nine: Re-wrap in fresh paper and re-bag along with hot fries. The bun is looking a little worse for the wear, but otherwise OK.
Step Ten: Find a teenager willing to try anything, preferably the one who convinced you to try bringing back a burger in the first place.
I’d say it was a success!
What I learned:
- The fries aren’t good enough to begin with to bother transporting.
- It is worth the hassle just to have your house smell like In-N-Out for a few hours.