Taste test - burgers
 As much as we try to inspire you with new, exciting ingredients and recipes, there is no escaping the fact that we all love a good burger!
You can't go far wrong with a burger. A juicy, well cooked patty levered into a soft floury bun with a hint of salad and copious tomato ketchup or mustard - delicious. But which are the best burgers to buy in your local supermarket? Time to find out.
On test
We tested five popular kinds of burger bought on the high street: Birdseye BBQ Quarter Pounders, Ross Beefburgers, Tesco Organic Beefburgers, Quorn Burgers and local butcher-bought Aberdeen Angus beefburgers.
Unsurprisingly, the Aberdeen Angus burgers proved the most costly at 99p per burger. The Ross burgers came in at just under 20p per burger, making them the cheapest of the selection.
How it worked
We cooked all the burgers on a Weber Genesis Platinum C (Quorn burgers first to avoid getting meat on them) and fed them to our four hungry judges.
None of the judges were told which burgers they were eating at any one time, in order to keep results fair and truly independent.
 The judges then rated each burger out of 5 in the following categories: Taste, texture and appeal. Appeal covers the overall visual impression of the burger plus, of course, the smell.
Once all the burgers had been eaten, and the results recorded by all judges, the scores were added up to give a score out of 60. A star rating was then calculated based on this score - with no stars the lowest and six the highest.
The scores
A: Tesco Organic |
Taste |
Texture |
Appeal |
Overall Result |
Judge 1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3/6
|
Judge 2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Judge 3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
Judge 4 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
COMMENTS: "A nice peppery taste to it - but also tasted strangely synthetic" |
B: Birdseye BBQ 1/4 Pounders |
Taste |
Texture |
Appeal |
Overall Score |
Judge 1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4/6 |
Judge 2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
Judge 3 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
Judge 4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
COMMENTS: "Heavily spiced with real flavour - a little oily, but this aided cooking " |
C: Ross Beefburgers |
Taste |
Texture |
Appeal |
Overall Score |
Judge 1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2/6 |
Judge 2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Judge 3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Judge 4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
COMMENTS: "A decent value option, but greasy and not greatly appealing" |
D: Aberdeen Angus Burgers |
Taste |
Texture |
Appeal |
Overall Score |
Judge 1 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
5/6 |
Judge 2 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
Judge 3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
Judge 4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
COMMENTS: "Full of beefy, peppery flavour - much bigger than other processed options " |
E: Quorn Burgers |
Taste |
Texture |
Appeal |
Overall Score |
Judge 1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3/6 |
Judge 2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Judge 3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
Judge 4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
COMMENTS: "Understandably a different texture - had a slightly bitter taste" |
The summary
 The Aberdeen Angus burgers bought fresh from a butcher's shop came out top in the taste test, scoring a maximum 5 for taste with one of our judges. However, it's worth remembering that these were the most expensive of our burgers.
Birdseye BBQ Quarter Pounders scored well too, and at 75p per burger suggest that you really do get what you pay for when it comes to burgers.
Tesco Organic burgers came in third place, followed by Quorn and Ross. These were the cheaper of the burgers and as such, perhaps we should not be surprised by the results. As budget buys, we certainly wouldn't fault them.
What our results do show, is that everybody has different tastes. Why not try hosting your own Barbecue Taste Test? That way you can find out what you and your friends prefer - and have great fun into the bargain!
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