{"id":12213,"date":"2014-09-19T07:44:14","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T14:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=12213"},"modified":"2014-09-19T07:44:14","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T14:44:14","slug":"steak-n-shake-frozen-burgers-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=12213","title":{"rendered":"Steak N Shake Frozen Burgers Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steak<\/a>Seems like every restaurant brand is trying to extend their reach by putting labeled products in the grocery aisles; if my memory is correct, seems like Taco Bell was first. Now there is hardly a fast casual brand that you don’t see in the grocery, whether it’s Boston Market, Fridays, Marie Callenders, \u00a0Fatburger, Burger King, Nathan’s.<\/p>\n

I’ve reviewed a pretty good sampling of heat and eat burgers in the past, including \u00a0Fred Meyer Frozen Mini Cheeseburgers<\/a>, Private Selection Angus Beef Patties<\/a>, and\u00a0Trader Joes Kobe Style<\/a>, White Castle<\/a>, \u00a0to the convenience store types like\u00a0Big A Angus Charbroil<\/a>, the\u00a07-Eleven Cheeseburger<\/a>, Fatburger<\/a>, Walgreens<\/a>, \u00a0AM\/PM Mini Marts<\/a>,\u00a0and Ball Park<\/a>, to mention a few.<\/p>\n

Now I see Steak N Shake<\/a>\u00a0has entered the fray. \u00a0The Illinois founded company now has more than 400 outlets across the country, and I have generally been pretty pleased with their products. \u00a0They have a rep for fresh, cooked to order food.<\/p>\n

So I wish they wouldn’t have entered this market segment. \u00a0I think it does more harm than good, as a frozen heat and eat burger can’t come close to the taste or texture of a burger prepared in the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Steak N Shake chose Ohio-based AdvancedPierre <\/a>as their contract manufacturer \/ distributor. \u00a0The company makes a lot of heat and eat foods for the convenience and vending market, including the “Big A” referenced above.<\/p>\n

While this type of product is available throughout the entire price range, from a buck each up to $10 + for a bag of six or eight patties, the Steak N Shake variety was offered at $5 for (2) 5.3 ounce sandwiches. \u00a0The sandwich is comprised of two patties, one slice of cheese and bun. \u00a0No condiments are included, of course.<\/p>\n

(Need some Steak N Shake chili<\/a> or their great seasoning<\/a>? \u00a0We can hook you up!)<\/em><\/h2>\n

Instructions call for puncturing the wrapper (picture 1 below), heating for 75 seconds in the microwave, and letting sit for thirty seconds after that. \u00a0Of course it has the disclaimer that “microwaves and heating times may vary” and they were referring to mine, as at 75 seconds the middle of the patties was still frozen.<\/p>\n

Removed from the microwave (picture 2 below), they look fairly appealing.<\/p>\n

One “beef” I have with all of these products that include buns, is that frequently the bun and meat require different heating times, so you’re going to probably be disappointed with one or the other. \u00a0My “cheat” is to disassemble them and heat them separately, works for me, but takes a little trial and error. \u00a0 That process especially works great with frozen White Castles.<\/p>\n

What’s my verdict? \u00a0They’re OK. \u00a0As I feared, nothing resembling the restaurant product, but most of these heat and eat burgers are pretty similar in my experience, and opinion, no matter the brand or the price point.<\/p>\n

I suppose the “hook” is convenience. \u00a0Single people who don’t want to cook, a harried mom needing a quick snack for the kids. \u00a0Burger snobs won’t give them a thought.<\/p>\n

Moms might want to reconsider, now that I just read the nutrition info – \u00a0490 calories with over half of those from fat. \u00a0Probably not good.<\/p>\n

Update: I walked by a Steak N Shake restaurant inside a Mississippi casino recently, and noted the signage now says ” \u201cSteak \u2018n Shake by Biglari.\u201d Sadar Biglari is head of the private equity fund that currently controls Steak N Shake. At first, I thought, “well that’s arrogant, it’s not like using Dior or something – Biglari hasn’t designed custom gourmet burgers or anything.” \u00a0And then I read it’s a licensing deal. By putting his name on the restaurants, the “owner” has to pay him a licensing fee for use of his name. Even if the chain is sold. That’s pretty slimy, even for private equity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Steak<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Steak<\/a><\/p>\n

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Steak N Shake Frozen Burgers Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seems like every restaurant brand is trying to extend their reach by putting labeled products in the grocery aisles; if my memory is correct, seems like Taco Bell was first. Now there is hardly a fast casual brand that you don’t see in the grocery, whether it’s Boston Market, Fridays, Marie Callenders, \u00a0Fatburger, Burger King,… Continue reading Steak N Shake Frozen Burgers Review<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,12,16],"tags":[266,1489,1724],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12213"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}