Those are good burgers, Walter.

If you are looking for an unusual grilling twist on gameday, how about surprising your fellow tailgaters with a fresh In-N-Out style burger?  Serious Eats has reconstructed the cult favorite.  Everything including the bun, meat, dressing, and vegetables have been analyzed and step-by-step instructions show you how to rebuild the popular burger.  Though nailing the recipe requires some attention to detail, the ingredients really boil down to only a handful of required ingredients:

The patties: 2 ounces each, pressed flat to 4-inches in diameter

The bun: Arnold, toasted whole in a 400 degree oven for 2 minutes, cut sides toasted on a lightly greased hot skillet until dark brown

Pickles: Standard on the Animal-style burger. Four dill chips

Real American cheese: Thick-sliced, from the deli

Black pepper: Fresh ground

Kosher salt: Lots.

Iceberg lettuce: Fresh, leaves picked, core removed, torn to bun-size

Tomato: The best hothouse tomatoes I could find, sliced 1/4-inch thick

Spread: Tangy, sweet, creamy, delicious

Caramelized onions: The stuff dreams are made of

Yellow mustard: Signature Animal-Style trick

The article includes some impressive statistical analysis on stuff like dressing, where ingredients within the composition were estimated and combined to replicate the original In-N-Out spread.  This calculation was actually pretty genius, using caloric counts in ketchup and mayo in some basic algebra to unlock the secret combination.  Who said this stuff wouldn’t be applicable in real life?

The end result is an accurate looking replica of the Double Double.  If it tastes anything like it looks, this was quite an accomplishment!

The Ins-n-Outs of an In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style (The Burger Lab)