Getting an In and Out Burger to Chicago
 

I have a question, and it is kind of silly. When I went to Arizona to visit my Grandma, she took me to in and out burger, and now I think it is the greatest burger ever! I don't have the cash to make it back out there again, and there are no in and out burger locations near chicago. However, i have friends that take frequent trips out to the west coast. How can they get me a few in and out burgers back to me without them spoiling?

if they pick it up on the way to the airport, its probably about 5-6 hours by the time it gets to your door in Chicago. i don't think that qualifies as spoiled, but obviously its not totally fresh. i think its still edible though, heck i've eaten pizza that i left out overnight 24+ hours later.

i guess they could stuff it in one of those soft shell coolers if possible too

yup, they wouldn't be spoiled but they would be soggy. pizza keeps better because it's baked. the only thing i can think of is to take the burgers apart and stick the pieces into separate ziplock bags for the trip back.

it's so much better fresh because the buns are briefly toasted on the grill and then the sauce is put on which warms it. then you have to figure that greasy burgers aren't the best thing to store.

That's right. They won't be SPOILED in 6 hours but I highly doubt that you will vote it as the best burger after all that time.

Food like that needs to be consumed minutes after being made. Anything nice, hot and a bit greasy is like that. You can't do that with fries and you can't do that with a bun that's going to get soggy.

Don't fret, with VX entering the market there are sure to be some fare sales and capacity dumping, and there's an in-n-out minutes from LAX.

I'm out to the west coast of couple of times a year and always bring back burgers to New York. Mode of transportation = Freeze them. You'll never get that same experience but it's the closest thing to it. I've tried to bring them back on the plane but I just end up eating them.

I believe there are some Five Guys located in Chicago. That'd be the closest thing to an In & Out burger here on the east coast/midwest. The thought of a double-double, protein style, animal style has me on cloud 9 right now.

The 5 Guys style is not that similar to I-n-O; equally
worthy, though, perhaps more so. If you want to convey
the I-n-O experience, taking someone to 5 Guys won't
cut it. But why bother? It's not as though Chicago were
a burger wasteland.

FWIW, you may find the advice on the following link helpful for reheating/transfer, but also in just making your own (they're not hard, and can be done easily on a cast iron at home).

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/...mal-style.html

Instead of trying to come up with a way to get In-N-Out burgers to Chicago, you should figure out how to move yourself someplace that has an In-N-Out Burger.

You're an FTer and you don't have the miles to get to an INO location???? ;) :p

Seriously though, if you "deconstruct" the burger, (and be sure to order it without condiments, or rather, special sauce on the side), you should be able to heat it up using a pan or toaster oven...

But why not just buy some nice burger meat and some buns and make your own version? In-and-Out is good and all, but it is, after all, fast food. I could whip up a burger 100 times better in the time it would take you to get in your car and drive to a restaurant to get one (if you lived where they have INO).

Save your craving for the next time you're in LA, or LAS, or PHX, or wherever...

Serious Eats did a head to head to head taste-off with In and Out, Five Guys and Shake Shack recently--which involved a cross-country flight with an In & Out burger. Read the article to see how they did it, but basically they ordered everything on the side.

I have been out in California 8 years now. Take lots of visitors to In & Out as part of their LA visit experience (because they want to go). That is about the only time I make a visit. Just don't get the hype.

You now have The Counter in Chicago -- have you tried that yet? Plus you have a Fatburger in Chicago too. I may be a little partial to The Counter because the original one is down the street from me here in Santa Monica. But would take a visit there or Fatburger any day over In & Out or Five Guys. Not similar per se - just better.

In answering the original question, the best bet would probably be a friend buying one at the In & Out in Grapevine, Texas on the way to DFW. It could probably be to Chicago and in your mouth in 3 hours if the security and weather gods align and you meet your delivery at ORD.

buying the burger near DFW will cut some of the travel time off compared to flying PHX or LAX...

I found the methodology dubious: I would have thought that
the people's taste buds and taste memory would survive a trip
better than a burger would.

You live in Chicago, which is among the best foodie cities in the USA, and you want fast food leftovers shipped to you on an airplane? Unbelievable. There has got to be something vastly closer to home that will make you forget In-n-Out even exists. Figure out what it is, and be happy.