Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

If you thought Cookie Monster was frenzied before, imagine him on caffeinated cookies. COOKIE!!! (via ED Junkie)

With the Shrek franchise coming to an end, expect the number of bright green colored products that promote the movie to disappear and then expect bright blue colored products to promote next year’s Smurf movie to replace them. (via The Candy Enthusiast)

The bright green color found in this mint candy bar is unusual enough that it might turn people off. If only there was a cartoon movie franchise that would make the color more appealing. (via Jim’s Chocolate Mission)

Adam over at Grub Grade got it his way at Burger King and created the Cluck Double, which combines two BK Spicy Chick’n Crisp filets, cheese, lettuce, ketchup and mustard in between a bun. I really hope the next custom sandwich he makes is called the Chicken Coop and is made up of ten BK chicken sandwich patties stacked on top of each other in between a bun and wrapped in a net made of bacon. (via Grub Grade)

Bearded Dr. Andrew Weil has a line of line organic fruit and nut bars. I hope another organic ingredient included is Dr. Weil’s beard trimmings. (via I Ate A Pie)

This pen holder is cool. But you know what else makes a cool pen holder? A desk. (via Office Supply Geek)

Burger King has ribs now! Is that the appropriate level of excitement? I can’t tell, because The King has given me no direction on how to feel about his new ribs. I look to fast food restaurants’ media and marketing departments to tell me how I should feel about their food, and there is absolutely no information about the ribs on their website. Usually, companies assault you with their new products on the front page of their sites, making sure you know damn well that there’s a new product and you’re going to love it. I couldn’t even find the nutritional information on the ribs. I had to find that through other, nefarious means. Is Burger King trying to hide them? Should I be worried?

I’m glad I called my local BK earlier to make sure they were carrying the ribs, because, again, there was no indication of their existence at the restaurant. No big pictures on the drive-thru menu, no posters in the window…nothing. There is no way in the world for you to know these ribs exist, unless you stumbled upon a news story about them on the Internet. (Or the editor of the website you review for told you about them.) I felt like I was in on some sort of secret, like In-N-Out’s not-so-secret secret menu.

I don’t even actually know what these things are officially called. The box says, “Straight from the grill”, but there’s no name on it. The side of the box at least has little pictures of ribs on it, so at least I know I’ve got the right product.

Edit: The Internet just told me they’re called BK Fire-Grilled Ribs. Mystery solved.

According to the box, you can get either six or eight pieces, but my secret nutritional information source says that you can also get a three-piece box. Who knows? Burger King certainly isn’t going to tell me. And that creepy King never talks, so he’s of no help. Yeah, you just keep standing over there with your arms crossed, The King. Looking all creepy and smug, knowing that nobody knows a damn thing about your ribs.

I dunno about these guys. They look kind of weird. And…burned. There is a pleasant smell of grilled meat faintly wafting from the box, but it does smell a little like what happened when I tried to use a grill once. Considering I once managed to ruin a package of ramen, I think you see where I’m going with this.

These certainly don’t look like any ribs I’ve ever seen before. I guess they’re supposed to be short ribs? Hey, wait, is that…is that a bone I see? Oh, these are actual ribs! Up to this point, I thought they were just going to be strange and boneless, like that mutant piece of meat on the McRib. Burger King copies all of McDonald’s other ideas, so I just figured this would be more of the same. Good thing I noticed the bones before I bit into them. That could have gone poorly.

They look mostly like seriously failed chicken wings. Or perhaps the severed limbs of infant burn victims? Okay, that’s just tasteless. C’mon now. Seriously though, it looks like a Chihuahua caught on fire in the Burger King parking lot and they decided to call it a “happy accident.” I mean, I’m not a rib expert, but these just don’t look right.

They don’t taste right, either. The first one I tried was dry and terribly burned. The second one was moist, and by that I mean greasy, and burned. And that’s pretty much the story for the rest of the box. The few moist bites I got showed that the meat closest to the bone had some good flavor and texture, but there wasn’t much of that on those little ribs. One person on the Internet noted that they got barbecue sauce with theirs, so I made sure to ask for some at the window. The King’s serf assured me that it was in the bag. It was not in the bag.

The ribs seemed like they didn’t have any seasoning on them, unless you count “burned” as a seasoning. If I’ve learned anything from Bobby Flay, besides the fact that you can cook anything on a grill (I think I saw him make a bowl of Frosted Flakes on there once), it’s that your ribs need to be properly seasoned, whether that’s with a dry rub or a wet one. If I’ve learned anything from the various barbecue shows I’ve seen on the Travel Channel, the nation is polarized between wet and dry rubs, but I’m pretty sure they’d all agree that a naked rib is a no-no.

Honestly though, any seasoning they might have applied to it would have been overpowered by the taste of charred flesh. The flavor stayed in my mouth long after I’d finished the ribs, leaving me feeling like I’d just eaten a box full of the remains of someone’s tragic house fire. No amount of barbecue sauce is going to cover that up. Speaking of covering up, I see now why Burger King is keeping these ribs under wraps. These ribs just ain’t right.

(Nutrition Facts – 6 ribs — 450 calories, 33 grams of total fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 140 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,290 milligrams of sodium, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 0 grams of sugars and 35 grams of protein.)

Here are other BK Fire-Grilled Rib reviews:
Brand Eating
Everyview
Hamburger Calculus
Wandering Foodie
Mishen’s Fast Food Reviews

Item: BK Fire-Grilled Ribs
Price: $5.69
Size: 6 ribs
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 3 out of 10
Pros: Some meat was moist. Feeling like part of a secret club. Actual meat on a bone and not fake, formed ribs. Getting to call a Burger King employee a serf.
Cons: Charred as all get-out. The King, being smug and creepy. Lots of dry meat. Making infant burn victim jokes. Charcoals-in-my-mouth taste will not leave.

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

I hope you’re not lactose intolerant because I’mma gonna to hit you with five cheese snack reviews. (via Japanese Snack Reviews)

The Bob Evans Smoked Sausage with Cheese Wrappers are a travesty. Why? Because they’re not wrapped with bacon. (via Freezer Burns)

Awesome! I can now enjoy s’mores without having to build a fire, get melted chocolate all over my fingers and without having to sing Kumbaya. (via Candyblog)

Burger King’s Whiplash Whopper is supposed to promote the movie Iron Man 2. Really? The briefcase that turns into an Iron Man suit in the movie trailer wasn’t enough? (via Everyview)

Elvis has an energy drink. I guess there’s now something worse than releasing posthumous albums to make quick money from dead musical legends. (via ED Junkie)

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin Ice Cream is an ex-girlfriend’s favorite flavor. When I see it in the store, it makes me think of her. When I think of her, it makes me wonder if I should friend her on Facebook. When I wonder if I should friend her on Facebook, I remember that I haven’t played Bejeweled Blitz in a long time. When I play Bejeweled Blitz, I forget to friend my ex-girlfriend on Facebook. (via Frozen Food Journal)

There’s a beer called Yellow Snow. I guess I’m going to have to call Old Milwaukee something else. (via TBQ)

Burger King now has a breakfast bowl that contains eggs, sausage, potatoes, onions, peppers and cheese. If The King wakes me up with one of them, I hope he also brings a fork so I can stab him. (via Hamburger Calculus and We Rate Stuff)

A chocolate egg that comes in a real eggshell. There’s a yolk out there that must be pissed. (via Foodstuff Finds)

Since I don’t drink anymore, I don’t have a use for an anti-hangover beverage. But I really could use an anti-Justin Bieber beverage because “Baby” keeps bumping in my head. (via Everyview)

I want you imagine Beavis from Beavis and Butt-Head. Then I want you to imagine him saying Chokito over and over again. You’re welcome. (via Jim’s Chocolate Mission)

The combination of cilantro and lime sounds like one that we would find either on the menu at a fine dining establishment or in the recipe book that comes with a Magic Bullet blender. But it’s not something I would expect to see on a fast food menu board that also contains Crown-Shaped Chicken Tenders and funnel cake sticks.

Actually, let me take back that last sentence because if there’s any fast food company who has the balls to introduce the Cilantro Lime BK Big Fish, it would be Burger King, or BK if you’re lazy, or McDonalds’ Bitch if you’re nasty. Only a company that could invent chicken fries could create this fish sandwich.

For those of you who have never had a BK Big Fish, it takes everything a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish has, except the cheese and annoying singing fish commercials that make you want to punch your computer monitor, and makes it bigger. But if you’ve seen the minuscule Filet-O-Fish, you know making a larger variation of it is an extremely easy task. Between the buns of the Cilantro Lime BK Big Fish, the usual tartar sauce is replaced with a cilantro lime sauce that looks equally as disturbing as the tartar sauce. While the sauce is made with two green colored ingredients, the sauce isn’t green at all, just like most of the lettuce in the sandwich.

The flavor of the sauce in the Cilantro Lime BK Big Fish almost goes beyond my threshold of what I consider tasty. The cilantro is noticeable, but thankfully isn’t too heavy. However, if the cilantro was kicked up a slight notch, it would probably be more than what I can tolerate. As for the lime flavor, it’s as subdued as the cilantro and does for this sauce what it has done for Corona Beer, which is make something shitty taste a little bit better.

Yes, I did enjoy this sandwich. The fish filet had a crunchy exterior and a soft interior; its bun was of higher quality than the Filet-O-Fish’s; and the sauce had the right balance of cilantro and citrus. I’d probably eat it again if I’m in the mood for something that doesn’t come from a cow or chicken, and if I want to consume trans fats and enough sodium to make my blood pressure as high as the final score of any past NBA All-Star Game.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 sandwich – 630 calories, 31 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 1570 milligrams of sodium, 65 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar and 23 grams of protein.)

Item: Burger King Cilantro Lime BK Big Fish
Price: $5.49 (small combo)
Size: 1 sandwich
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Interesting, tasty sauce. High in protein. High quality bun, when compared to other fast food fish sandwiches. Fish filet had a crunchy exterior with a soft interior. Sauce doesn’t come in a disturbing green color. The Magic Bullet.
Cons: It’s a regional item so it’s not available everywhere. If you hate cilantro, you will curse this sandwich. Contains trans fat and over 1500 milligrams of sodium. Most of the lettuce in the sandwich isn’t green. McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish commercials.

The Burger King Hot Fries Potato Snacks have got me thinking about an appropriate definition for the term “hot fries” for the Urban Dictionary website, which is a collection of slang words and phrases. So far, I’ve come up with three possible definitions.

1. A phrase expressing excitement like one would have after realizing they’ve received a fresh batch of french fries straight out of the fryer. Interchangeable with the phrase “hot damn.”

2. Sexy legs that may or may not be covered with red pantyhose.

3. Crabs-infested pubic hair.

Of course, the Burger King Hot Fries Potato Snacks have nothing to do with any of these definitions, but they are similar to the Burger King Ketchup & Fries Potato Snacks I reviewed awhile back. I didn’t really care for those, so I’m not too eager to try these, even though its packaging claims it’s spicy, which is a flavor that my tastebuds enjoy, along with licking hot fries.

I’ll let you figure out which definition of hot fries I’m referring to.