McDonald's just made a major change to the Big Mac — here’s how its new burgers stack up (MCD)

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January 17, 2017 10:13 PM

The Big Mac — America's burger — just got better.

The burger's massive size can really be seen when placed next to its progenitor. It's ... enormous. Gargantuan.

Well, bigger. And smaller.

McDonald's is rolling out the "Mac Jr." and the "Grand Mac" this week after months of testing.

The Mac Jr. is a smaller, single-patty cheeseburger with all the other Big Mac accoutrements. The Grand Mac is an even larger version of the Big Mac, with 61% more beef than its precursor.

We grabbed the three members of the Mac family to see how they compare.

The Big Mac stands alone no more with the arrival of the Mac Jr. and the Grand Mac.

The Mac Jr. is a tad underwhelming. Given the dainty name, I half-expected it to be a puny, novelty-sized burger. But alas, it's merely a normal single patty cheeseburger with Big Mac sauce.

In a word, it's fine. It doesn't have the panache of the Big Mac double-patty, triple bun stack, but the sauce still tastes delicious and the pickles still add a satisfying crunch. It's hardly filling, but it may be good for a quick snack on the go.

Compared to the normal Big Mac (top), the Mac Jr. looks like a fairly nondescript burger. The Mac Jr. costs $3.39, compared to a $5.39 Big Mac — non-NYC prices may be lower.

As a control for size, here's the normal Big Mac. Apparently only one in five millennials have tried this iconic burger, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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The Grand Mac is housed within its own rather grand container, emblazoned with the ominous slogan, "You're gonna need two hands".

And frankly, it's not wrong. In order to comfortably hold the Grand Mac, one needs two hands. It's the width of a Burger King Whopper, and the stack height of a Big Mac.

With more beef, more cheese, and more bun, the Grand Mac is a grand experiment in the vein of "super sizing." It's a lot to handle — I felt full about 3/4 of the way through the behemoth swimming in Big Mac sauce. Oddly enough, the Grand Mac is only $0.60 more than the Big Mac.

The burger's massive size can really be seen when placed next to its progenitor. It's... enormous. Gargantuan.

Are these size variations practical? Well, maybe. The Mac Jr. is a perfect size for a quick snack when the Big Mac is just a tad too much. And the Grand Mac fixes the one major problem with the Big Mac: for those with large appetites, the Big Mac only goes so far to satiate hunger.

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