Hack McDonald’s Big Mac: Beth & Dave Try

Central New York likes burgers in all sorts of special ways. No pickle. Hold the tomato. Extra ketchup. And preferences for fast foods extend to fries, as some folks like 'em unsalted or maybe dipped in mayo instead of ketchup. McDonald's is accustomed to delivering special orders for its customers.

But, there are some other ways you can 'hack' the McDonald's menu to meet your wanton desires. You could even consider it a "secret" menu, and here's all it really is: creative twists on the fast food giant's regular items. In this edition of Beth & Dave Try, we went "off-road" with some special orders--some of which even saved us money and some of which cost a little extra.

The Monster Mac. Add as many extra beef patties as you want, at an additional charge. Kristin Turner (who manages the McDonald's in Whitesboro where we stopped), was unprepared for our visit, but could not have been more pleasant or patient in taking our special orders. She said she once made a Monster Mac with 10 burgers and slices of cheese. And she even provided a picture:

The Baby Mac. Just order a McDouble, but substitute Big Mac special sauce for the ketchup, and add lettuce. We didn't really miss the extra bread in the center and we saved over HALF OFF the cost of a Big Mac--even with the 22 cents we paid for lettuce.

Egg McBurger or Barnyard Burger. The McDonald's version of the trendy fried egg-on-a-burger. It's the business part of an Egg McMuffin on your burger choice.

Special Sauce on Fries. Try it instead of ketchup. Delicious and well worth the 30-cent upcharge.

There are a bunch of other menu hacks, like a grilled cheese sandwich, which is just a cheeseburger, hold the meat. And there are some bizarre combo sandwiches involving chicken and beef and fish that we did NOT try. We'll leave those up to you.

BONUS VIDEO: