Two years ago, this was a 12 year old hamburger, and the mechanics at play were pretty thoroughly described here: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/t

Two years ago, this was a 12 year old hamburger, and the mechanics at play were pretty thoroughly described here: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-r... Spoiler: the author makes a completely homemade burger and has it dry out in the same way as the McDonald's burger, thus debunking the theory that the longevity of the burger is evidence of foul play.