How is one supposed to properly eat multi-level hamburgers?

The trick to eating a large hamburger the size of a McDonald's Big Mac (or even a Double Big Mac with four patties) is to grip the burger firmly while crushing it down a bit. It may take a big of practice to get right, but it's something most eaters of hamburgers seem to do instinctively. So much so I can't really describe the technique in a lot of detail, but the basic idea is you're both making the burger somewhat smaller and holding it together firmly. You want to grab it in both hands with your thumbs underneath. Your fingers should be spread out over the top, compressing it down, while your thumbs pin everything in place.

If you watch pretty much anyone eat a hamburger, even normal sized ones, this is how they'll eat it. There's really nothing special in how you need to hold it, the trick is applying the right amount of pressure. Bigger burgers will need a more firm grip, while normal sized burgers can be held fairly loosely (though you'll still see people crushing them anyways). There's a limit to how big of a burger you can eat this way though. It should work with pretty much any burger normally sold by the big fast food chains like McDonald's or Burger King. There are however restaurants that sell enormous burgers that can't really be eaten in any sort of normal way unless you have really big hands.

I should also point out that you sometimes do have the option of going wider rather than taller with hamburgers. For example the Big Mac has two 1.6 oz (45.4 g) patties, while the Quarter Pounder with a single 4.25 oz (120.5 g) patty is both bigger and easier to eat.

A somewhat strange but effective technique is to fix the contents by piercing one or two toothpicks through the entire burger, before taking the first bites on the opposite side. When you approach the middle you can take them out, at this point the filling should tend to slip in your mouth rather than the other way.

I have witnessed and used the following techniques when it comes to eating large hamburgers:

• Cutting it like a pie (i.e. in slices) using a serrated knife, so you get manageable sized sub-burgers that you can eat from the center out. I favor this method whenever available. Depending on burger diameter and height, 2 to 8 slices will work best--experiment!

• Holding the burger (or sub-burger, if slicing) upside down, which puts the thicker bun (which hasn't been drenched in grease by gravity) on the bottom, allowing the burger to hold its condiments far better. This is my go-to method when knives aren't available.

• Using a waxed paper wrapper as a pocket to hold everything in place, only unwrapping as little as possible to take a bite. Think exoskeleton, but for your burger. Best used when getting the hamburger from a fast food place (i.e. it's already wrapped), and it's already a half mess.