Preview: Jack in the Box - New Double Jack

Jack in the Box is shaking up the way they do things with several menu improvements later this week on January 28, 2016. They're also releasing the new Double Jack, which I got to try during a recent sneak peek.

The Double Jack features two quarter-pound beef patties, two slices of American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, and onions on a butter-toasted bun. While the whole setup sounds pretty basic and not-so-exciting, it's meant to serve as a platform to highlight some of the menu changes at Jack in the Box meant to result in tastier, fresher food.

Those changes include mayo rather than mayo-onion sauce, a new bun, the buttering of their buns,  and the retiring of the current grill seasoning on their beef patties. I should have more details when the changes and launch are implemented this Thursday. In the meantime, I'll give you an idea of what to expect from the Double Jack (I'll do a proper review once the burger is actually being sold).

The Double Jack is a roughly Whopper-sized burger in width but stands a bit taller due to the double patties but also because each patty felt just a bit bigger and beefier than the Whopper patty. I know some of you don't like the current grill seasoning they sprinkle on the burger patties while cooking, so you'll be happy to know that, as far as I can tell, they've gone back to plain old salt (and maybe pepper). I happen to like the current grill seasoning but you can't really go wrong with salt and pepper. Plus, it pushed the beef more to the fore.

The bun is a standard seedless burger bun but with a slightly more rustic feel to the surface.

While there were three different sauces, they were applied very modestly so that they didn't overwhelm any of the other components.

When it comes down to it, the Double Jack I tried offered a number of small improvements that make for a very good rendition of your standard fast food cheeseburger but with a lot more heft due to the extra beef. It'll be interesting to see how these turn out at the restaurant level.