I compared signature items at Burger King and McDonald's to find the better value, and I was shocked that Burger King won

Hollis Johnson

• I ordered popular items at McDonald's and Burger King in Rochester, New York.
• I calculated price per gram of the dishes to find out where my dollar went furthest.

US inflation is at its highest level in 40 years, and it's showing up in prices at grocery stores and restaurants.

A shopper looks at items inside a Fresh & Easy store in Burbank, California October 19, 2012.      Reuters

I compared staple menu items at Burger King and McDonald's in Rochester, New York to see which is a better value for your dollar.

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McDonald's Quarter Pounder cheeseburger costs $4.49 at my local restaurant.

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Burger King's comparable sandwich is the Whopper, its signature burger that the chain says also contains one quarter pound of beef. It costs $6.19.

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Source: Burger King

I broke out a food scale to compare items head to head, and the Whopper came out to 279 grams.

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McDonald's Quarter Pounder came out to 201 grams, priced at $4.59.

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Both signature fast food burgers work out to about the same cost of 2.2 cents per gram, so the choice just comes down to how large you want your burger to be. Of course, if you don't end up finishing the larger Whopper, you don't get the full value.

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Burger King's chicken sandwich weighs in at 238 grams, and costs $4.79

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McDonald's crispy chicken sandwich isn't as substantial as Burger King's, but it also costs less at $4.29.

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They both end up at about two cents per gram, though extended out to another decimal place McDonald's is a slightly better deal.

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Burger King's Big Fish sandwich costs $4.19 for 216 total grams of food.

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McDonald's smaller Filet-O-Fish also costs $4.19m, though it's about 75 grams smaller.

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Burger King's sandwich works out to a better deal, especially if you prefer BK's lettuce and pickles.

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I ordered two different sizes of fries for comparison. Burger King's large fries were $2.99 for 131 grams...

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...and $2.39 for 121 grams. At Burger King, the medium is actually a better deal being just 10 grams smaller than the large size.

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The McDonald's large fry was the biggest serving of the bunch, at 149 grams for $3.39. At McDonald's, you're better off buying a large fry, which is slightly cheaper per gram.

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McDonald's medium fries are a bit smaller than Burger King's medium, at 114 grams for $2.69.

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That makes an order of medium fries from Burger King the best value you can get on fries out of these options.

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Four chicken nuggets at Burger King add up to 52 grams.

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Four McNuggets are just slightly bulkier, at 60 grams.

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The comparisons get a bit trickier here, because both chains sell nuggets in several different amounts. Comparing both chains' prices for four nuggets, Burger King's $1.49 price is a better value.

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Burger King only sells four and eight-piece nugget orders, but the larger order is the same price, working out to just around 19 cents per nugget. This is actually less expensive per nugget than any of McDonald's options, including the biggest 40-nugget option.

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Burger King surprised me by being the better deal on three of the five dishes I compared.

Burger King rebrand.      Burger King

Burger King has higher menu prices, but consistently larger portion sizes across the board compared to McDonald's.

Burger King rebrand.      Burger King

Burger King is an equal or better value to the McDonald's items I tried, so it's worth the visit if you're buying large quantities of food.

In this Thursday, April 25, 2013, photo, a pedestrian walks past a Burger King restaurant near downtown Los Angeles.      AP

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.