It seems that a lot of people put way too much stuff on their burgers with all this lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, and whatnot. I'm just wondering if there is a limit to where the burger stops being a burger and starts to be a salad. Call me old fashioned, but pass me the ketchup and I'm in heaven.

It's only too much when it falls apart and becomes salad

Like all things good, burgers must have balance.  When accommodating a burger with accouterments one must find balance within the burger. Too many condiments leaves the burger with a carnival of tastes which will cloud the senses and cause confusion within the consumers soul. Conversely if one puts too little condiment on said burger, it will become bland and mundane, without excitement leaving the soul with void. This lack of excitement is surely bad,  as is the over-stimulation of the tastes buds are as well. As the great Jenifer Lopez once stated "I think what is really important is finding a balance."

(sorry first post... wanted to make it epic...)

A good rule of thumb - the condiments shouldn't occupy more vertical space than the burger itself.

"A good rule of thumb - the condiments shouldn't occupy more vertical space than the burger itself."

Once you can't taste the beef.

Those things aren't condiments though.... mustard, ketchup, relish, etc. are condiments.

And yes, sometimes less is more. The extras are there to compliment the burger, not compete with it. 

absolutely

There is definitely the possibility to pile on way too many condiments. Personally I think the biggest offenders are lettuce and onion (sliced or shredded). Anything that occupies as much space as lettuce or messes with the flavor of the meat as much as onion are not cool in my book. Just squirt a tad bit of ketchup and mustard and I'm good. Although mayonnaise makes just about anything better and one can never have enough of that.

Yes, yuk

For me just put the cheese IN the burger and top it with one of either ketchup, BBQ sauce, or A1.

If you simply can't raise it up without everything falling apart and you jsut can't taste anythings, its got too much. 5-6 condiments is fine i think the most i've seen is 9-10.

I can't stand ketchup, mayo, or mustard. Just like the flavor of beef I guess.

Too much and it turns into a very messy looking hand salad. Leave the burger alone people!

Too much condiment may mean that you are trying to cover-up the flavor or lack of in the meat!  Is similar to meatloaf, a well cocked meatloaf doesn’t need the addition of ketchup!!!

Give me Cheese and Bacon on my burger and I'm all set.

The beautiful thing about the world we live in is the sheer amount of choice that we have.  However, we have to use that freedom carefully and in moderation.  Otherwise you just get anarchy.  Sandwich balance is no different.

My rule of thumb is that there should be three toppings, each of which having at least one of these characteristics:
Crunchy: Since a burger isn't crunchy, a good crunchy topping can offer some auditory interest.
Condiment:  Sauce adds wonderful flavor. I prefer ketchup, but will also take mustard if offered.  Hell, I may even have mayo once in a blue moon.
Vegetable:  This will make you feel healthier, and offers a very different flavor from the condiment and burger.

So, given those above characteristics, the ultimate burger would be a burger with pickles, an onion ring, and BBQ sauce.

When you can't bite into it like a burger should and you have eat it with a fork and knife, that is the limit.

pickles = the devil's cock.  What type of satanist would put the devil's cock in his mouth? Much less on some fine grass fed free range beef?

pickles ruin everything

Everything in moderation, including moderation and condiments.

Read it, learn it, and live it.

"A good rule of thumb - the condiments shouldn't occupy more vertical space than the burger itself.
"

"Everything in moderation,  

"Spicy egg mayonaise" on a burger and we're all good.

Pickles can add taste to burgers.. Just don't put that many devil cocks on your burger otherwise you will ruin it.

Everything in moderation, including devil cocks and liquid food (milk)

"

Too much condiment may mean that you are trying to cover-up the flavor or lack of in the meat!  Is similar to meatloaf, a well cocked meatloaf doesn’t need the addition of ketchup!!!

"

"Give me Cheese and Bacon on my burger and I'm all set."

Depends on the burger. For your regular variety of burger, I usually add lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, ketchup, mustard, cheese, pickles, and occasionally cooked onions.

For a chilli burger, just pickles, onions, cheese, and mustard.

For a bacon burger, lettuce cheese and tomatoes...

You must specify the burger.