The Ultimate McDonald’s Experience

I watched this video with no small amount of interest, since I am an associate manager at McDonald’s. First of all, it’s pronounced “fil-AY” not, “fil-et”. I also took exception to his reference of “real meat” on the hand made burger. McDonald’s uses USDA Grade A ground beef, so he should really research a little better before entering into this kind of experiment. The hand made pattie? Well, I guess if you like someone’s hands shaping the burger, it’s ok. But I’d want to know the person had washed with antimicrobial hand soap and sanitized their hands before ever touching the ground meat, or at least used new, food safe, disposable gloves.

Aside from that, the burgers all broke down as I would have expected. The fries? They also did what I expected. He used, for comparison, thick cut restaurant fries against very thin cut McDonald’s fries. The thick cut fries would retain much more water inside them, therefore, they’d rot. McDonald’s fries, on the other hand, being very thin cut have the water driven out of them during the frying process. Much like dehydrated foods which maintain their shelf life for years, the fries have been deep fried until about 95% of the water is gone. This is what makes them crisp on the outside and fluffy (not soggy) on the inside.

I’m not sure when he made this little movie, since the packaging is way out of date. My McDonald’s uses paper boxes for the Fillet-O-Fish sandwiches and all other sandwiches except the little cheeseburgers, hamburgers, and double cheeseburgers. And I haven’t seen a Chicken McGrill in years in this area.

So, how about some facts. McDonald’s uses a temperature probe several times a day to test the temperatures of meats as they come off the grill and out of the fryer. They are also tested at intervals while they are in the holding cabinets, to make sure they are above safe food limits and not below. Any low variance means recalibration of equipment.

Meats have a very SHORT hold time and are then thrown away. Even fries have a short hold time. All equipment is temperature checked by digital methods several times a day to make sure it’s cooking at the appropriate and food-safe temperatures. Dated items, such as milk, etc. are checked daily to make sure they are within their exp. dates. If not, they are thrown away.

The only thing in burgers is meat, other than the seasoning that is sprinkled on at the end of cooking. Chicken is chicken. Fish is fish.

Antimicrobial handwashing along with the use of hand sanitizer is scheduled regularly plus is done at any time a person changes tasks. Sanitized towels are used for cleaning and they are put into a presoak each time; not reused. All this is to prevent cross-contamination.

I’d venture to guess that McDonald’s works harder to maintain safe food conditions than most people do in their own homes. Jack in the Box taught all fast food chains a good lesson!

Sandwiches are no longer held in bins until they are sold. They are made when the customer orders them, and to the customer’s specifications. Of course, most people still think they can go in and order a burger and have it instantly in their hands, but things are different now than before. The customer has to wait a few more seconds for their personal sandwich to be made.

The guy who made this video could have just as easily used peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bologna sandwiches, tater tots, and julienned French fries, all that he fixed himself, and gotten the same disgusting results. Be careful whose bandwagon you jump on.

Ann’s last blog post..Shower scrub

I started to watch that video, but decided against it. Haa. Occasionally I go to McDonalds for the convenience factor and didn’t feel like thinking of this video next time I’m there.:)

that is amazing! I can buy some fries today and give them as presents next christmas!!

luckily, whenever I eat maccyD’s the products don’t stay in my stomach long before being ejected out with a bodily function. yuk!

Andy Bailey’s last blog post..Stumbleupon traffic surge Caught on video..

I love McDonald’s. I’m addicted to their big mac’s. So I don’t think I’ll watch the video. LOL

Thanks for highlighting my comment! I hope you weren\’t offended by the \”bandwagon\” term. I meant that in the most general sense, of course. Not just \”you\” in the you sense..or have I stopped making sense?? lol

Fast food is what it is, and it\’s not fine dining. I eat at McDonald\’s because I work there and I know the quality assurances that go into making the food safe. In my off times, though, I actually patronize a lot of other places, as well, for variety and I eat quite a bit at home, too, as you can tell by my blog! Nothing is better than home cooked meals!

Oh, and I forgot the antispam word the first time I tried to say this. I’m so glad it prompted me to copy my words!

Ann’s last blog post..Supper and leftovers

Ann’s last blog post..Supper and leftovers

[…] asked me an interesting question over at her For The Heck of It blog when I responded to her Ultimate McDonalds Experience post. She asked about how to make crispy home made French […]

Drop by Feeding Time to learn about home made French fries. Thanks for the inspiration to create this post!

Ann’s last blog post..Crispy home made French fries

Anna, there is an update to the commentluv plugin here Hopefully, that should prevent double links on comments.
thanks for using it!

Andy Bailey’s last blog post..Stumbleupon traffic surge Caught on video..

I actually never eat the burgers at McDonald’s. They have no flavor IMO and are just bleh. I will eat their chicken McNuggets and fries though.

I’ve very glad that stuff doesn’t stay in my system for very long. But thin cut fries do last a very long time. If you try this experiment for yourselves you’ll see that BK and Sonic’s last just as long.

Joana’s last blog post..Bleach 143