mcdonald's is famous for its burgers
selling approximately 75 every second of
course this means that the fast food
giant must be doing something right when
sandwiching their signature all beef
patties inside of a simple bun but what
makes these burgers so delicious here's
the secret
contrary to widespread rumor all of
their patties are actually made from 100
usda inspected beef prior to 2011 like
many other fast food chain restaurants
in the united states mcdonald's did use
the meat-based filler commonly known as
pink slime in their burgers the
substance in question was beef but only
technically pink slime is actually made
from finely textured beef trimmings that
are then treated with ammonia before
being ground up into a pink paste is it
gross yes but thankfully pink slime is
no longer an ingredient in mcdonald's
hamburgers in 2014 as part of a
widespread effort to debunk the negative
consumer perceptions that surrounded
their beef products the company hired
former myth buster grant imahara to
prove to customers that their well-known
claim to serve all beef paddies was true
imahara went to the cargill processing
plant in fresno california to see for
himself what goes into a mcdonald's 100
beef patty in the end he found that
mcdonald's patties are indeed 100 beef
as claimed
you may have heard that mcdonald's
burgers are made from entire cows that
are put through a meat grinder however
many media outlets including snopes have
gone on to prove that this is not in
fact the case the process could not be
more different from what the public
might perceive here is my hot and fresh
quarter pounder with cheese
oh that looks good
mcdonald's makes their patties out of a
few specific cuts of beef which is
crucial to ensuring that their products
are of a high enough quality to compete
in today's market while you won't find
any of the fanciest butcher's cuts in
your mcdonald's burgers they do use the
trimmings from cuts like chuck round and
even sirloin to create the familiar
flavor profile of their signature beef
blend and while they don't boast their
meat as being grass-fed the cows they
use are for the most part fed on grass
for the first half of their lives before
being finished on a diet of grass
minerals and grain
immediately after the ground beef blend
is formed into patties in the processing
plant there's another important step
that contributes to the classic flavor
we've come to know and love from the
golden arches the standard mcdonald's
burger is flash frozen immediately after
shaping in order to ensure that it is as
fresh as possible when it hits the grill
at your local restaurant unlike slower
freezing processes which can cause
larger ice crystals to form in foods
flash freezing can chill foods to
temperatures below zero degrees
fahrenheit in just minutes the flash
freezing process has changed the way
americans eat and it's been used for a
long time it was developed by clarence
birdseye the founder of birdseye frozen
foods in 1924 and is responsible for
much of the convenience food we enjoy
today as mcdonald's explain it typically
takes between two to three weeks from
the day a burger patty is formed in a
processing plant to the day it is served
to a customer as such flash freezing is
one way that mcdonald's ensures they're
serving hamburgers that taste as fresh
as they possibly can for each and every
customer
even though flash freezing is a very
effective way to get fresh tasting
delicious burgers in the hands of
customers it is not without some serious
drawbacks over the years mcdonald's has
come under fire multiple times for the
practice even rival fast food burger
chain wendy's has repeatedly taunted
mcdonald's for their use of frozen beef
patties in ad campaigns in an effort to
combat the negative perceptions about
their burgers and to compete within the
better burger space pioneered by higher
end fast food chains like shake shack
mcdonald's made a commitment to make all
of their quarter pounders with fresh
beef that is cooked to order by mid-2018
the reception to the change was
overwhelmingly positive with even food
and wine magazine saying that the
freshly made quarter pounder patty is
surprisingly good just one year after
making the change qsr magazine reported
that mcdonald's had sold more than 40
million more quarter pounders than the
previous year
cheeseburger cheeseburger two pepsi one
cheap cheeseburger cheeseburger two
pepsi one
mcdonald's really prides itself on the
fact that their burgers both fresh and
frozen alike are made with beef salt
pepper and absolutely nothing else but
they don't stop at a short list of
ingredients they actually take things a
step further at mcdonald's seasonings
aren't added at all until the burgers
reach their local grills where the cooks
add salt and pepper as the patties are
grilled to order according to mcdonald's
this brings out all that great beef
taste interestingly there's some leeway
in how mcdonald's restaurants season
their signature burgers mcdonald's
representatives told business insider
that they actually adjust the seasoning
based on the country that the burgers
are being served in because some
countries prefer their burgers a little
more on the salty side than others
unsurprisingly american customers have a
tendency to like their fast food on the
salty side reuters reported that one
order of mcdonald's chicken nuggets
served in the united states contains 1.5
grams of salt compared with only 0.6
grams of salt in the uk the salt content
in burgers doesn't vary nearly as much
though they found overall fast food
burgers served up an average of 1.3
grams of salt or 520 grams of sodium
across all countries with only small
national differences
mcdonald's makes a serious effort to use
locally produced beef whenever it is
possible according to the fast food
chains website the beef used in the
burger served in the united states comes
from a handful of producers within the
country a practice that makes the fast
food giant one of the largest purchasers
of usda inspected beef in the entire
country however they also supplement
their stock with meat from usda approved
producers in new zealand australia and
canada according to business insider the
company also works hard to ensure that
the cows they use for meat are
slaughtered in their country of origin
as this helps to reduce the need to
transport livestock across long
distances which also helps keep a focus
on locally sourced ingredients
at mcdonald's a burger bun is more than
just a vehicle for a great sandwich it
is also a critical part of ensuring
burger perfection take the chain
signature big mac for example often
times when you are served a burger that
contains two or even three patties you
are still only going to get two pieces
of bread the imbalance between bread and
meat in a larger burger can easily lead
to what business insider writer hollis
johnson referred to as beef overload the
big mac is different from its
competitors mega burgers thanks in part
to the club bun that third piece of
bread sandwiched between the big max
double patties like mcdonald's other
deluxe style burgers including the
quarter pounder and the double quarter
pounder the bun is toasted and topped
with sesame seeds however not all
sandwiches get the sesame seed treatment
the chain standard hamburger
cheeseburger and double cheeseburgers
are all served on a regular toasted bun
as are some non-burger sandwiches like
the mcchicken the filleto fish on the
other hand is in a league of its own
with its plain steamed bun there's one
more thing at work here too the perfect
toast in 2015 mcdonald's decided that in
order to ensure juicier hotter burgers
they would toast their buns for an
additional five seconds which would lead
to their burgers being 15 degrees hotter
overall another change came along with
the addition of fresh beef to the
quarter pounder which gets a bun that
has been toasted for a total of
approximately 22 seconds
the components that make up a mcdonald's
hamburger such as beef patties and buns
are not made on site in local stores
because of that the company has to rely
on a select few trusted vendors to
produce ingredients for them since their
production is so spread out not only
across the united states but all over
the world the chain requires vendors to
adhere to a long list of strict quality
control standards that help to ensure a
consistent product each box of frozen
patties for example is labeled with such
a high level of detail that they can
trace any individual burger back to the
cow it came from the company details an
extensive food safety and quality
management system including how they
hold their vendors accountable on their
website and according to the orange
county register there are no second
chances for vendors whose work isn't up
to snuff todd bacon head of the fast
food chains us supply chain management
told the publication there's too much at
stake for us not to do everything we can
mcdonald's has been taking major steps
to make their menu seem appealing to a
more health-conscious demographic for
years in 2016 the company announced that
they were planning to remove high
fructose corn syrup from all of their
buns replacing it with sucrose according
to business insider even though sucrose
is just the scientific name for plain
white table sugar the change in
ingredients added to the perception that
mcdonald's was getting healthier that
same year according to fortune
mcdonald's also removed artificial
preservatives from their chicken nuggets
then in 2018 mcdonald's announced that
they were finally going to make changes
to their burgers how by removing all
artificial ingredients although this in
itself doesn't make a mcdonald's burger
a healthy choice removing artificial
ingredients is an important step to take
in terms of both consumer perception and
food quality after the change the
company proudly stated on its menu that
the only component of the burgers that
contains any artificial ingredients are
the pickles advising customers to quote
skip the pickle if you like and another
thing some say hold the pickles we say
hold them in your arms and thank them
for helping the quarter pounder achieve
full deliciousness
it shouldn't come as a surprise that
people are passionate about what
particular burgers they like best and
which ones they would not be rushing to
eat again yes people love to rank
mcdonald's sandwiches citing the subtle
differences between the classic
hamburger and the classic cheeseburger
and whether or not a big mac is better
than a quarter pounder with cheese the
main difference between the burgers
aside from the fact that the quarter
pounder series is made with fresh beef
resulting in a thicker patty is the
toppings even a cursory glance at their
menu will show you that a double quarter
pounder with cheese is very very
different from a big mac while the
quarter pounder with cheese boasts
ketchup mustard pickles onions and
cheese the big mac swaps out ketchup and
mustard for its signature big mac sauce
and add shredded lettuce for extra
crunch
at this point you might think that
mcdonald's has a tendency to micromanage
the production of their burgers and that
would not be too far from the truth in
fact the fast food giant is so obsessive
about making sure their burgers will
have the consistent great taste their
customers expect they actually build
replica test kitchens at their
processing plants in order to further
monitor quality control before a batch
of burgers can be sent off to its
destination someone at the processing
plant is tasked with cooking up some of
the patties in the replica kitchen there
a series of comprehensive tests for
quality are conducted including ensuring
optimal fat content and flavor once the
patties have passed the test they're
cleared to be sent to your local
mcdonald's restaurant this is just one
component of the chain's overall
commitment to quality according to
mcdonald's some of the other steps the
chain is taking include a commitment to
sustainably sourced beef rigorous
policies concerning the use of
antibiotics and livestock and a back to
basics approach that manages to stick to
the company's roots without issuing
innovation and for the customer that all
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