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What kind of weird fast food place do u go to that doesn't cook a new batch of fries at least every 20 minutes?
The difference between an order of fries that was cooked 20 minutes ago, and an order that was cooked 0 minutes ago is like night and day. That was the OPs point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhenomenalAJ
Any time I go to any fast food place, they never have a sandwich already sitting on the rack, even if i order something popular like a McDouble. Maybe a rural thing lol
No, not a rural thing lol. It used to be the standard system at every McDonalds everywhere in the world, so everybody else copied them. Then a few years ago they developed the new system I detailed above, where they precook the meat, and hold it warm, but wait until the order is placed to do a quick reheat and then assemble the sandwiches. This keeps the bun from getting soggy and the lettuce and tomato from cooking under the heatlamps. And other companies, again, have tried to imitate them, so the old FIFO* sliding bins full of premade sandwiches have largely disappeared.
But not completely. The switchover is expensive, including specialized holding equipment and timing and tracking equipment, and a lot of retraining, and many smaller local and regional chains just haven't been able justify the expense. And they still seem to be popular with companies that do a lot of breakfast sandwich business, where fast food has to be even faster than lunch or people walk out.
*First In First Out - these slanted stainless steel racks allow the cooks to put the finished sandwiches in at the back, where they slide toward the front, while the order takers pull the orders from the front, making sure the oldest are served first. When McDonald's first popularized them, they were considered revolutionary by the industry. Versions of them still are used, but mostly behind the scenes now, because they want to preserve the illusion that YOUR order just got made especially for YOU! Now THAT'S a LOL!
What fast food places pre-cook? Admittedly I don't go often but when I've been in Wendy's, McDonalds and the rare Burger King they always seem to cook them up right then.
Most fast food places pre-cook, especially during meal rush times. They don't all pre-assemble, but they generally keep the cooked food "on deck" in warmers. There are time limits for how long you can legally/safely keep the food sitting in a warmer, but, no, for the most part, your food isn't cooked on the spot, particularly if you go at a high traffic time.
I had a summer job working in a little snack bar at Scripp's Institute of Oceanography. We precooked burgers and chicken breast sandwiches by necessity for the lunch rush. They were kept on top of the grill in a pan of liquid to keep them moist then heated up before serving. You don't want to get between a hungry busy scientist and their research!
We actually discovered this french fries thing accidentally over 20 years ago.
My great aunt was in a nursing home and as a treat she loved McDonald's french fries. But she couldn't have salt. So we would order them without salt and a fresh batch was made up just for that.
I worked at Wendy's when I was younger and we never kept burgers in warming bins. Each burger went directly from grill to sandwich. If burgers sat on the grill too long, they became chili meat. The chicken sandwiches were freshly cooked and held in a warmer for up to 20 minutes.
And the no salt french fries order is certainly not new. We did that back in the late 60s. And I'm sure people did it even earlier.
What an odd concept...lying to get fresher food. Every fast food joint I've been in in my home town serves my food hot and fresh. Nothing tastes like it was lying around or reheated.
I've been doing this for years, I don't like salty fries and my kids don't need all that salt either.
Yes, but you really need the French fries.
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