Arby's Regaining the Fast Food Favorite (ingredient, breakfast, McDonald's, commercials)
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We don't have one near us, so it's very rare that we go to Arby's when faced with many other options, but the last time we went a few months ago it was quite good. I enjoyed the flavors of the two sandwiches we purchased. I also liked their fries. I recently saw their newest specials and now I have a hankering to go back again soon.
My husband and I like the classic roast beef and all the sides. We only eat there about once or twice a year, however. We go to Chik-fil-A about three times a year, and Sonic about three times a year, and Good Times once or twice. That's it for our fast food outings.
Interesting. The roast beef is the signature sandwich and a nice alternative to a burger.
That is the problem. Their "signature sandwich" is ground beef, glued together, precooked and reheated.
If one can get fresh sliced roast beef at Jersey Mike's, why can't one get fresh sliced real roast beef at a restaurant that "specializes" in roast beef?
That is the problem. Their "signature sandwich" is ground beef, glued together, precooked and reheated.
If one can get fresh sliced roast beef at Jersey Mike's, why can't one get fresh sliced real roast beef at a restaurant that "specializes" in roast beef?
REALLY? It certainly does not taste like it at the Arby's we have visited! Anyway, I checked it out online (link below), and it does refer to "roasts", not ground beef. Anyway, I checked it out online, and Snopes rated the rumor that Arby's is not real beef FALSE.
From the link and from Arby's corporate (quote, my italics):
"Thank you for doing your part to curb the urban legend about Arby’s Roast Beef. I’m sure I’m not the first to express frustration about this type of story.The answer to your question is no. Our product does not arrive as a paste, gel or liquid. Arby’s Roast Beef consists entirely of Beef and a Self-Basting solution, which contains just enough water to keep the product juicy throughout our restaurants’ 3-hour roasting process and during slicing — this ensures that we will deliver the quality that our customers have come to expect from our famous roast beef sandwiches. - Jim Lowder, Arby’s, LLC Quality Assurance"
HOWEVER, Snopes goes on to say (quote, my italics):
"A number of sources of our acquaintance who have worked in the kitchens and at the counters of various Arby’s bear out what the corporation has to say. They told us that the beef arrives pre-packaged at each restaurant, leaving employees of each franchise only to cut open the plastic, place the roasts on cooking sheets, and cook them for three hours before cooling, slicing, and serving. As one of those employees who had been in charge of the meat slicer at an Arby’s restaurant explained to us, most packaged bulk meat arrives packed in a gelatinous broth inside plastic airtight bags. Someone who is less than familiar with what the product looks like upon arrival might mistake the gelatinous broth for the beef itself, then from there jump to the conclusion that the contents of the package is a gel or paste. Granted, what’s inside those airtight bags may not resemble actual roast beef in color or texture (the meat is kind of grayish and rather soft and squishy, enough so that one could easily poke a finger through it), but it’s still not a liquid, gel or paste."
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The small Arby's that we used to go to years ago had the slicer right on the counter and we could watch them using it. In fact it was not sliced until you ordered. It was a big roast beef, just like one would see at Jersey Mike's. The only difference is that because of their process and shipping it's cooked longer and therefore not much pink left in it. That's one reason I like it, I prefer well done roast beef.
The small Arby's that we used to go to years ago had the slicer right on the counter and we could watch them using it. In fact it was not sliced until you ordered. It was a big roast beef, just like one would see at Jersey Mike's. The only difference is that because of their process and shipping it's cooked longer and therefore not much pink left in it. That's one reason I like it, I prefer well done roast beef.
That is how I remember them as well, way back when and you knew they were real meat, not meat with a bunch of filler.
Well, I used to eat a lot of Arby's sandwiches back when they had a really great coupon deal. This would have been late 70s/early 80s. I worked there one summer and it was a real exploitation hell hole. Never eaten one since. I got fired for calling in sick (no kidding!)
The meat wasn't "beef roast" like you see at the butcher counter in the grocery store, but rather a sort of "sectioned and reconstituted" beef. Yes, it's all meat, but there's no grain to it like it had when it was cut off the cow. This is the same kind of thing as the canned hams you see. You do know the hind leg of a hog isn't shaped like a rounded-off isosceles triangle, don't you? And salmon are not cylindrical. And turkeys aren't round with half their meat grey and half white, either.
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