Did Mc Donalds Change their Recipee over the years?

Question

It just seems that over the years the quality has really gone down at Mc Donalds.

I remember going there when I was a little kid and the food would actually be good. The burgers had that special taste, the fries where crispy and it was just an overall good experence.

Today, they no longer use animal fat to cook their fries, which imho I think takes away from the taste. Instead of making burgers special order off the grill, they now zap them in the microwave for a few minutes to warm them up. Last but not least, lets not forget when they used to toast the buns, and they where all nice and crispy right around the edges.

I think Burger King has gone the same route as Mc Donalds when it comes to Quality, and the only one that has really not changed anything is Wendys.

Any thoughts?

Answer 1

there food went down hill after they went from styrofoad to paper packaging

Answer 2

I think there are a few different contributing factors to this. Firstly, ingredients have to have changed over the years, I mean, they must change their lettuce and tomato supplier every couple of years anyways, most businesses do change suppliers at least occasionally. I'm sure that some of the ingredients (sauces, flavorings, condiments, powdered ingredients for mixes) have had their makeup changed dramatically over the last decade as technology has advanced to allow more things to be pre-made with a longer shelf life (this usually makes thing decidedly less tasty)

Also there's now more people, who want more things faster. The little things like evenly applied Mc Chicken Sauce and a crispy well toasted bun are usually the first casualty of the "steam-lining of operations".

Mix all of that with the fact that most employees of the franchise don't really want to be there and don't really care if they make a good nicely presented product or a turd burger (since they'll get paid the same either way) and we can begin to understand why the quality has degraded over time.

*Some of your displeasure with the Mc Donald's experience may also be psychological. When you're a child going to Mc Donald's is an exciting experience to be looked forward to when you are an adult is either a small part of your daily grueling monotony or an occasional annoyance.

Answer 3

Some menu items have certainly been modified over the years, many to the detriment of taste. The french fries and I assume the hash browns were cooked as late as the early 1990's in something called Interstate's Formula 47 shortening that was flavored with beef talow. This gave the fries their 'unique' taste, but wasn't very healthy at all for you. They changed the oil for the fries, but still used 'beef flavoring' without disclosing they did so. That got them sued by vegetarians and hindus. Their pies which used to be deep fried in all their restaurants are now baked in most locations, even though the baked pies have as much fat as the fried pies did. If you'd like an apple pie the way they used to be made try a McDonald's location in a place like Wal-Mart which is smaller and doesn't have room for the ovens to bake the pies so they still sell the fried variety. Very tasty, and very different, a shame you can't get the cherry version any more. Other menu items are virtually unchanged from decades earlier. They have made adjustments to their shakes over the years. The biggest change they've made was however was portion sizing over the years. Large drinks today are much larger than anything you could get in years past. I believe a 22oz cup was the biggest they offer and that's the size of a small or regular now! Large orders of fries are also much larger than they ever were in the 70s.
The bottom line is, fast food is NOT health food. Enjoy it as an occasional treat and try to watch what you eat the rest of the time. Things like removing beef talow or baking pies does very little to change the nutritional value of the products for the better.

Answer 4

Actually, they did use animal fat to fry their french fries. I had friends who worked there and they told me about it. They used a block of beef fat (tallow), which gave the fries that taste. The reason they stopped was that the vegetarians got all pissed off because they thought that McDonald's fries were a vegetarian choice when they technically weren't. I agree that McDonald's kind of sucks now. They don't microwave the bugers though, at least not here. They have a huge press grill with a plate that sandwiches the burgers between two grills. It cooks two dozen patties in thirty seconds. They do nuke the buns though. The only thing I will touch at McDicks is the cheeseburgers and the fries...nothing else. The rest is just too damn greasy.

Answer 5

it all stars when some customers complain about fat foods and the restaurants have to change the way they have to be cook or they would have to close . The restaurants are required by law to use special oil or meat low on cholesterol and about the meet they still put them in the boiler the meet cant just be in the microwave they won't cook . Every time you go to a restaurant and want a good hamburger ask for off the boiler well done it takes 2 minutes more but worth it and about the bun tell them toast they have to make it to you .

Answer 6

Just a comment - I have never been too fond of McDonalds fries but I don't believe they were ever cooked in animal fat. They always used vegetable oil -- experimented a little with peanut oil. I too miss the toasted buns but there's always Steak N Shake .

Answer 7

Dont celebrate your real b-day at mcdonalds just get a group of friends together and be like hey i have this 10 ppl party thing that i won at mc d's you guys wanna come hang out and help me use it?

Answer 8

Your question was: Did Mc Donalds Change their Recipes over the years?

My Answer: Yes, most definitely. Suppliers (vendors) come and go. Trends in fast food eataing come and go. Equipment to prepare and cook the food comes and goes. Rules and Regulations comes and goes. Customers? Yep, we come and go.

Answer 9

The McDonalds I work at, still toasts they're buns and we don't put our burgers in the mircowave,maybe some Mcd's do , but we don't and our fry's our cooked in canola oil. I don't know if some have changed they're standards but we have not where I work

Answer 10

I agree with you they definitely have gone down hill. Have you ever tried Carl's Jr. There very good.