Why does McDonald’s taste different across the country?

Posted by Ninja008866@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 20 comments

I travel fairly regularly for work all over the UK and if I get in to the hotel late I will almost always order a McDonald’s but I find things taste different across the country? Chicken selects being the biggest offender. I’ve never worked there so totally clueless on this one but I would have thought somewhere heavily franchised like that would have a consistent approach.

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20 Comments

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Smacks-@reddit

Variables: Quality of the oil (how often it’s changed and/ or filtered) Amount of time selects are held in the UHC (heating cabinet) Non Variable: All the chicken comes from Thailand and McD has genuinely rigorous quality control to ensure product quality Equipment is all calibrated to the same standard time and temps Conclusion: Some stores will be better than others but I can think of no reason why this could be noticeably geographical - sorry!

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Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit

No reason why they can't use British chicken

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Smacks-@reddit

Absolutely - I think my point was that the product isn’t sourced locally so therefore this couldn’t be a factor in the OP’s dilemma!

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Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit

Biggest problem with the chicken selects is that they can be underdone at times .

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Disastrous-Pepper391@reddit

Cos its crap.

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Thomas5020@reddit

Dirty oil and high hold time is the likely problem. Some restaurants will stick strictly to the McDonalds guidelines, but most franchises won't. However long they choose to extend that by, is their discretion. Some clearly push it too far.

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

Don't they cook to order now?

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Thomas5020@reddit

I highly doubt it. At rush hours it would be simply impossible to meet demand.

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

Pretty sure they stopped five years or so ago. Their double cheeseburgers are notably worse for not getting to spend time under heat lamps ☹️

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Rude-Possibility4682@reddit

It's the employees spit from different regions, is the taste you're noticing.

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Ninja008866@reddit (OP)

I knew I wasn’t crazy thinking they tasted different!

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LondonCycling@reddit

Can't say I've noticed. In fact I'd say one of McDonald's' few selling points is that it is consistent.

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TheAdmirationTourny@reddit

One of my lecturers at uni commented on how she loved McDonald's anywhere she went in the world, she could go inside and get something familiar.

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THEPSR@reddit

They make the "fries" with a different kind of plastic

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royals796@reddit

Joke so funny you made it twice

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THEPSR@reddit

They make the "fries" using different plastic in other parts of the country

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Immorals1@reddit

Dirty oil probably. The food is all universally bland when it's shipped out.

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wardyms@reddit

It could also be brand new oil too.

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NaturalHistory5436@reddit

Might be to do with how old the oil is?

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