I read with interest replies to the post about “recycling” uneaten food. I’d like some more ex-fast food employees (you may respond anonymously if you wish) to help me determine whether to swear off Taco Hell, etc. or alternatively feel better about occasionally patronizing such establishments.
I hear the food there is reconstituted powder, everything shipped to the restaurants in 50 pound bags. I get a little better feeling about Wendy’s - am I wrong? What’s the Straight Dope on fast food vs. “actual” restaurants in general?
Not having any fast food experience-but lots in restaurant kitchens,I’d say the biggest thing in determining if the food you’re getting is unsullied would be to judge the professional appearance/traits of the workers.
On average I’d think the average burger flipper/condiment slatherer is a less motivated employee in terms of putting out qualty food.Not to mention a probable lower maturity level of said worker.
I like the taste of various fast food products,but don’t like to
order in a place where you can’t see the food prepared from the ordering line.
That said MANY restaurants use reconstituted/and or frozen foods,the major chains,Chili’s etc.,among them.
You want fresh know your restaurant management team.
Some foods just can’t be powdered/reconstituted: Ground beef, for instance, is going to be exactly like what it looks like it is. In general, you can rest assured that the fast food places are doing whatever is cheapest and allows them to maintain whatever their quality standards are. For some foods, that means dehydrated stuff, but not for all.
But why does it matter? If it tastes bad, then you don’t need us to tell you not to eat it, and if it tastes good, then who cares how it was shipped to the restaraunt.
When I was a youngster I worked for the big BK. I don’t really know what to say about the quality of food, except that most of it’s frozen, not reconstituted. There was a time when BK experimented with powdered eggs, but it didn’t last long.
What keeps me the hell away from the places is the staff. In my time I saw employees spit on food, rub it on thier crotch, put pubic hairs in sauces, and so many other things it makes my skin crawl. Typically this was done to a customer that was rude or overly demanding. There was one guy who used to scratch his sweaty ass (INSIDE the pants) before making the bosses lunch. He would then fail to wash his hands and make lunch for the customers.
To this day I do my best to avoid any fast food, and when I order, I’m always as polite as I can be.
When I was a youngster I worked for the big BK. I don’t really know what to say about the quality of food, except that most of it’s frozen, not reconstituted. There was a time when BK experimented with powdered eggs, but it didn’t last long.
What keeps me the hell away from the places is the staff. In my time I saw employees spit on food, rub it on thier crotch, put pubic hairs in sauces, and so many other things it makes my skin crawl. Typically this was done to a customer that was rude or overly demanding. There was one guy who used to scratch his sweaty ass (INSIDE the pants) before making the bosses lunch. He would then fail to wash his hands and make lunch for the customers.
To this day I do my best to avoid any fast food, and when I order, I’m always as polite as I can be.
That’s why, on the rare occasion I eat fast food, I go to Subway. The food is reasonably fresh, the employees wear gloves, and you can watch them make your sandwitch – no surprises!
Former Mickey D’s grunt checking in…
In my experience McD is very clean compared to most other places. I never saw anything like what welby1 saw. In fact, juts the opposite. We had to throw out frozen patties because they touched the counter top. Food was tossed after 10 minutes in the holding bin. The only caveat is avoid going in the last hour before they close. They are trying to get a head start on closing, so they will cook up a bunch of stuff and keep in 30-40 minutes. Of course, you can custom order something to make sure they cook it fresh, but you may run into the pissed off employee then.
Maybe the store I worked in was atypical, but I’m pretty confident eating at the arches at least. If you’re an a-hole to the help though, I can imagine you might get a surprise in your lunch, but, hey, who’s fault is that?
karmakaze, i too had heard about the powdered stuff, a few years back. but due to assiduous research, and a posting on the SDMB, the answer to my question was a resounding “No!”.
specifically, i had heard Taco Bell used a product called Buf (umlaut over the u, pronounced /boof/), powdered dehydrated beef.
and that Arby’s uses some kind of dehydrated gelatinous slab in their Roast Beef.
i never heard about the arby’s, but i can tell you the taco bell powdered beef story is most definitely false.
My first job was at Wendy’s, and although I only worked there for a month (thank heavens), the only thing I observed to put me off fast food was that the burgers weren’t always cooked all the way. This has probably changed since I worked there, my god, I guess over 15 years ago (eek!). Most of the food was frozen, a good bit was fresh (produce), and the only “powdered” food was the chili seasonings. (I still love Wendy’s chili; did you know it’s made with the burger patties that broke or were too small or overcooked?)
My first and current husbands both worked in food service at both chains and local establishments, and I think chains use about the same products as fast-food as far as frozen vs. fresh is concerned. For example, my first husband worked at a place called The Fifth Quarter Steakhouse which was a subsidiary of the same people who own Captain D’s and they used the same commissary. However, I think local, non-chain places are more likely to have fresh food because they really do have to try harder and they don’t have access to these huge commissaries.
I studied the Taco Bell franchise quite heavily as part of a business school operations class because of their efficiency. There was no mention of ‘powdered food’ anywhere in anything I read.
You may have misunderstood something. They do get their ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. precut and shipped in sealed plastic bags which are refrigerated/ frozen as needed. Ground beef/ chicken is heated by placing the pre-cooked meat in hot water. They have since added a steamer/ browning device for melting cheese and for the ‘stuft burrito’ items, but these are also fairly primitive.
Back in the early 80’s things were cooked directly at the restaurant and all the vegetables sliced by hand. As a result you had MORE contaminants getting into the food then, and less consistency between restaurants (which is the last thing you want in a branded establishment). They switched over to the new method sometime in the mid-to-late 80s and their profitability soared while quality increased. Personally, I feel a lot safer eating at Taco Bell then a lot of other places. Besides, I’m not sure how you can ‘piss off’ the cooking staff anyway. In my experience, people are rude to the cashier and the guy in the back making the food (who is usually at least somewhat visible and risks being caught if he does anything anyway) is removed from the abuse. So unless there is a hidden button on the cash register that says (“blow nose in food/ asshole customer present”) I doubt the guy in the back is even aware of what is going on in the front most of the time.
I think this must be faux - I’m a pretty big fan of Arby’s and also a pretty picky eater - I think their roast beef is pretty much just roast beef.
As to judging the quality of the food based on the appearance of the wait staff - I wouldn’t.
Way back when I worked at a certain un-named pancake house. The front staff were all very well gromed, tidy, friendly, etc. However, the nasty, nasty stuff that went on in the kitchen was enough to put me off:
pancakes
ceasar salad
chicken sandwiches
etc. etc. etc.
FWIW, my dad worked at an Arby’s for a brief period back in the early 70’s. According to him, the beef was actually a reconstituted mixture of beef and beans. Judging from the texture of Arby’s roast beef, I’d be willing to believe that the meat is, at the very least, reconstituted. Not that it’s not tasty, but it sure is phony.
From an former Arby’s employee(not me), it’s real roast, that is pumped with water and solution, then shipped. It is then heated for around 12 hours at 275, then served. No big thing, it’s just pumped with water to get more out of the roast.
I worked at a BK, everything was shipped frozen, but no real issues. I still eat at fast food joints. No big thing.
I worked at McDonald’s for years all through high school. The place was extremely clean and quality of food was a high priority. The only thing I ever saw that wasn’t good was a couple of occasions the onions for the quarter pounder were a bit slimely and there was none better available so they were washed off… but that was on tiny exception in an otherwise totally clean and well kept place.
Also as jk1245 said, closing time is not the best time to eat either…
if you wish) to help me determine whether to swear off Taco Hell, etc. or alternatively feel better about occasionally patronizing such establishments.