# I don't like those little cups of ketchup that fast food places have now.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 30, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273 "2001-07-30T22:10:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/1 "2001-07-30T22:10:35Z")
For several reasons.
1. I like to have a lot of ketchup. This requires me spending a great deal of time pumping the stupid little ketchup well, when I could be enjoying my Whopper.
2. I am not a dipper. I like to pour the ketchup on top of my fries. Filling the little ketchup tub is therefore a great deal of wasted effort. In the olden days, people who wanted to dip just squirted their ketchup packets in a neat little puddle over on the side.
3. During the lunch rush, the Burger King where I eat once a week or so gives you a bag whether you plan to eat in or out. How the hell is a person supposed to carry a bag fulla junkfood accross the store (I do enjoy Burger King on occasion, but I will not call it a “resturant”) while holding four tubs of ketchup upright so they don’t spill?
4. Half the time the ketchup well is empty. Pumping is futile. You just get air, or the occasional high velocity squirt of ketchup on your new shirt.
I am quite aware that dealing with big tubs of ketchup is cheaper than packaging them in little squirtable packets. But it is hardly as convenient. Therefore, I now always ask to have ketchup packets shoved in my bag. I refuse to use the evil ketchup well. This annoys the minimum wage lackeys to no end, but I don’t care, because they’re being paid to serve me.
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### Author:  [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/2 "2001-07-30T22:19:46Z")
1. Do you think they ever clean the container out? No, they just keep adding ketchup to the top. I shudder to think what is growing at the bottom of the container. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/3 "2001-07-30T23:11:27Z")
Excellent points. They need to be addressed. Otherwise, I will be forced to be like that bubbly woman in the old Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing commercial… bringing my own ketchup bottle to BK.
**I like to pour the ketchup on top of my fries.**
This is the correct answer. All you need to do then is top it off with enough salt to de-ice the Jersey Turnpike.
I would just like to add that you may ask me if I want some fries with my ketchup at your own risk.
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### Author:  [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/4 "2001-07-30T23:18:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by porcupine \*
> \*\*5. Do you think they ever clean the container out? No, they just keep adding ketchup to the top. I shudder to think what is growing at the bottom of the container. :eek: \*\*
Not much. Ketchup is somewhat acidic and does a decent job of keeping stuff out on its own. In fact, if they aren’t washing it, it isn’t the bottom of the cotainer you need to worry about, its the inside of the lid and the pump itself. Ugh.
My question is…can’t you just pump it onto the fries?
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/5 "2001-07-30T23:21:08Z")
I must point out what an utter joy these soufle cups are to us dippers.
You get yourself two cupfuls for your fries. You dip into one until it gets to a level where it isn’t deep enough to get the required ketchup on your fry. Switch to cup number two. Repeat process until you have two soufle cups, neither of which have enough kethcup in them to adequately do the job. Now, here’s the tricky part – you take one soufle cup and you squeeze out the ketchup into the other one and _Voila!_, a whole new cupful of kethupy heaven for your pomme frites!
No more great gobs of ketchup smeared all over your placemat. Ooh, I hate that. It makes it so hard to solve the maze.
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### Author:  [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/6 "2001-07-30T23:21:17Z")
Ketchup? Feh.
Everyone knows the only acceptable condiments for fries are gravy and cheese.
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### Author:  [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/7 "2001-07-30T23:24:14Z")
I am firmly in the pro-little-tubs-of-ketchup camp. I am a dipper. My fries get dipped, and the little ketchup packets are hardly capacious enough to accomodate my dipping habits. So, the tubs come as welcome relief from tearing the little plastic packets ad nauseum, and dipping into puddles on wax paper.
Besides, some places let you pump out little tubs of BBQ sauce, or even Ranch dressing, so you have a veritable smorgasbord of dipping options at your disposal.
Hail to the ketchup pumps! Long live the little cardboard tubs! Up with pumping!
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2001, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/8 "2001-07-30T23:52:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kamandi \*
> \*\*Ketchup? Feh.
>
> Everyone knows the only acceptable condiments for fries are gravy and cheese. \*\*
**You Heretic!! You shall, heh, FRY in hell!!**
[Vincent Vega] Do you know what they do with french fries in Amsterdam, man? They fucking _drown_ them in **mayonaise**. No shit man, I’ve seen them do it! [/ Vincent Vega]
Ketchup. Cheese. Gimme a BREAK.
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### Author:  [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/9 "2001-07-31T00:23:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*
> \*\*
>
> [Vincent Vega] Do you know what they do with french fries in Amsterdam, man? They fucking _drown_ them in **mayonaise**. No shit man, I’ve seen them do it! [/ Vincent Vega]
>
> Ketchup. Cheese. Gimme a BREAK. \*\*
_Shudder._
Which only leaves one to ponder . . . how can such a fine and ancient people go so terribly terribly wrong ?
Count me in with the dippers, and leave the **mayo** on the frickin’ burger !
_Gross._
- **NM**
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/10 "2001-07-31T00:29:11Z")
I tried mayonnaise on my fries, and I liked it.
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### Author:  [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/11 "2001-07-31T00:42:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Kamandi \*
> > \*\*Ketchup? Feh.
> >
> > Everyone knows the only acceptable condiments for fries are gravy and cheese. \*\*
>
> **You Heretic!! You shall, heh, FRY in hell!!**
> \*\*
That’s ok, as long as I’m not drowned in ketchup.
Sometimes I put vinegar on my fries. But when I do that, I call them by their proper name: _chips_.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/12 "2001-07-31T00:57:56Z")
Mmmmmm…cheese fries…hot melted cheddar cheese covering crispy golden fries, so thick you need a fork…
Mayonnaise is the Devil’s Semon.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/13 "2001-07-31T01:11:58Z")
How did an ancient people go so wrong?
**Forget** the Dutch. Forget the American, the English, and _especially_ the French.
[Behold who the True Inventors of the Fries are!](http://www.belgianfries.com/index.cfm?Module=histor1)
Yes, the Belgians. God bless’em. And they put _mayonaise_ on their fries. You guys putting ketchup on them is akin to myself ordering a Ford Mustang V8 at the dealer, and asking if he has a diesel version as well. See what I’m saying?
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### Author:  [@Novus\_Opiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novus_Opiate)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/14 "2001-07-31T01:13:35Z")
I love barbecue sauce with my fries. Ketchup is just too much tomato for me… And, barbecue sauce almost always come in the convenient dipping tubs 🙂
Novus Opiate - Mmmmm
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### Author:  [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/15 "2001-07-31T01:16:40Z")
I can say with 100% certainty that the ketchup pumps are a serious improvement over those little packets. It’s much faster to get the ketchup I need this way.
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### Author:  [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/16 "2001-07-31T01:19:18Z")
I adore mayo on my french fries. Especially on those nice thick steak fries…
And friedo, why dont you just dump your fries out on your tray and run them under the ketchup pump? Bypass the little tubs and drizzle your fries the way you like them.
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### Author:  [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/17 "2001-07-31T01:37:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \*
> \*\*Mayonnaise is the Devil’s Semon. \*\*
Hey! That’s Miracle Whip!!
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### Author:  [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/18 "2001-07-31T01:45:22Z")
Whenever I go to McDonald’s I request a small cup full of Big Mac™ sauce. It is much better than either barbeque sauce or ketchup(my 2nd and 3rd choices). They usually give me a whole small drink cup full, usually more than adequate. Try it next time you hit the Arches, I am sure you will agree with me.
When I go to Dick’s Drive-In, in Seattle, I buy their tartar sauce, which is quite easily the best I’ve ever tasted.
And when I am in Utah “I do as Utahns do” and use what they call “fry sauce” which I believe is made from equal parts of ketchup and mayonaisse.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/19 "2001-07-31T01:54:54Z")
Now, I adore Big Macs, but that sounds more than vaguely disgusting. More so if Big Mac’s one of the cooks in the back…
BBQ sauce all the way. You can’t beat McD’s BBQ sauce with fries.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Gretchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Gretchen)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2001, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-those-little-cups-of-ketchup-that-fast-food-places-have-now/74273/20 "2001-07-31T02:20:06Z")
I don’t like 'em either, not since I saw a homeless guy in Vancouver wrap his lips around the nozzle, and start pumping until he had his ketchup-y fill.
Allright, NOW who likes them? 🙂
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