I don’t care enough to research it, but I remember hearing years ago the McRib comes around when pork prices were low enough to make distribution and sales viable for McDonalds.
Cue someone who knows about this and cares…
The conventional wisdom seems to be that McRib doesn’t sell well on a long-term basis (compared to McDonalds’ permanent menu items), but people who love it really love it, and it works extremely well for them to use it as a limited-time item, which gets them a lot of PR and buzz when it comes back.
And, they usually run it during the 4th quarter, because McDonalds’ sales are typically a little soft at this time of year.
Meh. I just had to try it once, a few years ago when it came around.
Is the recipe the same from year to year? Or do they change it from time to time?
My reaction wasn’t entirely Pit-worthy, but if I wrote in this thread what I thought, it would probably qualify as thread-shitting.
That would be these. Winco here (San Joaquin Valley) has it too. Not bad. Much better than my one experience with McRib. The BBQ sauce actually has some non-null flavor to it.
It seems like there’s a McRib thread every time it’s released. This one (from 2011) discussed the topic briefly. I posted a link that seemed to at least suggest that this is the case. I’ve since heard, apocryphally, that prices for pork trimmings are at their lowest this time of year.
I suspect @kenobi_65’s logic is a larger factor.
At about 6:05, she pulls out the bag which is labeled "Shaker Fries’ so I assume it’s provided. There’s a local late-nite place here that has the tastiest skin-on fries and they’re dusted in an MSG-based seasoning. It isn’t chicken flavored but I know what she means by the slight sweetness.
I just got my first delivery of Chicken Salt. All set for Jan. 1!
My dad was known for being willing to eat anything… even he wouldn’t touch a McRib.
The way I’ve always thought of it is that, even if it was always on the menu, I might still only order it 2-3 times a year. If I’m like others who enjoy it, then it doesn’t make sense for McD’s to have it as a permanent item. By only putting it out for a couple of weeks annually, they know that people like me will get our fix when it is available, and be satiated until the next time. It works, as I don’t normally have cravings for it. This year, I didn’t even know it was available until I got in line at the drive-thru.
I’ve never tried one. I’ve always categorized them with the abomination that is boneless hot wings.
A few years ago, I gave into the hype and tried one. It really wasn’t very good, IMHO. I was expecting it to be somewhere between okay and pretty good, and it didn’t even make tolerable.
FWIW:
a) I’ve got nothing against MickeyD’s. If that’s where we’re stopping for lunch, I’ve got a number of choices I’m good with. Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, etc.
b) I like ribs. I’m not any sort of fanatic about them, but if someone’s cooking ribs, gimme some.
So I didn’t come in with any sort of negative prejudice. In fact, given that a lot of people really like them, I figured I would like them too. But I really didn’t. It was bad enough that someone would have to pay me to eat another. I really wasn’t expecting that.
UK perspective here. I’m unsure they do this in the UK, perhaps many years ago. I’m not a big McD’s fan, I reckon them to be vastly overrated, so I don’t frequent that often, but I don’t recall them selling these since perhaps the early 90s. Maybe the net has made such things more global.
The independent (uk website newspaper) reckons it’s back this time, and it was last back eight years ago, but seems so infrequent to be barely noticed.
I saw from the video that the version is much larger than I expected. It’s always claimed you get the same thing all through the year in McDonalds, so perhaps I’ll go and see.
There was something like a BBQ rib around perhaps late 80s. I remember seeing them sold in chip shops (unbattered) and in freezer shops. I remember them being very tasty and I liked them, but they disappeared. I did see a pack recently in a freezer shop and I bought some but I suspect without all the salt and MSG unfashionable in modern times, they just don’t taste the same.
That version was about 4 inches long and maybe an inch and a half wide. Which was why I was surprised by the size of the one from the video. Maybe it’s the BBQ sauce which makes it.
But it does sound as if it’s a function of US pork prices, with it’s occasionality, and such things don’t translate so well globally. EU food standards might also have played a part in it…
It’s been years since I had one. Just one.
The sauce tasted like cough medicine.
No thanks. I learned my lesson.
Well, there’s your problem right there. The McRib isn’t actually ribs. It doesn’t taste anything like ribs. It’s a vaguely pork-like meat product drenched in cheap “BBQ” sauce. If you’re expecting ribs, even cheap ribs, you’re going to be severely disappointed. If you’re expecting cheap pork-like meat product in cheap in “BBQ” sauce…well, honestly, you might still find it inedible. The McRib really seems to be one of those foods that you either love or hate.
She said in the video that a fan or colleague or something in Australia mailed it to her.
I heard years ago that McDonalds waits for pork to fall below a certain price, and only then do they restart their McRib offering.
I tried one again a few nights ago, this time I left the onions (and pickles) on it. My verdict is still “meh”. I didn’t hate it, but I have no desire to eat another one any time soon.
I’m wondering if it’s a similar reason to this happening: US Pork producer goes bust
I was in the original test market, back in 1981. I thought they were then, as noted above, the greatest invention in fast food history.
Now I only think they are OK.
One of us changed. 
As the OP, I completely agree. I’ve had 4 of them now over the past week, and the taste and texture are off. I kind of feared I had COVID because they tasted so bland. I think I’m done with them.