The weather is getting colder. Winter is upon us. You know what that means?
The McRib will be back soon. I can’t wait.
I know what your thinking. I know how many of you feel about the McRib and McDonald’s in general. But wait. Just listen.
After mentioning to my class that I often eat an Egg McMuffin for breakfast, one of my students told me that her father only allows her to eat Sausage McMuffins because he won’t let her eat “that processed McDonald’s egg.”
This makes me crazy.
Having managed McDonald’s restaurants for more than ten years and having made thousands of Egg McMuffins in my time, I know exactly how the Egg McMuffin is made.
Take a fresh egg. Yes, an actual egg. Crack it into a poaching ring set atop the grill. Place a cover on top of the ring. Add water to a small cup on top of the cover in order to poach the egg faster.
Let it cook.
When done, lift the ring. Transfer the poached egg from the grill to a toasted English muffin. Add cheese and a slice of Canadian bacon that that has been cooking on the other side of the grill.
Real eggs. Real cheese. Real English muffin, Real Canadian bacon.
You may not like the sandwich, but it’s the same poached egg sandwich that you will find in any restaurant today.
In fact, if I were to avoid anything on the McDonald’s menu, it might be the sausage. Everything on the Egg McMuffin is fresh, including the Canadian bacon, which arrives to the stores refrigerated.
The sausage is frozen. It arrives in boxes. I can’t attest to the quality of that meat.
The McRib suffers a similar stigma. Rumors abound about the ingredients of a McRib. People cringe when I tell them that I have eaten one.
McDonald’s recently sought to demystify the secret of the McRib by taking a detractor and a skeptic to the plant that produces McRibs to show them the process.
I’ll let you be the judge.
