Cheeseburger (McDonald's)

How a Cheeseburger (McDonald’s) Gets From a Plant to a Plate

McDonald’s is a major global fast food chain, offering an iconic menu of classic items such as the cheeseburger. In the USA alone, McDonald’s serves an estimated 25 million customers a day and nearly 7 million lbs of beef per day according to a 2015 report. So, how exactly does the hamburger, a staple item on the McDonald’s menu, arrive at your plate?

In this article, we will explore from start to finish the steps necessary to turn raw ingredients into a delicious home-cooked meal. From harvesting and processing of the beef, vegetable, and cheese ingredients, to the way it is cooked and served, you will gain a better understanding of how a McDonald’s cheeseburger arrives at your table ready for consumption.

Harvesting and Processing the Beef

A McDonald’s cheeseburger starts with the beef. This particular chain sources its beef from supply chain partners that raise exclusively Angus cattle, which best allows for achieving the desired flavor and texture profiles. To ensure product quality and safety, these suppliers have a stringent testing program in place to ensure that the beef is free of contaminants and only of the highest quality.

The beef then moves to the processing plant. Raw and unprocessed, the beef is inspected, trimmed, and broken down into ingredients that are subsequently ground, shredded, chopped, and blended. For example, a chopped beef patty may start out as a center cut chuck, a piece of beef that is both high in flavor and tenderness.

Once all of the beef has been processed and inspected, it is then sent to various locations all over the country, depending on where it will be used to make McDonald’s burgers. In addition to being frozen or preserved, the beef is also vacuum packed to maintain freshness and stability during transportation.

Processing the Vegetables

The next step in producing a McDonald’s burger is processing the vegetables. The vegetables can be either prewashed or washed before further processing, depending on consumer preference. In order to preserve the quality of the veggies, they are sorted and washed with cold water and inspected for damage and discoloration.

For instance, tomatoes are cut into slices, onions are chopped into small pieces, and lettuce is shredded in order to be used as toppings. To ensure that the vegetables retain a fresh and crisp texture and look appetizing, these vegetables are cooled to just above room temperature and placed in a tray with a preservative solution called “ethylene” to seal in freshness.

These vegetables can then be utilized as ingredients in various stages of the McDonald’s cheeseburger production process, such as the actual manufacturing of the hamburger patty.

Processing the Cheese

The cheeseburger is built upon the cheese. Its flavor is distinct and adds that unmistakable cheesy flavor to an already delicious burger. For McDonald’s burgers, the cheese is sourced from a supplier approved by the company, who provide freshly processed cheeses that are transported to the restaurants where they are applied as toppings.

The cheese itself goes through a myriad of processes before it’s ready for use. The cheese starts as a fresh product, such as cultured milk or fresh butter, and is subject to a process of molding, pressing, cutting, slicing, and wrapping.

McDonald’s uses American cheese slices as its standard cheese, due to its flavor, melt reconstruction and cost effectiveness.

Assembling the Cheeseburger

McDonald’s uses a range of procedures during the assembling process, aimed at maintaining product quality and consistency to ensure that each customer receives the same burger each and every time. The beef patties are cooked on a heated grill, the buns are toasted, the toppings are added, and the cheese is melted. Once the burger has been assembled, it is then ready to be served.

Packaging & Delivery

Once assembled, the cheeseburger is automatically placed in a box and sealed. The majority of McDonald’s restaurants in the USA now use what is known as the ‘Quick Pack’ method. Here, up to eight individual boxes of burgers are placed in a larger box, creating a “convenience pack”. This method is designed to make it easier to carry and deliver the burgers to the customers.

In the US, delivery orders are placed via Uber Eats and DoorDash, with third party delivery companies such as Grubhub also providing services, allowing customers to have burgers delivered right to their door.

Conclusion

When you receive your McDonald’s hamburger, you may not give much thought to what it takes to create this iconic dish. From the harvesting and processing of the beef, the selection and processing of the vegetables and cheese, to the assembly and delivery of the burgers, the amount of effort that goes into producing a McDonald’s cheeseburger is impressive.

To create millions of burgers per day of consistent quality and flavor for consumers all over the world certainly isn’t easy. The success of McDonald’s as an international chain partly relies on the continued performance of each and every one of these steps and processes. Without them, McDonald’s wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is today.