Another major variable is the type of oil in which they're being fried, as some of these can impart a distinct taste to the fries, especially if they're not changed as frequently as they should be.
As health concerns over saturated fat grew in the 1990s, McDonald's finally made the switch to vegetable oil. Unfortunately, customers noticed that the fries didn't taste how they used to. To mimic the chain's original oil blend, the oil is laced with natural flavoring to replicate that mouthwatering smell.
Over the decades, the fast-food giant has changed the oil used to cook those signature fries, often in response to public pressure for a "healthier" French fry, resulting in a product that many swear doesn't taste quite as good as it once did (not that we've stopped eating them, mind you).
Blanching: The Reason Why French Fries Taste Better
Your potatoes need to take two separate dips in hot oil to reach restaurant quality. Oil-blanching is a two-part process that reduces the moisture and starch content in your fries, helping them crisp up.
Vegetable Oil
The blend includes canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, and natural beef flavor. Now the different oils are probably pretty self-explanatory. But what is "natural beef flavor"? That's what gives McDonald's french fries their signature taste.
We use a blend including canola and sunflower oils to cook with. Like all vegetable oils, it's cholesterol free. We use only 100% Aussie grown beef to serve you the best beef burgers, sourced from farmers across the country.
McDonald's New Fries Are Veggies, But Not Healthy
McDonald's no longer fries its french fries in lard, but its recipe does contain a beef flavor that includes both wheat and milk (making them not vegan, vegetarian, or even gluten-free). Here's a look at what the chain's fries are made of in the U.S.
Once at the restaurant, our fries are simply cooked in dedicated frying vats in a non-hydrogenated blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil which is 100 percent suitable for vegetarians. In fact, McDonald's French Fries are officially accredited by the Vegetarian Society.
Some of this oil will be absorbed by the potato on cooking. The cooked Fries will therefore end up being approximately 86% potato - the remaining 14% being vegetable oil.
Q: My French fries taste odd, what's up? A: It could be the potatoes: there are variations in varieties, or the time of year the potatoes were processed or perhaps, they picked up an off flavor in storage.
In the 1990s, as health concerns over saturated fat reached an all-time high, McDonald's faced a backlash against the use of beef tallow, and worried about losing customers, the chain switched to vegetable oil. Unfortunately, many customers said the new texture and taste weren't up to the mark.
In 1990, the company announced that they would replace the beef tallow with 100 percent vegetable oil. After the announcement, McDonald's stock fell 8.3 percent. The new fry didn't stack up. As it turns out, the beef tallow had added more than just cholesterol to the signature french fry.
The taste will be familiar to Americans 40 and older who visited fast-food restaurants before 1990, the year McDonald's stopped using animal lard to cook its popular fries.
Our World Famous Fries® are made from quality potatoes, including Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet and the Shepody. The suppliers we work with first peel, cut and blanche the potatoes. They then dry, partially fry and quickly freeze the fries for our restaurants.
In 1990, faced with Sokolof's campaign and growing public concerns about health, McDonald's gave in. Beef tallow was eliminated from the famous French fry formula and replaced with 100% vegetable oil.
At the time a McDonald's company spokesman said that, "The natural flavouring consists of a minuscule amount of beef extract". In Australia, McDonald's fries are made with potatoes, canola oil, dextrose, (may contain) sodium metabisulphate and antioxidant 306 – also known as Vitamin E.
However, if you are in the U.S., Australia, Canada or most other countries, McDonald's french fries are not vegetarian due to the beef flavor + cross contamination issues. As far as we know, there are no plans to change the ingredients to accommodate other dietary choices such as vegan or vegetarianism.
Every one of our McDonald's burgers is made with 100% pure beef and cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else—no fillers, no additives, no preservatives. We use the trimmings of cuts like the chuck, round and sirloin for our burgers, which are ground and formed into our hamburger patties.
The move is a response to the concerns of health experts, who want to halve the salt we eat to curb cases of high blood pressure, strokes and early heart disease. Engineers have designed a special shaker to ensure fries have about 23 per cent less salt. Rival Burger King is expected to follow suit.
Bingo. So McDonald's does indeed use a double fry method, but it's far from the traditional one.
Here's the Secret…
Fortunately, the solution is pretty simple. Just ask for fries without salt! “If you order a burger or fries always ask them without salt or the seasoning on the burger,” a former McDonald's employee wrote on Reddit. “They will have to make them fresh since they always put each on them.”
From farm to finger, Australia's Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurants, switched in 2012 from imported sustainable palm oil to 100 per cent Australian-grown high oleic canola oil, to cook their legendary 'finger licking' golden fried chicken and chips.
Consider the following enemies of cooking oil: Oxygen, salt, soap, heat, carbon buildup and water. All of these elements pose a great threat to the quality of your restaurant's cooking oil and food you serve, and are abundant in any commercial kitchen.
5. Believe it or not, the Filet-O-Fish is actually fish. McDonald's uses Marine Stewardship Council certified wild-caught Alaska Pollock.