McDonald’s Canada Reveals How They Make Famous Fries
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Tim Boyle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — McDonald’s Canada is at it again, demystifying its French fry recipe “from the farm all the way to the fryer.”
In its new behind-the-scenes video, Scott Gibson, manager of the company’s supply chain, takes customer questions on McDonald’s world-famous fries.
Gibson addresses the first question asking whether or not the potatoes used by the fast food restaurant are real. Standing in the middle of the Levesque farm with farmer Angelo Levesque, the two discuss how the potatoes are harvested and sorted at the farm. They are then brought to McCain, the company’s fries supplier, to be prepped before heading to stores.
Mario Dupuis, production manager at McCain, describes how they prepare the fries by washing the potatoes to remove the rocks and the dirt and put them through a “peeling system.”
Afterwards, they are cut and blanched “to remove the natural sugars from the strips, this will prevent some variation in the color once we cook the product,” said McCain.
Next, they are washed in a textural solution to give it the “nice even coat we see in the restaurants,” said McCain, adding that they also use an ingredient on the strips to prevent the fries from greying or oxidizing. Afterwards, they are dried and fried for 45 to 60 seconds. Finally, they are frozen, packaged and shipped to stores.
Once in stores, the fries are deep-fried in 100 percent vegetable oil. They are salted with about 1 tablespoon of salt per four orders of medium fries.
For those concerned about salt intake, Gibson suggests that customers can order their fries without the salt.
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