Mickey D going Angus

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31686986/ns/business-food_inc/

$4.00 angus burgers coming to a neighborhood near you. Does it matter if its angus if it still has flavor additives?

They will lose their shirts on this one!  No one goes  to  McDonalds  to spend   that much money for a burger.  Add the  price of fires and the  drink  and   why would one bother?                                                                                                                            

Greymo


They will lose their shirts on this one!  No one goes  to  McDonalds  to spend   that much money for a burger.  Add the  price of fires and the  drink  and   why would one bother?                                                                                                                            

Have you seen their burger prices lately?  That's not that much more than a regular one.  Not including the value menu, of course.  I think it's $3.50-ish for a Big Mac.

I remember griping at paying $3.69 for a plain Big-Mac at full price.  A better burger would be worth near the same.

I do not even conceive in my wildest dream of going to Mickey D for anything.

after they get done killing it, it will taste just like their other burgers.
you could give the FF chains Kobe beef & it will come out tasting like their usual butt steak

Cosmos


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31686986/ns/business-food_inc/

$4.00 angus burgers coming to a neighborhood near you. Does it matter if its angus if it still has flavor additives?

what makes you say McDonald's has "flavor additives" in its beef?  McDonald's, like most chains, serve 100% beef patties, simply seasoned, in McDonald's case, with salt and pepper.

4 dollars isn't a lot of money.  i'll try one, and then go back to the other stuff that I grew up with and still crave.  the new items are developed seemingly to renew interest in the brand, but people go back for the signature items over the years.  

Can't wait to hear the reports on this new product.  I'm sure they spent a ton of money preparing for this. 

I'd try one if they'd make it medium rare.....

I wonder why they don't bring back their ten cent hamburgers.

Remember when McD went Pizza back around 91?  They had just bought some big Columbus Oh Chain.  Pappa Johns I think.  The had a big push over the individual pan Pizza for awhile and-Poof...  bet that was a good tax year for them!
 
I new it was a Columbus chain that hit the bifgs.  It wasnt PJ's but Donnatos.  it looks like MD has the comapny on the block with intentions of retaing control Of the Chipotle interests!

How have their McRibs held up?

brittneal


Remember when McD went Pizza back around 91?  They had just bought some big Columbus Oh Chain.  Pappa Johns I think.  The had a big push over the individual pan Pizza for awhile and-Poof...  bet that was a good tax year for them!

i'm just curious, what are you implying when you say that you bet it was a "good tax year"?  

As far as products that come and go, surely it's no surprise to anyone that this is and has been the norm for chain restaurants for many years, and it's part of their business plan.  Surely.  

tommyeats


As far as products that come and go, surely it's no surprise to anyone that this is and has been the norm for chain restaurants for many years, and it's part of their business plan.  Surely.  

Ah yes, but if some people didn't get in at least one post every 24 hours ranting about how awful (insert chain's name here) is, their lives would feel incomplete.

What I meant by Tax Year was just a jest.  i derserve a flag for bieng frivolous.  I cant speak for the logistics of the McD Pizza experiment except to say that I did live in a fair sized city while it was going on.  I was in Columbus, Oh.  I wont venture to guess about how much they invested or even how many McD's in that Metro Area were affected!  I will say that in the general area there must have been over 20 McD and as far as I remember from the ads everyone was equpped to sell them.  If you put all the affected stores nation wie(unless it was a regional promotinas the pizza co they gobbled was a columbus venture), and consider that after a very  short time McD's no longer even offered pizza at any place I recalled. Then we are talking of a major loss in investment vs revenue!  Hence  a tax write of.  it would be interesting to know how hard that hit them financcially.  Its never mentioned to my knowledge but has to be one of the biggest financial mistakes in a fast food history!

I suspect the investment was a small portion of their overall R&D budget. Just another cost of doing business, as is this current venture.

brittneal


What I meant by Tax Year was just a jest.  i derserve a flag for bieng frivolous.  I cant speak for the logistics of the McD Pizza experiment except to say that I did live in a fair sized city while it was going on.  I was in Columbus, Oh.  I wont venture to guess about how much they invested or even how many McD's in that Metro Area were affected!  I will say that in the general area there must have been over 20 McD and as far as I remember from the ads everyone was equpped to sell them.  If you put all the affected stores nation wie(unless it was a regional promotinas the pizza co they gobbled was a columbus venture), and consider that after a very  short time McD's no longer even offered pizza at any place I recalled. Then we are talking of a major loss in investment vs revenue!  Hence  a tax write of.  it would be interesting to know how hard that hit them financcially.  Its never mentioned to my knowledge but has to be one of the biggest financial mistakes in a fast food history!

There was a McD's in Vienna, Va that had the pizza for awhile, must have been one of the Beta stores. It was funny because there were at least 4 other McD's in a 5 mile radius that didn't have the pizza product.
 
I tried the pizza once, the pepperoni version, never tried it again....I don't remember it being all that awful, just not something I thought was worth trying again.
 
I always found it odd that this one particular store was the only McD's I had ever seen the pizza at...

brittneal


What I meant by Tax Year was just a jest.  i derserve a flag for bieng frivolous.  I cant speak for the logistics of the McD Pizza experiment except to say that I did live in a fair sized city while it was going on.  I was in Columbus, Oh.  I wont venture to guess about how much they invested or even how many McD's in that Metro Area were affected!  I will say that in the general area there must have been over 20 McD and as far as I remember from the ads everyone was equpped to sell them.  If you put all the affected stores nation wie(unless it was a regional promotinas the pizza co they gobbled was a columbus venture), and consider that after a very  short time McD's no longer even offered pizza at any place I recalled. Then we are talking of a major loss in investment vs revenue!  Hence  a tax write of.  it would be interesting to know how hard that hit them financcially.  Its never mentioned to my knowledge but has to be one of the biggest financial mistakes in a fast food history!

a good indicator, for the casual observer, of a multi-national corporation's financials is its stock price...which was doing well during the great Columbus Ohio pizza fiasco of 1991.

They'd be better off putting, say, a "MiniMac" on the value menu and having just one beef patti, pickles, onions, lettuce and cheese and the Big Mac sauce and skip the bun that's in the middle. 
 
I'm not paying $4 for a McDonald's burger.  I even make my own Big Macs at home now and think I've got the recipe down.
 
Andrea

Yes, but what you can make at home is not germaine.

AndreaB

I'm not paying $4 for a McDonald's burger.  I even make my own Big Macs at home now and think I've got the recipe down.
  Andrea

Is the special sauce just thousand island dressing? I've never had a Big Mac so I don't know, but I think that's what I've heard.

Ath least the clown in the box has the decency to call it "jack Sauce"!.  How many hell nos! can you add to "do you want Jack Sauce on that?"

brittneal


What I meant by Tax Year was just a jest.  i derserve a flag for bieng frivolous.  I cant speak for the logistics of the McD Pizza experiment except to say that I did live in a fair sized city while it was going on.  I was in Columbus, Oh.  I wont venture to guess about how much they invested or even how many McD's in that Metro Area were affected!  I will say that in the general area there must have been over 20 McD and as far as I remember from the ads everyone was equpped to sell them.  If you put all the affected stores nation wie(unless it was a regional promotinas the pizza co they gobbled was a columbus venture), and consider that after a very  short time McD's no longer even offered pizza at any place I recalled. Then we are talking of a major loss in investment vs revenue!  Hence  a tax write of.  it would be interesting to know how hard that hit them financcially.  Its never mentioned to my knowledge but has to be one of the biggest financial mistakes in a fast food history!

I did a case study on McD's a few years back. Believe it or not, the Arch Deluxe was a bigger flop than the pizza. They spent an INSANE amount in hopes of making McDonald's more appealing to adults. Obviously, it didn't work and I doubt an angus burger will either. The whole angus craze is kinda ridiculous to begin with.

McRib is a preformed meat patty with some sauce on it....didnt do well here in Milwaukee. As far as angus burgers at Mickey Dees-wont do it.....

Pure curiosity made me try one today. I had the "Deluxe"....lettuce, tomato, cheese and onion. It was lousy....dry and rather tasteless, bun had a weird texture, mustard was terrible. Never again. I do like the sweet tea, though.

I had one of these last night. The kiddiwinkles clamored for McDonalds (more for the playroom and the dinosaur toys than for anything else. They like Five Guys.) so I brought a book and read while they played.

The angus burger was bigger than your standard Big & Tasty (which I usually get). It had real red onion on it, and lettuce, and a huge slice of tomato. I had them hold the cheese. (Can't stand that icky "cheese" they use.)  The beef didn't taste much different, but it was certainly bigger and thicker.

AndreaB


They'd be better off putting, say, a "MiniMac" on the value menu and having just one beef patti, pickles, onions, lettuce and cheese and the Big Mac sauce and skip the bun that's in the middle. 
 
I'm not paying $4 for a McDonald's burger.  I even make my own Big Macs at home now and think I've got the recipe down.
 
Andrea

 
Order a double cheesburger with lettuce and Mac sauce in addition to it's regular ingredients and you're good to go. Locally it's an extra 25 cents for the lettuce and Mac sauce, brings it to about $1.50.

Yah, John A you can do that too --- I just think these expensive burgers aren't going to go over well.  Many are on a budget these days and their eyes are on the value menu.
 
Andrea

I tried the Deluxe Angus Burger for dinner tonight, and it was pretty good.  The meat patty is much more substantial and beefy tasting than any of their other burgers.  I upgraded the soda to a large and the combo was still only a little more than $6 -- so it wasn't outrageously expensive. 

Obviously it doesn't rival homemade.  However, I don't cook burgers at home, so I'm always looking for good alternatives at fast food places. 

This one was a step above McDonald's other burgers although not as good as Backyard Burgers or Hardee's Thickburgers (which vary in quality every time I go).

I guess Los Angeles has been the test market.  We've had them for a year or more.

Huge dry burger.

They were mailing out coupons... buy one, get one free.

My mother loves her coupons so that's where we had to go.

I had the Mushroom Swiss and Mom had the Delux.  The lettuce and tomatoes on the Delux made it edible.

My dogs liked mine.

In all it's glory:

MiamiDon


In all it's glory:

Trust me....mine did not even resemble one of those. As mentioned, it was dry and boring.

cameron074

AndreaB

I'm not paying $4 for a McDonald's burger.  I even make my own Big Macs at home now and think I've got the recipe down.
Andrea

Is the special sauce just thousand island dressing? I've never had a Big Mac so I don't know, but I think that's what I've heard.

That's what I use --- but you can also mix Mayo, French dressing, and pickle relish.
For $3.59 I'd rather make 'em at home.
 
As for these new Angus burgers, I won't try them unless we get one of the two for one coupons.
 
Andrea

tommyeats

Cosmos


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31686986/ns/business-food_inc/

$4.00 angus burgers coming to a neighborhood near you. Does it matter if its angus if it still has flavor additives?

what makes you say McDonald's has "flavor additives" in its beef?  McDonald's, like most chains, serve 100% beef patties, simply seasoned, in McDonald's case, with salt and pepper.

4 dollars isn't a lot of money.  i'll try one, and then go back to the other stuff that I grew up with and still crave.  the new items are developed seemingly to renew interest in the brand, but people go back for the signature items over the years.  

All beef simply means "comes from a cow" Fasdt food burgers usually add ground bone marrow to their meat...looks like corn meal(or breadcrumbs)  A legit filler...and it actually adds nutrition.
   Nonetheless...it's not 100% pure ground beef. Look at the edge of that patty...notice it doesn't look like your homemade. Had a friend who worked at a trash burger factory.....remember 100% all beef simply means 100% from a cow!!!!

Hey Lee - you obviously know something about the subject..Can't the same thing be said for Angus?  Isn't Angus  just a type of breed? That means that as long as you get any part of the meat or any grade opf the meat from that breed, it can be called Angus beef. As in an Angus Burger. 

Gradings are still the same..Prime, choice, good, utility, etc....Each of those animals, after slaughter, goes through the line and is graded just like another breed.  I mean, McDonald's is not grinding up prime Angus beef for their burgers are they?  It could be from a carcass graded "good" couldn't it?

I also seem to remember that there is an Angus Beef Growers Association and for years, back in the 70's, they have tried to separate themselves from the rest of the cattle farmers and make their brand the "go to brand" amongst consumers.  Like when you see an Angus beef, it's supposed to mean it is the best beef on the planet.

Maybe you know more about this?  Hey, anyone who knows about the addition of ground bone meal in a F/F gets my attention.  You know they also use that bone meal for fertilizer..Same thing with the blood; blood meal.  There is nothing wasted at the slaughter house..the animals hoof...Glue.  I've been to one.  An amazing experience.

Baah Ben,
    Is bone meal and bone marrow the same? "Bone Marrow" is what they put in cheap burgers. I was told it stretched the meat, was still 100% beef, of course, and since marrow has lots of nutrients in it, is actually good for you A micky D burger is better for having it in!!. Sure, they could do the same with Angus beef, too.

I tried one of these for supper yesterday, and ate another one today at lunch.

Conclusion: your best bet is to get an Angus Burger with no condiments and either a bun designed for a quarter-pounder or a regular hamburger.  The sandwich, as it currently stands, has a bun that's too large; it absorbs too much of the meat flavor.  If you put an Angus Burger on a regular hamburger bun, you'll have something like a Texas Tenderloin, only with a hamburger.  It's much better that way,  Try it!

leethebard



All beef simply means "comes from a cow" Fasdt food burgers usually add ground bone marrow to their meat...looks like corn meal(or breadcrumbs)  A legit filler...and it actually adds nutrition.
   Nonetheless...it's not 100% pure ground beef. Look at the edge of that patty...notice it doesn't look like your homemade. Had a friend who worked at a trash burger factory.....remember 100% all beef simply means 100% from a cow!!!!

i'd like to see a reference cited for this assertion.  

Angus is simply a cattle breed being hyped and pushed by heavy marketing. Every primal cut gets rated like every other breed.  Being Angus doesn't mean it's Prime, Choice, or Select, it can still be a lower commercial or even utility grades.

I always thought McDonalds served 100% "bef"

WarToad


Angus is simply a cattle breed being hyped and pushed by heavy marketing. Every primal cut gets rated like every other breed.  Being Angus doesn't mean it's Prime, Choice, or Select, it can still be a lower commercial or even utility grades.

While I agree that the term "angus" is essentially pointless when it comes to the quality of beef, the Certified Angus Beef program has strict guidelines vis-a-vis grading, and you'll likely not find a carcass getting the CAB designation if it's in the Select or even low end of the Choice range.   In fact their aim is for the highest end of Choice at the low end, and Prime at the high end.

But yeah, "angus" is about as pointless as "kobe."

Had a coupon gave it a try, left the cheese stuff off. Not bad for a fast food burger. I've had burgers from local places that I could almost compare this to. Places that use frozen pattys from Sysco or whomever. I agree with above poster it needs a different bun.
 I'll stick to Mcdoubles unless I have a coupon.

stopped at a MD's last week, I wanted to try one in a combo meal.
$6.99 ? are you kidding me? for that garbage?
I got 2 Mc Chickens for $2,12 inc. tax
thats all MD's is worth to me

I've tried them twice now. I usually give a new FF burger two chances.

Both times were very disappointing....Standard "combo" pricing, six or seven bucks.

Like others have said, the burger was dry and didn't have much flavor at all for supposedly being "Angus" beef. Reminded me very much of the Arch Deluxe or the Big and Tasty....both very bad in my opinion also.

Won't be back for a third.....

I'll stick with Hardee's or other places when it comes to this whole trend.  Leave the more premium burgers to people who know what they are doing.  McD's needs to stick to what it does best - cheap fast food, both in price and quality.

I actually tried one of the mushroom-swiss Angus burgers last night.  Generally dry and very little flavor.  Better than most other items they serve, but that's not saying much.  As I originally thought, Hardee's burgers in this category blow McD's away by comparison.

I agree with Pancho on this one ,I had the Deluxe last night and it was awful,It had a strange after taste and I had to take off the pickles,lettucce and onions.Nothing worked on this Burger.Hardees does a better job with their Burgers  and that ain't saying a lot.

well said jellybear

I agree the angus burger had a funny taste and I didn't care for at all. My closest Mcd is trying something else new, I believe it's called "fast food served very slowly"

They distributed coupons with the newspaper here for free fries and a soda if one bought a 1/3-pounder.  I had the regular (or whatever it's called) that has lettuce, tomato, onions, and American cheese.

Everything was fine..... except for the burger.  I didn't like the taste.  It had what I think of as "oven cooked steak" taste, like it was cooked at too low a temperature to convert the proteins (or whatever it is that happens on a grill).  No doubt it is cooked in the same clam-shell cookers that McDonald's uses for all their other burgers, but is it so much larger than their other sizes (4 oz. & 1.6 oz.) that it doesn't come out the same.  Or maybe because there is so much more of it in proportion to the rest of the sandwich, that it is noticeable.  Mind you, I have often grabbed a Double Cheeseburger (or now a McDouble) in the drive-through for a quick bite to eat, and I am fine with them. 

In summary: Blech!

MiamiDon
Mind you, I have often grabbed a Double Cheeseburger (or now a McDouble) in the drive-through for a quick bite to eat, and I am fine with them. 

McDouble is, at least in my area, the most "food for your buck" burger they have. If I want a cheap, filling lunch, it is one of my primary choices (unless a Subway is available, and I like the $2.50 6" of the day). But it is a bit different from the Double Cheeseburger, which is still sold. The difference is that a McDouble has one slice of cheese, while a double cheeseburger has 2 slices of cheese. If your McDonald's has both, look at the price difference, and decide if the extra slice is worth the extra price (I've seen gaps anywhere from 20 to 70 cents, with the median more towards 20; frankly, the only way I'd go with the Double Cheeseburger is if it were the same price or less, but that's my own preference).

Greymo


They will lose their shirts on this one!  No one goes  to  McDonalds  to spend   that much money for a burger.                                                                                                             

That includes me and I'm generally not at all frugal. I just can't pull the trigger when I'm in the drive thru, knowing that I can get four sandwiches from the dollar menu for the same price.

I had one yesterday. Like many others here, I noticed a "funny taste". Well, the burgers I prepare with Southern Bar-B-Que Sauce, Inc's sauce also have a funny taste, but in a good way. So, I pulled up the ingredients list off McDoanald's web site. These burgers all have what they call an "Angus Patty". Pure ground beef from Angus Cattle? Read this:

Angus Beef Patty:
100% Angus beef. Prepared with Grill Seasoning (salt, black pepper) and Angus Burger Seasoning: Salt, sugar, dextrose, onion powder, maltodextrin, natural butter flavor (dairy source), autolyzed yeast extract, spices, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat), natural (animal, plant and botanical source) and artificial flavors, dried beef broth, sunflower oil, caramel color, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oil, gum arabic, soy sauce solids (wheat, soybean, salt, maltodextrin, caramel color), palm oil, worcestershire sauce powder [distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor (fruit source)], beef fat, annatto and turmeric (color), calcium silicate and soybean oil (prevent caking).
CONTAINS: MILK, SOY AND WHEAT.

Its kind of hard to tell if they add the Angus Burger Seasoning at the restaurant, or at the packing plant, added before the burger is frozen.

I passed a truck unloading food in front of a McDonalds. Some of the boxes contained frozen burgers. There were some boxes that said 100% pure beef. Other boxes said Angus Burgers. I believe the seasoning is added at the packing plant. If you don't like it, you can't ask the restaurant to prepare one for you without any seasoning at all. This appears to be like the nuggets and fish products, where much of the processing took place in a factory

the picture makes it look like a fat restaurant burger, but it really just tastes like a slightly bigger quarter pounder, maybe slightly better.  what's with all the soy going in burgers.  i feel like burger king uses a lot of it.