Sunny Anderson's Hack For Getting Fresh Fries At McDonald's Is Genius
When it comes to food, "fresh" is usually synonymous with "best." It's always nice to get the freshest burger or the freshest fries from McDonald's, but how often does that actually happen? Not often enough, right? Sometimes the fries are lukewarm or even more on the cool side, leaving us wondering how long they've been sitting out.
You have a pretty good chance of getting fresh fries at Mickey-D's if you go right after they switch from serving breakfast to serving lunch, for obvious reasons. Or perhaps you've been lucky enough to score some in the middle of the day, after a new batch has been dropped. But Food Network star Sunny Anderson shared a hack with Insider that will guarantee fresh McDonald's fries at any time of day or night (during business hours). Employees of the golden arches fast food giant already know the secret, but for the rest of the world, here's what you do: Order the fries without salt.
McDonald's fries are salted right after they're pulled from the fryer
How does ordering fries without salt guarantee freshness? McDonald's shared its fries recipe with ABC News, revealing that employees add salt to the fries after removing them from the cooking oil. The fries are then packaged and placed on a shelf under a heat lamp, as shown in an Unwrapped video.
So, if you request your fries without salt, one of two things will happen. One, if there isn't a batch of fries in the oil when you place your order, an employee will have to start a fresh one, since the fries under the heat lamp will already be salted. Or two, if there is a batch frying when you place your order, your unsalted fries will come from that batch. Either way, you're getting fresh fries. The only downside is that you may have to wait a little longer for your order.
And obviously, if you prefer salt on your fries, you can ask for a salt packet and add it yourself, but be prepared for a dirty look from the employee who hands it to you. Anderson admitted to Insider that requesting salt at the drive-thru after requesting unsalted fries "is totally rude, but it totally works." On the other hand, if you don't like salt on your fries, it's a win-win.