For Fast Food French Fries, One Stands Above The Rest

For years, mankind has struggled to master the great vegetable we know as the potato, especially in its "French fried" state. We know the horror stories of the bad French fry, be it oven-form or fried in oil. Hot, slug-like sticks dripping with grease, thick-cut fries so undercooked in the middle that it's as if the so-called "chef" who made them merely tossed them in the microwave, or taking the first bite to discover a cold, chunky interior. 

Yes, friends, the search for a perfect, golden-brown French fry with a soft, creamy interior continues to elude us even today. It joins the search for a good crust on one's steak without it reducing the hide of the noble steer into such tough leather it's as infamous as Khrushchev's shoe, or a poultry dish that isn't just cold cuts smothered in watery gravy and reheated in a Hamilton Beach microwave on its last legs. 

Even when we brave the world of fast food, with all its ups, downs, and greasy (yet tempting) underbellies, we still have some level of standards we expect in our beloved French fried potato. Sometimes, our efforts may be fruitless, and we find ourselves with a handful of starchy regrets looking at us in the greasy paper bag. But sometimes, sometimes dear reader, we come across a miracle. An oasis of salty delights in the desert of disappointment, marked by the well-known Golden Arches.

If you've been to McDonald's even once in your life and snagged some fries to snack on while you sit in interstate traffic, you'll probably agree with this statement. Of course, we at Mashed can't hold any special bias, and because you don't want some word-spitting desk jockey telling you their opinion, we've decided to see if this theory holds up with other folks out there.

Via a Reddit thread discussing the highest quality fast-food fries, 20 users declared McDonald's to be in their top categories. "McDonald's. When I crave fries, that's what I want," one user wrote. Foodbeast's review of fast-food fries, meanwhile, declared McDonald's fries to be number one, praising the crisp texture, flavor, and usage of salt leaning on wild abandon. And citing a National Today survey of 1,000 Americans, Eat This, Not That! reported that 35% of those interviewed declared their love for McDonald's fries. It seems that a large percentage of folks find the crispy, yet soft on the inside McDonald's fries to be their tuber of choice.

So, what makes McDonald's fries so good? We covered that in a previous article unraveling the mystery of Mickey D's fries, but perhaps FirstWeFeast said it best. "They also add 'Natural Beef Flavor' to the frying oil, which might be the reason you seem to taste McDonald's fries hours after you eat them. God bless you, science." Indeed!