TikTok Claims This Is Where McDonald's Quarter Pounder Patties Are Really Stored

McNuggets, Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, McCafe — many of these McDonald's items are famous in their own right, and one can't argue they didn't earn their fast food glory. But there's one menu item that's missing from the list: the humble, meaty Quarter Pounder. Ever since the burger was added to the chain's national menu in 1973, the Quarter Pounder has gone on to cement itself as a part of McDonald's lore. From commercials in the '70s extolling the values of being a "Quarter Pounder person" (via YouTube) to the "Pulp Fiction" scene discussing just what a Quarter Pounder with cheese is called in France. The burger may be a popular menu item, no doubt, but is it all that it claims to be?

While the true weight of the Quarter Pounder seems to be in a state of flux – CNBC claimed the burger was 4.25 ounces rather than the usual 4 ounces before it was cooked back in 2015 — you'd probably wonder just what they do with the supposedly bigger and beefier burgers before they cook them. After all, if a Quarter Pounder is treated the same as a cheeseburger from the dollar menu, what's the point in ordering it? According to one TikToker, the patties for the sandwich may get some special treatment after all.

TikTok user @essentialmcdonalds, who identifies themself as an employee of the Golden Arches chain, uploaded a video that would supposedly refute rumors that the Quarter Pounders are made from frozen beef. The user showed two boxes of patties, one marked with "10:1 pure beef hamburgers" that are used for the normal hamburgers and another box marked with "4:1 pure beef hamburgers," the patties used for Quarter Pounders. While the "10:1" patties are labeled with instructions to keep frozen, the "4:1" patties are labeled to be kept refrigerated instead of frozen — in short, Quarter Pounder patties aren't frozen. Several commentators claiming to be McDonald's staff debated the accuracy of this claim.

"I worked at a McDonald's and can confirm quarter pounder meat was never frozen, the smaller ones were though," wrote one user. "I remember working in McDonald's way back and they were kept in the freezer same as the regular patties," claimed another viewer. This claim was backed up by several other commenters who stated that the Quarter Pounders are still frozen at their McDonald's. While this may be a regional practice, the original poster still stood by their video. "I've personally thrown away 13 boxes of these at once," they wrote. "They are NEVER frozen."

Other videos the user has uploaded include the process used to make McDonald's hash browns, the process behind making the round egg patties in breakfast sandwiches, and the step-by-step process in making a Filet-O-Fish.