Fry Day #8 McDonald’s

November 30, 2007 · Posted in Fry Day · 2 Comments

It was inevitable, I had to do them and here they are:

Info:
McDonald’s
Franklin, IN
Time of day: 1:07pm

All ratings except hot are a 1-10 scale. Hot is how long they remain warm.

Taste: 6
Appearance: 6
Saltiness: 3
Crispiness: 2
Hot: 12 minutes
Quantity: (Stated 114g) (Actual 110g)
Price:$1.30
Value: $0.0118181 per gram

While Burger King was a pleasant surprise, McDonald’s was no surprise at all, and not very pleasant either.

I could taste the potato, I will give it that much. They weren’t very greasy either, another credit. But, there was an underlying taste also. Either they don’t maintain separate fryers for their fries or they need to change the oil in that fryer.

Did I mention that they were like biting into a sponge? That is what the texture reminded me of, bleh.

I have no idea how they manage it every time but I was 10th in line at the drive thru and still managed to get old fries. 10th in line, that is almost a guarantee for hot fries at other places, but not at McD’s. Seems like every time I go there I lose a little more respect for their organization. They are on a media blitz trying to make their image shine yet they let stores like this continue to tarnish their less than sterling reputation.

Final word: For a place that is so popular and famous for their fries, I do not understand how they get away with serving fries like this!

Photo:

Click to enlarge

Tags: <crisp, fries, fry, mcd, organization, photos, potato, quantity, surprise>

Fry Day #7 Ore-Ida Easy Fries

November 16, 2007 · Posted in Fry Day · 4 Comments

Today we do the stay at home edition of Fry Day.

Info:
Ore-Ida
Time of day: 1:22pm

All ratings except hot are a 1-10 scale. Hot is how long they remain warm.

Taste: 9
Appearance: 7
Saltiness: 10
Crispiness: 9
Hot: 10 minutes
Quantity: (Stated 134g) (Actual 95g)
Price:$1.00
Value: $0.010526 per gram

Easy Fries are a microwaveable fry. I have preconceived notions about microwave food and usually those notions are right. They were only about half so this time.

Value wise these seem to fall about in the middle. Although I must state that I got them on sale at my local Kro*** store. Yes I blotted out half their name. If you have one near you then you know who it is, I am not in the business of handing out free advertisement, unless I have something to say about you! I should also state that they evidently count the weight of the box in their stated weight as that was the only way I could even get close to the 134g that they stated.

The taste was very good right out of the box. There was no need to add any salt as they have taken care of that for you. Honestly I would prefer to do it myself when I am making them at home. I like to have some control. I realize though that these are targeted at kids so it was probably a good idea to just throw the salt in. I could taste the potato for the most part although there was also a hint of oily taste, yes they do add oil. I guess they probably wouldn’t cook very well without it.

I love crinkle cut fries, they usually stay hot longer than thin cut, usually. 10 minutes was all I got out of these before they were cool to the touch.

When they cool they tend to take on that familiar microwaved toughness. They were nice right up until that point. You got to eat them fast or be prepared for a few tough ones!

Obligatory photos:

I should have shot this before I cooked them, the box looks really pathetic now.
ore ida box

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ore ida fries

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Tags: <crisp, food, fries, fry, Fry Day, microwave, photo, photos, potato, quantity>

Fry Day #6 Burger King

November 9, 2007 · Posted in Fry Day · 1 Comment

Welcome back Fry Day

Info:
Burger King
Franklin, IN
Time of day: 11:15am

All ratings except hot are a 1-10 scale. Hot is how long they remain warm.

Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Saltiness: 9
Crispiness: 7
Hot: 22 minutes
Quantity: (Stated 116g) (Actual 130g)
Price:$1.29
Value: $0.009923 per gram

This one was a pleasant surprise!

These fries were very good. I haven’t rated anyone this high since I started. I could actually taste the potato in these, which is rare these days. They do have a dedicated fryer that is used just for fries!

They looked good too. Nice even color with very few dark spots. There were very few soggy fries as well. I found them at the bottom of my carton and I would write them off as soggy due to the time it took me to get to them and condensation.

As you can see the value was very good as well. There were actually more fries then stated, which I won’t complain about, and the price is comparable with other fast food places. Their stated weight is lower than most but then so is the price!

Quite honestly, I usually get the onion rings when I go to Burger King but this is Fry Day. I’ll start getting the fries there as long as they remain at this quality level.

How about a photo!

Click to enlarge

Tags: <color, crisp, food, fries, fry, Fry Day, potato, quantity>

Fry Day #3 Dairy Queen

October 4, 2007 · Posted in Fry Day · 2 Comments

Today Fry Day will take on a childhood favorite. Their fries used to be the ultimate to me, today, well read on…

Info:
Dairy Queen
Franklin, IN
Time of day: 12:50

All ratings except hot are a 1-10 scale. Hot is how long they remain warm.

Taste: 5
Appearance: 6
Saltiness: 4
Crispiness: 7
Hot: 14 minutes
Quantity: (Stated 163g) (Actual 150g)
Price:$1.39
Value: $.0092667 per gram

I am not even going to pick on the weight on this one since their value is still better than anyone else’s so far! That said it is a good thing I don’t add the other factors into value or these would probably start to slip on the value scale.

The first thing I noticed when I started in on these was an underlying taste of fish, light, but noticeable. DQ has so many deep fried food though that I think it would be impossible not to notice something and it would be cost and space prohibitive to put in separate deep fryers for the different foods.

I haven’t decided if these were salted or not. Between the other tastes battling for my taste buds it was hard to say, which is why they got a 4.

I gave them a 3 on greasiness. While you could taste the oil, it wasn’t all over your hands or the box so at least they drained them!

Dairy Queen is a cook to order establishment so I was a little surprised when they had my food done before I had even settled on a spot to sit. Makes me think that maybe, just maybe, my food was done ahead of time. I suppose that since it was lunch rush that this may be forgivable though!

My overall impression of this Fry Day experience is kind of disappointing. They did not live up to my childhood memories, but then again, not many do. The value was high but they taste scores were low and in the end it is the taste that matters most to me. You could have the soggiest or greasiest fries around but if they taste good, that is what will make me come back for more.

And now of course, the obligatory photos:

Click to enlarge

DQ fries
Click to enlarge

Tags: <crisp, dairy queen, food, fries, fry, Fry Day, New, quantity>

Fry Day #2 Hardees

September 28, 2007 · Posted in Fry Day · 4 Comments

Who loves Fry Day? I do, I do.

I don’t know where that came from, let’s get down to business! Our establishment of choice this week is Hardees, that purveyor of all things excessive.

Info:
Hardees
Franklin, IN
Time of day: 12:00pm

Hardees new Natural cut fries are a skin on slightly wider than most fry.

All ratings except hot are a 1-10 scale. Hot is how long they remain warm.

Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Saltiness: 10
Crispiness: 6
Hot: 13 minutes
Quantity: 145g
Price:$1.49
Value: $.01027 per gram

First let’s say something about the quantity. The stated quantity is 166 grams, what I got was around 145. I am blaming that at least in part for the fact that they weren’t served in a fry box. Thumbs down on the stupid basket. With all the wrapping paper they used they didn’t save any trees by skipping the box!

The taste was very good. No underlying tastes from other deep fried foods. Of course that led me to wonder if it was a fresh fryer or if they don’t cross cook. I worked at Hardees years ago and unless they have changed policies they do indeed cross cook. But that is neither here nor there, these are some darn tasty fries. There was an even distribution of seasoning, kudos for stirring before serving!

I was hoping the extra thickness would have held heat longer but they cooled slightly faster than last weeks. Maybe it is because of the open serving in a basket instead of shoving them in a box, I see another experiment in the making there!

Oddly enough the price is the same here, although their stated quantity would make up for that since they give more for the money. $1.49 for a medium, that is pretty much standard here now.

And a couple of quick photos for the voyeurs out there: