Burgers are a common menu item for Americans, but more often than not, restaurants prepare this yummy delicacy with frozen burger patties. The logistics of sourcing food materials sometimes force these fast-food restaurants to compromise a bit on quality. Frozen burger patties are a common indicator of such compromises.
At the inception of a new fast food brand, coverage spans only a small geographical area. Consequently, operation managers can meticulously monitor material quality. However, once the brand grows into a chain of restaurants, logistics for sourcing raw materials become complicated, and quality sometimes goes out the window.
We here look at the operations of restaurants like Culver’s, Fatburger, Five Guy’s, In-N-Out, and Shake Shack to assess how they manage to use fresh patties. Likewise, the likes of Burger King, Dairy Queen, McDonald’s, Sonic, White Castle, Carl’s Jr., and Jack in the Box will go under the lens of consistently using frozen burger patties.
ALSO READ: Wendy’s Comes Under Fire for New Pricing System, and Burger King Dives in for a Catch
Fast Food Chains That Always Use Frozen Burger Patties
Indeed, frozen burger patties are not poisonous or inedible. However, customers of fast food chains deserve to know what they are being served. The following chains use frozen meat in the preparation of their burger.
1. Burger King
Burger King is more committed to maintaining the juiciness and taste of its grilled patties across all locations, so frozen burger patties it is.
2. Dairy Queen
The ice cream queen could also double as your favorite burger spot. However, Dairy Queen relies on frozen burger patties. The meat is cut so that it mimics handmade patties when grilled.
3. McDonald’s
McDonald’s has perfected the art of burger-making, almost making the preparation process seem like a mass production line. Of course, they use frozen patties to keep up with demand.
4. Sonic
Sonic knows its burger-making craft, and many of its customers would argue that the restaurant’s patties are made from fresh meat. However, we later learned that the chain uses frozen burger patties.
5. White Castle
The frozen burger patties recipe at White Castle seems to improve the steaming and layering of each serving. So, this restaurant has seemingly turned a quality quirk into an advantage.
6. Carl’s Jr.
7. Jack in the Box
It is almost impossible to customize the doneness of your burger patties during an order. The restaurant has a custom of cooking frozen burgers in an air fryer.
An old Jack in the Box employee revealed on a Reddit thread that all the meat used on the restaurant’s menu is frozen. Beef patties, chicken, name it. A little touch of Cheddar cheese should do the trick.
5 Fast Food Restaurants That Use Fresh Burger Patties
The following restaurants prioritize quality in the large fast food chains by always using fresh burger patties.
1. Culver’s
All variants of Culver’s burger are prepared with fresh patties. Indeed, the restaurant uses this as a sales hook on its website, pointing out that it maintains a zero-frozen-beef policy.
2. Fatburger
Fatburger is a small restaurant cluster serving burgers prepared with freshly sourced meat. California has the highest number of Fatburger locations, with 14 outlets. Similarly, few other outlets dot the map of America.
3. Five Guy’s
The signature open-kitchen architecture of each Five Guy location credences its devotion to quality. This restaurant is one of the few chains that serves burgers with fresh patties. Five Guy’s has seven locations in Washington, D.C., and at least one in other states, excluding Alaska.
4. In-N-Out
In-N-Out has been around since 1948 and was the pioneer of the drive-through restaurant concept. However, despite its history, this fast food chain still maintains the old ideals of burger making, vis, no frozen patties.
ALSO READ: Jon Taffer, Host of ‘Bar Rescue’ Says California Should ‘Get Used to the $30 Burger
5. Shake Shack
Folks who know the origins of Shake Shack would have heard that it didn’t start as a restaurant. Yes, the brand started off on the shoulder of a city beautification project. However, Shake Shack is today a top contender for ‘maker of best burger’ as the restaurant uses fresh patties.
Unlike Burger King and the fast food chains, Wendy’s is located at an intersection. Here’s why, depending on availability, most Wendy’s outlets use fresh patties in burgers. However, some fast food chain outlets have to rely on frozen beef.