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McDonald’s Is Testing Fresh Beef Burgers In Multiple Dallas Locations

By Shaunee Flowers
Published on: 08:22 PST, May 16, 2016

McDonald’s restaurants in several Dallas, Texas, locations are testing fresh beef patties for their quarter pounders and a few other burgers on their menu instead of the traditional flash-frozen beef they have used for decades. The fast-food giant is serving up fresh beef in 14 locations in a test to determine if there is enough customer demand and a decent price point to offer fresh beef throughout all of the McDonald’s locations in the U.S.

The fast food giant is serving up fresh beef in 14 locations in and around Dallas to see if there is a difference in customer satisfaction. For now, the fresh beef patties found in certain Quarter Pounder-sized patties is just temporary while the McDonald’s decides if they want to change their burger methods in all of the fast food stores. McDonald’s is currently testing out the fresh beef patties on select Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Homestyle Burger, Bacon Clubhouse Burger, and the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese sandwiches.

According to Delish, while the McDonald’s fresh beef patties are relatively exciting, the fast food chain is still using the same grade of meat and from the same source. They are just testing out whether the burgers will be better received if the beef is cooked while it’s still fresh instead of frozen. The standard for McDonald’s beef is that the patties are seasoned and then flash frozen to preserve the signature flavor and to make the beef last longer. A flash-frozen beef patty can be used up to three weeks later in a McDonald’s restaurant.

“Like all of our tests, this one, too, is designed to see what works and what doesn’t within our restaurants by considering the operational experience, customer response, price points, and other important information, which may inform future decisions,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Lisa McComb told Nation’s Restaurant News. “It’s very premature to draw any conclusions from this test.”

McDonald’s has actually been testing the fresh beef patties in the Dallas market since November. Even though they have been serving up fresh beef for months in 14 DFW area locations, the test is far from over. If McDonald’s opts to introduce fresh beef to all of their 14,000 U.S. locations, it will be a major undertaking. However, food critics agree that eliminating flash-frozen beef from their menus would help McDonald’s to compete with other fast food chains who also offer up fresh beef such as Steak N’ Shake and In N’ Out Burger.

Dallas tends to be a popular test market for McDonalds and they are trying out other new products as well. Right now, there are two other burgers currently being tested in the area. McDonald’s is currently testing out a third-pound “Grand Mac” sandwich as well as a single patty “Mac Jr.” for those who love the Big Mac but might want to supersize it or maybe eat a little smaller burger with the same big taste.

If you’re a McDonald’s lover or even just a fast-food burger lover, will the addition of fresh beef patties rather than frozen meat influence your decision to eat at a restaurant? Tell us what you think of McDonald’s current testing of fresh beef in place of frozen in several Dallas-area restaurants in the comments below.

[Image via ChadPerez49 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) | Wikimedia Commons]

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