McDonald's Employees Are Strictly Forbidden From Breaking This Burger Rule

Ever wondered what makes the McDonald's Big Mac so delicious? Of course, the ingredients in this iconic sammie — two beef patties, gooey American cheese, lettuce, and a special sauce — account for its signature flavor but there's something else that guarantees every Big Mac across the country always delivers; the way it's systematically assembled. Building each burger on the menu to its exact specification (and in the right order!) is a rule that McDonald's employees are strictly forbidden from breaking.

Does it really matter if the cheese on your McDonald's McDouble is placed on the bottom bun instead of being sandwiched between the two patties? Yes! The architecture of a burger affects how the cheese melts, the way it holds its shape, and which flavors reach the tastebuds first.

For example, a basic McDonald's cheeseburger is always made by squirting mustard and ketchup on the top bun (known as the crown) before dehydrated onions, a pickle, and a slice of cheese are layered on top. Finally, the patty is added and the bottom bun (or heel) is put on before it's wrapped up. This fixed technique guarantees that the heel doesn't get soggy with sauce and gives the cheese the opportunity to melt because it's placed directly against the hot patty. 

Every burger on the McDonald's menu has its own steps of assembly, which match up to the pictures on the menu. This ensures the customer always gets the same product on every visit that looks and tastes identical.

Assembling the burgers in the same order maximizes quality control and maintains consistency at McDonald's (a practice that's in place in many other franchise restaurants). Plus it means the sammies can be made at speed, because the kitchen is effectively turned into an assembly line. McDonald's is a chain that trains all its employees on these standardized methods and even has a website that teaches burger assembly through videos and games. In some branches, McDonald's managers order the food like secret shoppers to check if consistency is being upheld.

On Reddit, when a new McDonald's employee asked for tips on working the line, a Maccy D's staff member said "Your kitchen should have actual pictures hanging somewhere above the table to show you all the ingredients on each sandwich. It will show which buns to use, which sauces, which toppings, and how much of each as well as what kind of meat/patty." 

Meanwhile on another Reddit thread, an employee explained how a wrongly assembled burger can affect customer expectations: "Someone got their sauce below the patty in the drive-thru whilst I was working in the front area. The customer came in and THREW it at my face in front of my manager because we made the burger incorrectly."

In our ultimate ranking of McDonald's burgers it was the Daily Double that came in at number one, followed by the McDouble and the Quarter Pounder with cheese. However, McDonald's best-selling item is, surprisingly, the fries.