The Type Of Oil McDonald's Uses For Fries

The argument about which fast food chain serves up the best fries has been hotly contested for some time, but there is no denying that McDonald's has been a front runner since it arrived on the scene in 1940. One of the best parts about enjoying a meal from McDonald's is discovering the rogue french fries that have found their way to the bottom of your bag, waiting for you as a surprise post-meal treat. Their winning crispness is due in part to the oil the chain uses to double-fry them.

McDonald's fries have maintained quite the popular reputation thanks to their meticulous preparation process, from the cut of each french fry to the oil it is cooked in. The fries (which are made with real potatoes) are prepared in a canola oil blend. The trans fat-free mixture has a canola base, and also contains corn and soybean oils. Beef flavoring that contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk is also added to the blend, which gives McDonald's fries their signature flavor.

When it comes down to choosing which oil you should toss your fries into, everyone has different opinions, but McDonald's wants to ensure that its fries can be made quickly, cooked evenly, and turn out golden brown and flavorful. That is why just one generic oil won't do for the company — however, some say that today's oil blend is a downgrade from yesteryear's fries.

If you have eaten a McDonald's fry lately and thought to yourself, "These don't taste the same as I remember," your taste buds aren't fooling you. McDonald's has gone through some big changes over the years, and switching up its original fry recipe was a big one. Before 1990, McDonald's used a different ingredient to fry foods: beef tallow. This frying agent is rendered beef fat that takes on a liquid consistency when heated up. It can cook foods just like oil or melted butter can, but has an even higher smoke point and a hint of meaty flavor. The taste of beef tallow is likely what long-time McDonald's fans are missing from today's fries.

McDonald's made the change to a canola blend oil after customers expressed concerns about saturated fats. It took the company seven years and over 50 different oil blends to decide on one that made a french fry worth serving at the Golden Arches. The beef flavoring in the modern formula might be used to replicate that tallow flavor. Even still, some fans could tell that something was different. One user on Reddit reminisced about the old recipe, writing, "They used to have the best fries in the world, now they just have fries like everybody else." Another nostalgic user concurred, writing, "Everything tasted better in the past."