McRibbed

This is a perfect example of the problem with the food industry...

The problem is not that this is a formed pork patty that is individually quick frozen in a spiral freezer, packaged, shipped to a distribution center, then trucked to individual McDonald locations... those are all monuments to the advancement of modern food technology.

The problem is that people seemed genuinely surprised at the appearance of the uncooked patty.  It shows the genuine disconnect that people have with their food.

What did they think, anyway?  Did they think that we have ribless hogs?  Did they think that raw pork would be shipped great distances while ONLY being refrigerated?

How do I think the McRib is made?  I could be a little off... but I'll give it a shot:

1. Lean pork w/ trim(skin, fat) is boxed in 40 lb blocks, frozen, and shipped to a further processing facility.

2. That frozen pork is put into large grinder mixers w/ various other seasonings and ground in to a frozen mixture.

3. That frozen mixture is put into stainless steel tubs and those tubs are loaded into a Formax or similar type machine that presses the patties into the familiar McRib shape.

4.  Those patties are individually quick frozen in a spiral freezer, packaged, shipped to a distribution center, then trucked to individual McDonald locations.

It's really no big deal and not at all shocking.