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The Good, The Bad And The m ouldy
Introduction:
In 2008 a YouTube video of a lady displaying a McDonald’s cheeseburger which she had kept for 4 years, went viral. A normal McDonald’s cheeseburger which had been exposed to the elements had kept in the same state for 4 years. No mould or mildew was found on the meat patty, the only thing that was slightly wrong was the burger bun which had become stale and was beginning to crumble. The composer of the video then compared McDonald’s fries which had been around for 4 years, to sliced potatoes which had been cut 3 months ago. The McDonalds fries were perfectly intact, they still had an oily, salty and greasy feel. However, the potato cuttings were covered in mould and were incredibly hard and in an attempt to snap them in half, they did not flex at all. If ‘real’ potatoes aged like that, why wouldn’t McDonald’s fries (the main ingredient being potatoes). This leads to the main experiment, if a McDonald’s burger doesn’t age, would a burger from home prepared ingredients be any different?
My experiment consists of purchasing a regular McDonalds cheeseburger and then preparing a homemade cheeseburger using the same ingredients. The homemade burger must have the same dimensions as the McDonalds burger and share the same characteristics. For example, the weight of the McDonalds beef patty must be equivalent to that of the butcher-bought patty for the homemade burger. As all McDonalds patties are frozen, the butcher patty must be cooked in advance, frozen and then defrosted on the day of the burger preparation. The McDonalds burger will be purchased within the same hour as the homemade burger will be prepared. Even though an hour is an insignificant amount of time, I do not wish for the results to be altered in any way. The two burgers will be placed in two identical containers for 30 days. The burgers will be monitored every day and must only be handled with gloves on. Once the 30 days are up, the two will be weighed
Introduction:
In 2008 a YouTube video of a lady displaying a McDonald’s cheeseburger which she had kept for 4 years, went viral. A normal McDonald’s cheeseburger which had been exposed to the elements had kept in the same state for 4 years. No mould or mildew was found on the meat patty, the only thing that was slightly wrong was the burger bun which had become stale and was beginning to crumble. The composer of the video then compared McDonald’s fries which had been around for 4 years, to sliced potatoes which had been cut 3 months ago. The McDonalds fries were perfectly intact, they still had an oily, salty and greasy feel. However, the potato cuttings were covered in mould and were incredibly hard and in an attempt to snap them in half, they did not flex at all. If ‘real’ potatoes aged like that, why wouldn’t McDonald’s fries (the main ingredient being potatoes). This leads to the main experiment, if a McDonald’s burger doesn’t age, would a burger from home prepared ingredients be any different?
My experiment consists of purchasing a regular McDonalds cheeseburger and then preparing a homemade cheeseburger using the same ingredients. The homemade burger must have the same dimensions as the McDonalds burger and share the same characteristics. For example, the weight of the McDonalds beef patty must be equivalent to that of the butcher-bought patty for the homemade burger. As all McDonalds patties are frozen, the butcher patty must be cooked in advance, frozen and then defrosted on the day of the burger preparation. The McDonalds burger will be purchased within the same hour as the homemade burger will be prepared. Even though an hour is an insignificant amount of time, I do not wish for the results to be altered in any way. The two burgers will be placed in two identical containers for 30 days. The burgers will be monitored every day and must only be handled with gloves on. Once the 30 days are up, the two will be weighed
References: Adriana Velez, (January 3, 2013), Cheeseburger That Stayed Exactly the Same After a Whole Year Raises Alarm, http://thestir.cafemom.com/food_party/130975/cheeseburger_that_stayed_exactly_the * More to be decided for further research