What is Arby's "meat" made out of?

[porkrind]

Have you ever noticed the texture of the "roast beef" in those sandwiches? It is smooth with no fat marbling or grain like real meat would have. I'm thinking as a best-case theory, Arby's meat is to real meat as particle board is to real wood. This assumes it isn't some soylent-green like substance that comes as dry powder and then they add water and bake it into a brick and slice it up. I mean, who knows? Any insiders know the story?

I don't think I can eat another one until I find out.

[Paul Hood]

1. It's made outta pork rinds.

They've turned you into a cannibal. :)

[porkrind]

6. Very Funny. Now take this:

:spank: :spank: :spank:

[Paul Hood]

24. Ow Ow Ow

:cry:

[SmileyBoy]

2. I can actually see them roast and slice the meat from behind the counter.

The Arby's closest to me has an open counter back. I'm guessing it's nothing more than standard, proccessed industrial beef loin. I will say that it's probably a hell of a lot better quality than the beef they serve at any other fast-food restaurant.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

3. They probably do have better quality beef

I believe I heard somewhere that they donate 100% to the Dems. For some reason, I expect Dem establishments to be of better quality than repug establishments.

[SmileyBoy]

7. I'm going down to New Orleans in a couple days...

...and the first thing I want to do when I stop in Missouri is to eat at a Sonic restaurant. They donate 100% to Dems, and from the commercials I've seen, their food looks out of this world. There are no Sonics within 400 miles of me, and I have been YEARNING for it.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

17. Sonic's great

I love their food. It's greasy but goood!

[SmileyBoy]

19. I wish Sonic would venture into the Upper Midwest.

We're the only pocket of US land that doesn't have one.

[JohnKleeb]

20. We don't have sonic around here,

the only sonic I know of is the hedgehog.

[SmileyBoy]

21. There's a bunch in Virginia Beach, according to their website.

That's still a few hours south of you, tho.

[JohnKleeb]

23. Yes, and I can't stand Virginia Beach

Ive been down that a way when my uncle and aunt lived at Norfolk, and I hated Va Beach.

[SmileyBoy]

25. I really shouldn't say just Virginia Beach, but "Hampton Roads".

There's also some in Norfolk, Chesapeake, etc. So you could avoid VB if you wanted to stop at a Sonic.;)

The closest one to me is in Fort Dodge, IA. That's a good 5-6 hours south of me.

[JohnKleeb]

27. Norfolk I like, never been to Chesapeake

[Must_B_Free]

34. I am in Virginia Beach right now

on the egde of Norfolk.

What I like is there isn't that much traffic where I live.

[regnaD kciN]

33. They don't have any in the Pacific Northwest, either...

Come to think of it, I've lived in the blue northeastern and west coast states, and I've never even seen a Sonic restaurant.

[flygal]

30. Sonics is cool - great eating experience!

It's an old fashioned car hop place! Lots of menu options and it's pretty tasty!

I lived in NO for two years - sooooo jealous of you. Eeeeeeeehaaaa! Have a hurricane for me :P - that's what your tongue looks like after one!

[blondeatlast]

37. The tater tots are to die for...

They make a cherry limeade that is a slice o'heaven in summer.

Sooooo good.

[porkrind]

9. I guess it's all just morbid curiosity,

since I don't eat beef anymore after the mad-cow story. :puke: BTW, have you heard it's (mad-cow) back in the news? Damn them, I like the taste of beef, but I'm practically a vegetarian now.

[andino]

22. Arby's is WAY better than say McDonalds

http://www.arbys.com/nutrition/Arbys_US_Nutrition.pdf

A regular Roast Beef is like 320 Calories as compaired to a McDonalds BigMac which is like 560 Cals.

[Floogeldy]

4. Horse

But it is flavorful.

[psychopomp]

36. I had raw horse meat some five years back

It was surprisingly good with a little sauce and some beer. They slice it up really thin.

[alittlelark]

5. All I know is that it is NOT FOOD.

eeewwww - don't eat mystery meat!!!

[SmileyBoy]

8. If it ends up brown, it's food to me.

As long as it completes its jouney.

[porkrind]

10. Come on, you gotta have higher standards than that.

Are you a teenager, or just super-hungry? :)

[SmileyBoy]

12. I'm actually 22, but I've got a soft spot for CRAP food.

I admit it.

[JohnKleeb]

13. I am both

super-hungry teen :).

[BrklynLiberal]

11. If you saw how it is slaughtered, it would not matter what it was, you

would not want to eat it....

[SmileyBoy]

14. I love meat regardless.

Steak is YUMMY!!!

SCREW PETA!!!:D

[JohnKleeb]

18. Pork is god!

yes but beefsteak is yummy too, didn't you read Justice Taft's opinion in US Vs Beefsteak.

[Maddy McCall]

26. No kind of meat slaughter is pretty because it involves death.

But it sure is delicious. For my family this morning, I'm preparing lots of sausage, with biscuits and gravy. I know many a little piggy had to die so that my family could have sausage, but I'm eating it anyway.

[Carson]

38. Good thing the Native Americans weren't so squeamish...

they wouldn't have lasted otherwise. ;-)

[LostInAnomie]

15. It's made from the corpse of Mr. Arby

That was his last request.

[Moloch]

16. I heard Emu somewhere...

Not sure if it's true just a rumor...

[dweller]

28. Mad Cow

dp

[SKKY]

29. Please don't tell me!!!!

They're soooo good. I don't want it ruined for me.

[flygal]

31. I just ordered Fast Food Nation and I'll let you know!

[d_b]

32. Orphans

[RadicalMom]

Sliced rat foot, here at our local Arby's....

And it's not a myth. At our local Arby's last year a crowded restaurant was met with screams when a woman found a rat's foot which was neatly sliced by their "meat" slicer, in her sandwich. People present were so traumatized, some threatened lawsuits and it wasn't even their sandwich. Or maybe they were just jealous.

[RadicalMom]

35. Sliced rat foot, here at our local Arby's....

And it's not a myth. At our local Arby's last year a crowded restaurant was met with screams when a woman found a rat's foot which was neatly sliced by their "meat" slicer, in her sandwich. People present were so traumatized, some threatened lawsuits and it wasn't even their sandwich. Or maybe they were just jealous.

[whatelseisnew]

39. According to Arby's website...

Arby's 2004 Nutrition, Ingredient & Allergen Information (U.S.)

Roast Beef

Trimmed boneless beef chunks (minimum 70%) combined with chopped beef for a maximum of 12% fat. Contains up to 9.0% of a self-basting solution of water, salt, sodium phophate.

http://www.arbys.com/nutrition/Arbys_US_Nutrition.pdf

[Algorem]

40. Reconstituted "rectum bricks"("r.b.'s" in butcher slang).

[porkrind]

56. "r.b's"

Duh, I finally got it. :)

[48pan]

41. I always figured it was round

That's the only cut I can think of with almost no marbling. If you slice it thin enough, it's not too tough either.

[whatelseisnew]

42. Recommendations for "good" fast food places:

(From Fast Food Nation)

In March of 2000, the annual "Restaurants and Institutions" Choice in Chains survey found that among the nation's fast food hamburger chains, "In-N-Out" has ranked highest in food quality every year that the cahin has been included in the survey.

...the lowest-quality food of any major hamburger chain was served at McDonald's.

In 1948... Harry and Esther Snyder opened their first In-N-Out Burger restaurant on the road between Los Angles and Palm Springs... the nation's first drive-through hamburger stand.... the chain pays the highest wages in the fast food industry... the most expensive item on the menu costs $2.45... no microwaves, heat lamps, or freezers in the kitchens... the ground beef is fresh, potatoes are peeled every day to make the fries, and the milk shakes are made from ice cream, not syrup.

[jim3775]

43. There gotta be some soy mixed in there

[jmowreader]

44. Your best case is almost correct: it's beef OSB

Oriented Strand Board, or OSB, is big wood chips arranged for calculated strength along one axis then glued together. Your roof deck is probably made of it, and maybe your subfloor.

In this case, they can't just glue beef powder together (beef particle board) because it would fall apart in the slicer. They have to leave some larger pieces so they'll get the proper strength to withstand slicing. Hence, beef OSB.

But most of it is beef, with some sort of edible adhesive so it stays in one piece.

Now for the real question: what's in Doner Mystery Meat?

[davsand]

45. Arby's really is beef. I used to cook it for one of their restaurants.

One of the many jobs I had while working my way thru college was at an Arbys. To this day, it is the one fast food place that I WILL eat at if I am some place and don't recognize the restaurant chains.

Arby's beef comes in what looks kind of like plastic wrapped loves. They do ship it frozen and it is kept frozen until it is to be cooked the next day. They pull it out of the freezer and thaw it in a specific fridge, then they insert a meat thermometer and cook it to a specific temperature. (They cook to a specific temp to maximize the amount of juice left in the meat.)

In its raw state it looks kind of like a meat loaf, and it has that same sort of consistency. If you break it apart and look at it really closely is small pieces of meat with what looks like ground beef along with it. The reason your meat comes out to you looking like it does is because of how it is sliced--ultra thin--and very fast. Those Hobart slicers they use are sharpened a couple of times a day, and they are RAZOR sharp.

EVERY sandwich is supposed to be weighed for standards, and every sandwich is supposed to be made with a specific list of ingredients that varies only by customer request. They chart the "performance" of the meat to make sure that customers do not get shortchanged and that as little meat is wasted as possible.

I am not gonna go into the gross out things that happened working fast food--but I will tell you that the corporation used to place a huge premium on making it good to eat, fast, and profitable. There were times when human failures entered the process (like when I accidentally sliced off the end of my fingernail and never realized it until after a lunch rush) but overall, I felt OK about the product and being associated with it.

Does that help?


Laura

[porkrind]

46. Thanks. Sound like it is safe to eat.

Now if only they would certify it mad-cow free, I would be a regular. :)

[porkrind]

47. Thanks. Sounds like it is OK to eat.

Now if only they would certify it mad-cow free, I would be a regular. :)

[warrens]

53. In the trade it's called manufactured meat

It means they take parts from here and there and more or less press it into a "roast." Nothing wrong with it. You see similar products in the supermarket, like fake legs of lamb made from bits from all over the lamb, then tied into a "roast" which when cooked causes the meat to bond together.

[SmokingJacket]

48. Maybe the same creatures they get Naugahyde from.

Naugas?

:D

[GingerSnaps]

49. My Mother refused to eat Arby's after she heard what was in it

:puke:

[Bouncy Ball]

50. Go rent the movie "Supersize Me"

(really a documentary).

You'll never eat fast food again.

[GingerSnaps]

51. How about the page on snot?

I will never eat at a fast food restaurant again in my life even if i am starving. :puke:

[0007]

52. Dead cow!

[Beware the Beast Man]

54. It's a "meat process"

Makes it double sweet!

[zann725]

55. Recycled Arby's cowboy hats!

...with Arby sauce on them. Can't forget the sauce!