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> grills, deep fryers, drive-thru comms systems, self-order kiosks, etc? The key difference between all those things is there's almost no moving parts involved
by cogman10 3y ago
> grills, deep fryers, drive-thru comms systems, self-order kiosks, etc?
The key difference between all those things is there's almost no moving parts involved.
Grills are simply resistive heaters and a thermostat that will outlast everyone.
Deep fryers are exactly the same, but with a tub to put in oil.
Drive through comms systems are simply speakers/telephone systems with the only moving part being the speaker itself. (The rest is software).
And The kiosks are basically just giant touch screens with a small computer running everything.
Ice cream is different. It's a thick highly spoil-able product being pushed through tubes which need to be clean. It involves a refrigerant and often a mixing device to keep the ice cream from freezing solid. Mcdonalds isn't the only one with icecream machines that constantly break down. If you notice, everyone has this problem. It's simply a hard product to serve in a sanitary way using machinery.
- 7thaccount 3y agoNegative. Yes, others break down, but at a MUCH lower rate. It's a scam.
- cogman10 3y agoOh sorry, I wasn't trying to say it wasn't a scam. Just explaining why ice cream machines would be harder to maintain/install than something like a grill and why there might be limited options on who to go with.
- 7thaccount 3y agoAh gotcha and totally agree.
- jdietrich 3y ago>Deep fryers are exactly the same, but with a tub to put in oil. Not really true. The fryers used by McDonalds and the vast majority of QSRs are digitally controlled have a fairly sophisticated recirculating filter system to keep the shortening in good condition. The state of this system is much less critical from a food safety standpoint, but it can be extremely hazardous to employees for obvious reasons. The pressure fryers used by fried chicken restaurants are potentially even more hazardous. To my knowledge, none of these systems have weird DMCA-protected firmware to prevent unauthorised maintenance.
- cogman10 3y agoFair point. I do think there's a little bit more difficulty in the ice cream machine that doesn't exist with oil. I went and watched some videos on fry machine maintenance (lol) and one thing that doesn't translate to the ice cream machine is how easy it is to empty the oil, throw in polish, refill, empty, refill. You can't really have an automated process which drains out the ice-cream and then sterilizes it. > To my knowledge, none of these systems have weird DMCA-protected firmware to prevent unauthorised maintenance. Absolutely agree. The point of my post was more why a fry machine might have easier (and hence cheaper) maintenance than an ice cream machine.
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoAll of the things you just mentioned break down regularly. A restaurant is a hot, dirty, greasy environment.
- Anon_451 3y agoThe grills used by McDonalds are a bit more complex than a flat hot surface. They cook both sides of the burger simultaneously using "clamshells" lined with a heat reflective material, which automatically raise using hydraulics on a timer. Perhaps not as complex as an ice cream machine, but definitely not your griddle at home. Edit: likewise, the fry machine has a self-propelled hopper which splits the raw fries up into batches.