Actually investigated: The REAL Reason McDonalds Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken

Our McDonald's never had that issue or that cleaning cycle he's talking about. We cleaned ours every night as well. We never left ours on overnight either. Just sayin.

Also wanted to add that Wendy's I worked at had the same machine and the same broken issues.
 
Our McDonald's never had that issue or that cleaning cycle he's talking about. We cleaned ours every night as well. We never left ours on overnight either. Just sayin.

Also wanted to add that Wendy's I worked at had the same machine and the same broken issues.
Yeah, Johnny Harris (the guy in the video) explained that's because Wendy's and all the rest don't have a contract with the company that supplies, and more importantly, repairs the ice cream machine. And they charge franchise owners thousands for the repairs. Everybody except McD's can call some other repair company if they need one.
 

Well just the fact that he said they heat the machine with the ice cream in it to 150° is BS. If someone did that and left it for 4 hrs and then refroze it they'd kill everyone with the food poisoning. We took ours apart every night and washed all the parts and laid them out to air dry. In the morning at 5 AM the manager put it back together and put the ice cream in and it took 4 hrs for the ice cream to freeze in the machine but the ice cream itself was in a refrigerated section. That cycle he spoke of only took a few minutes with the chemical after the ice cream was removed. I don't know what that guy is trying to pull but I can tell you it's not the truth.
 
Well just the fact that he said they heat the machine with the ice cream in it to 150° is BS. If someone did that and left it for 4 hrs and then refroze it they'd kill everyone with the food poisoning. We took ours apart every night and washed all the parts and laid them out to air dry. In the morning at 5 AM the manager put it back together and put the ice cream in and it took 4 hrs for the ice cream to freeze in the machine but the ice cream itself was in a refrigerated section. That cycle he spoke of only took a few minutes with the chemical after the ice cream was removed. I don't know what that guy is trying to pull but I can tell you it's not the truth.
How long ago did you work at McDonalds? The machines he's talking about haven't been around very long....since 2003. So it's kind of a recent issue.
 
How long ago did you work at McDonalds? The machines he's talking about haven't been around very long....since 2003. So it's kind of a recent issue.
Unless they changed machines but still...there's no way they could heat that ice cream and leave it all night at those temps and it still be safe. The danger zone for food temps is 41° - 135°. Those machines have to be pulled apart. The parts have to be cleaned and air dried to avoid dangerous bacteria. I'm not trying to be argumentative. Just informative. I highly doubt they would risk customer service for some monetary thing from ice cream. They rely on the customers to stay open.
 
Also the majority of these food service places don't leave equipment on overnight due to the fire hazard it presents. If they were to rely on the electric to stay functioning without interruption there's no way they could guarantee it would stay running so I seriously doubt they would rely on such methods to ensure a product being ready for use by the general public the next day.
 
Also the majority of these food service places don't leave equipment on overnight due to the fire hazard it presents. If they were to rely on the electric to stay functioning without interruption there's no way they could guarantee it would stay running so I seriously doubt they would rely on such methods to ensure a product being ready for use by the general public the next day.
McD's is open 24 hours here. It's drive through only after 1am. At some of them it's at midnight.

I believe what Harris is saying. He showed enough diagrams and manuals and stuff. It isn't the McDonalds franchise owners who are making out on the deal, it's the company (Taylor) that supplies and repairs the ice cream machine they have to use. The franchise owners are getting screwed. And the guy said it doesn't happen at ALL the McDonalds. I think he said it's 15% of all these machines across the country are down. Whether he means "at any given time" I'm not sure.

Anyway, Harris's bottom line is that when you do the cleaning cycle on the Taylor ice cream makers, they tend to shut down, lock you out, and display the words "contact maintenance" - or whatever it was.
 


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