DAILY DIRT: The average McDonald’s hamburger is cooked and packaged in 112 seconds

Hopefully, we provide some sort of closure to the McDonald’s Coke debate … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 644 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s probably safe to say just about anyone reading The Daily Dirt has — or soon will — stop into a nearby McDonald’s for a burger, fries and soft drink.

In all likelihood, there will be multiple visits on any given week, especially since we can now go back inside rather than be forced to navigate those long drive-through lines (which, of course, is a subject we’ve repeatedly harped on in this space).

The next time you are waiting (inside) for your number to be called, or waiting outside in the aforementioned drive-through line, here are a few items to ponder about the Golden Arches:

Not too long ago, I mentioned that McDonald’s worldwide sells roughly 75 hamburgers per second.

Here’s some more depth to that figure.

The average McDonald’s hamburger is cooked and packaged in 112 seconds. (For comparison, the Burger King Whopper needs 180 seconds to be prepared).

McDonald’s officially stopped counting how many burgers it had sold way back in 1993. Its signage now simply says “Over 99 Billion Served.”

So here’s the deal.

Honorary Muddy Buddy Don “D.O.B.” O’Brien and I have gone back and forth for years about the taste of Coca-Cola at McDonald’s. O’Brien has long claimed the Coke at McDonald’s tastes better when compared to other eating establishments. I never argued it didn’t taste differently, but I could never agree that it necessarily was better.

Coke actually does taste differently at McDonald’s restaurants. This is largely due to the way it’s packaged, according to interestingfacts.com. While the actual flavoring is identical to other restaurants, McDonald’s gets its Coke syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks instead of the more common plastic bags, which in turn keeps the syrup fresher. 

McDonald’s also filters its water prior to adding it to the soda machines, and calibrates its syrup-to-water ratio to account for melting ice. In addition, McDonald’s utilizes wider straws than normal, allowing more Coke to “hit your taste buds,” according to the company.

McDonald’s is also the world’s largest toy distributor.

Since the creation of the Happy Meal in 1979, McDonald’s has leapfrogged industry giants such as Hasbro and Mattel to become the world’s largest toy distributor. 

Early Happy Meal toys included stencils and spinning tops, though the trinkets were later designed as part of advertising campaigns to promote family movies. 

All told, McDonald’s distributes 1.5 billion toys worldwide each year. As part of a recent effort to be more environmentally conscious, the company has pledged to largely phase out plastic toys in Happy Meals, and vowed to work to provide kids with plant-based or recycled toys instead.

2. I found the following thoughts on the “Quote Diary” site that may help Cardinals fans better deal with what has been a trying season so far:

Gold medal: “Things may be hard, but hard does mean impossible. Keep trying.” 

Silver medal: “Doors are opening. The wait wasn’t punishment. It was preparation.”

Bronze medal:“Dear success, don’t know where you are but one day I will find out.”

3. Forgotten Gold 

Today we pay tribute to the Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds 1971 classic, “Don’t Pull Your Love (Out).” 

The band’s popular lead singer, Dan Hamilton, died in 1994 at age 48 from complications of Cushing’s Syndrome, a rare pituitary disorder.

Other key founding members were Joe Frank Carollo and Tommy Reynolds. All had previously played in The T-Bones, a 1960s band noted for the instrumental hit “No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In),” which was used in Alka-Seltzer commercials.

“Don’t Pull Your Love (Out)” hit No. 1 on the Cash Box Top 100, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold more one million U.S. copies. The song was also featured at the beginning of “The West Wing” episode “In the Shadow of 2 Gunmen, Part II” and heard in the movie “When Harry Met Sally … “. 

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Personally, my favorite fast-food site to get a Coke at is Burger King.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. While DOB is right on the Fast Food Coke debate, locally, McDonald’s has yet to add Coke Zero Sugar to its menu. Burger King, Sonic, Hardee’s and Wendy’s all have it.