[1970 McDONALD'S HOT APPLE PIE]

What does a customer think of when he sees a McDonald's carryout restaurant? He thinks of the choice of the quality food products he wants, prepared the way he wants them. And as you know, the most basic reason for McDonald's success is its history of always giving the customer what he wants. A few years ago, McDonald's decided to add a dessert item to its menu. Our product development department tested several dessert items in various units. The testing was done to select a product that would have the greatest appeal on a nationwide basis. Once again, goal was to give the customer what he wants. The tests revealed that hot apple pie had a higher sales volume than any other single dessert item in the nation. The results showed that it was the dessert most preferred by McDonald's customers. And that was good enough for us. We decided on a McDonald's dessert that would be as popular to the American taste as a McDonald's hamburger. And boy, did we make the right decision. Once we decided on hot apple pie, we proceeded to McDonaldize it. To make it our own. Our hot apple pie is uniquely McDonald's. The cylinder shell, which completely encloses the filling, makes it look like an apple turnover. But unlike a turnover, it has the full body of apple filling that you'd find in a home cooked pie. It is uniquely McDonald's in the way it tastes, in its flaky golden crust, in its tart juicy filling made from sugar, starch, and the finest of apples. Your manager realizes the importance of this quality product. That's why he keeps it in front of the customer's eyes in the attractive hot apple pie merchandisers, where as it rotates on display, a heating lamp allows it to be served hot. And you guessed it, that's the way the customer wants it. It's your job to maintain the quality of this product, starting with the unloading of the delivery truck. Your manager has been careful to select the proper distributor with adequate facilities for storage at 0° or minus. This is extremely important to preserve the quality of this frozen product. As with any frozen product, you must exercise extreme care in the handling of cartons, never dropping or over stacking them. And always leave a little space between the carton and the wall of the freezer. A point of contact on the wall can cause some thawing, and caution against thawing is important. Thawing and re-freezing can cause deterioration of the crimped edges of a frozen pie, which hold the flat pieces of dough together. When the edges come apart, the filling, of course, can leak out. Thawing and re-freezing can also produce a moisture loss in the sugar glaze coating on the top of a pie. This shows up in a grayish color rather than the frosty white appearance it should have. And when it's fried, the pie that has been thawed and re-frozen will have a dull, flat look instead of a golden sheen. Upon receiving a shipment, your manager will probably instruct you to open one of the cartons to see if the dough has a frosty white color. If there's some gray color to the dough, you should alert your manager. There are a few things to remember about setting up pies for the daily needs of your unit. Your manager will tell you when he wants you to prepare a certain number of pie portions. First, you take the specified number of cartons from the main freezer and transfer the pie portions to the small intermediate freezer in the apple pie frying station. Make sure you have a sufficient stock of apple pie folders at the packaging station. Check the temperature of your fryer vat. This vat is used only for apple pies and the cooking temperature is 360°. Your manager will have instructed you about this temperature, but you should check it each time before using the vat in case the dial was accidentally moved. Make sure that the apple pie timer on the hood over the fryer is plugged in and ready for the day's production. Finally, check to see that there is sufficient shortening in the vat. It should overflow the lip of the vat by approximately 1 in. Your manager will tell you when to make individual runs of apple pie and how many to run. The pie portions should be loaded into the basket right where they're stored at the small freezer. Before you immerse the basket in the shortening, remember to lower the wire guard on top of the basket. Then immerse the basket and activate the 6-minute cooking timer. The timer must be used for every run whether it is one portion or 16. They all require 6 minutes. The timer is activated by the switch. The timer buzzer sounds when 6 minutes are up. Be sure to wait for the buzzer. Under cooking will produce a sticky, starchy, doughy pie with a pale, unappetizing crust. And no matter what you're doing, take the pies out as soon as the buzzer sounds. Overcooking will produce a tough, dark brown, grease-soaked pie. When you've removed the pies, hang the basket on the holding rack over the vat so the excess shortening from the portions and from the basket itself can drain off. Let it drain for about 15 to 30 seconds. Be careful to place the portions on the packaging tray by hand individually. Never shake them out of the basket. Remember they're soft now. You could break the crust or the crimping and the filling would ooze out. Some of the pies may have to be moved gently with your fingers to break any bond between the pies and the metal dividing rods. Let them cool on the tray for 20 minutes before packaging. Remember they've been fried for 6 minutes at 360°. As delicious as McDonald's hot apple pies are, they're much too hot to eat now. Pick up the pie box by the edges. Be sure one end is closed and carefully push the pie into the box. Fold the remaining flap in to complete the package. Make sure the caution message on flaps can be seen by the customers. Your McDonald's hot apple pies are now ready to take their place in the merchandiser. And they'll be kept heated to the customer's taste. The holding time for McDonald's hot apple pies is 90 minutes from the time you take them out of the vat. This includes the 20-minute cooling period. Cleanliness, of course, is basic policy with McDonald's. Periodically, when you're not busy, a towel dampened with carbonated water will keep finger marks off the stainless steel and the insert of the merchandiser. The crumb tray, too, must be kept clean. The merchandiser is an important selling force for McDonald's hot apple pies and must be kept appealing to the customer's eye. It must be a proud invitation to satisfy their taste for the dessert they prefer. It must let them know that we have the all-American combination. McDonald's hamburgers and now McDonald's hot apple pie. We know from experience that our hot apple pie is not a replacement sale, but usually an additional sale. Our customers have let us know that McDonald's hot apple pie is their kind of dessert.