The McRib is back!

[jsmeeker]

A few weeks ago, I got my annual fix. Tasted like I remembered it. I still get a kick out of all the outrage over this sandwich. Every year it is reappears, you see the media stir up the pot by telling us how bad it is, showing us pictures that are supposed to make us shudder in fear. I mean, really? Is a frozen McRib patty and more scary looking than the frozen hamburger patties that McDonalds slings out every day all year long?

[Porthos]

I went in for my annual fix. Was not happy with it. They were stingy with the BBQ sauce. That will do until next year. My standard Mickey Dee's fair will be back on my personal menu: The Grilled Chicken Southwest Salad.

[judiu]

I like the grilled bacon ranch salad, but they're chintzy with the chicken!

[Jaymes]

So I had my first McRib Sandwich. It was a surreal experience for me. I wasn't expecting a brisket lovingly slow-smoked over oak and then hand-sliced. I wasn't expecting a hunk of pork lovingly slow-smoked over hickory and then hand-pulled. I wasn't expecting ribs or sausage, or even chicken.

But, as I've been eating "barbecue" of all sorts for some six decades, I guess I was expecting some sort of meat texture.

The sauce was fine - if you like the typical tomato-based sweet and tangy type sauce and, although that's sure not my favorite type of BBQ sauce, I do like it okay.

But, try as I might, I gleaned no "meat" texture whatsoever. It was just this odd, rather glutinous, flavorless mass of something; exactly what, I could not discern.

Luckily, there were onions and pickles, so there was some texture. But the onions and pickles were the only real texture I encountered.

Chewing that thing, searching for some sort of meat texture, and finding none, was truly one of the weirdest and most surreal food experiences I think I've ever had.

And one I don't think I'll be repeating.

I'd rather put a pork butt into a crockpot and dump in a bottle of barbecue sauce and stew it until it falls apart. At least my tongue could find, hiding under that strong sweet & tangy sauce, something that resembles actual meat.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[rotuts]

nice review.

""" It was just this odd, rather glutinous, flavorless mass of something """"

exactly. ( my emphasis )

Edited December 2, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[jmolinari]

that's an accurate description of my first and only experience. It was horrible.

[Jaymes]

Honestly, it might not have gone so off for me had I not been anticipating meat.

That was where I went so horribly wrong.

And there was no recovering after that.

[rotuts]

if this ' thing ' were crispy, and the sauce not so sweet, perhaps a bit more complex .....

Crispy McRib w Hot Hoisin sauce ?

Edited December 2, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Martin Fisher]

I ate a McRib in 1984 and I still haven't fully recovered from the dreadful experience!!!!

[OliverB]

every year this thread pops up again and I'm tempted to finally set foot into a McD again, after years and years (probably 8 by now). Then I realize it's not gonna be anything as advertised and save my $.

Or should I....

Thankfully it's usually long gone before I consider doing so. If our McD had a drive through that might be different, but sitting in their sticky plastic hell to eat this thing is not appetizing in any which way, LOL.

I also don't like In'nOut by the way, blandest burger I've ever had and their 'secret' menu is an irritating marketing gimmick to me, so there :-)

I'll stick to my occasional very late night bbq bacon cheeseburger at Jack in the Box. they have a drive through ;-)

[Toliver]

I spoke with a friend I hadn't seen in a while and she, out of the blue, mentioned how the McRib didn't taste like it did before. She said the BBQ sauce is different.

The last time I bought one I brought it home and tried putting some Penzey Forward spice on it (the spice mix is basically seasoned salt without the salt). It helped a little but not enough to bring it back to its glory days flavor.

[Rico]

Here's the problem.

Even though I expect it to be a dreadful experience, enough of the folks on here have pulled the trigger to make me want to be part of the order. By not having been hazed by this sandwich, I feel I am unable to relate wholly to those who have undergone the experience. I apparently lack the self confidence to stand alone in my McRib ignorance.

The valleys make the peaks more gratifying anyway, right? I'm on my way.

[Rico]

Flatten a tasteless hot dog into the shape of ... well, whatever the shape of that thing is, and that seems like a good textural reference - emulsified meat. Thank you Jaymes for sparing me the surprise of the texture.

Overall, though, I can see why it's popular. Those are bold flavors for a place like McDonalds, and for someone who's maybe just accustomed to big macs and quarter pounders, it may very well be a daring culinary adventure.

Actually, it was a daring culinary adventure for me, too. Just not one I'll be repeating.

[judiu]

Toliver, try the Pensey's Mural of Flavor blend, too. It's excellent!

[Toliver]

Monopoly is over at Mickey D's and so the McRib is back.

Has anyone had one yet? Just curious if it's the same as always or if they've changed anything.

[gfweb]

Propaganda...

 

http://www.eater.com/2014/11/4/7154553/mcdonalds-mcrib-real-meat-no-bone-no-gristle

[GlorifiedRice]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcfL98rjD3w

[rotuts]

if it were sizzling crispy, and the bun was tooth-some, and the sauce less cloying, Id try it again.

 

3 strikes, not even at the plate yet.

[Toliver]

Yes, it's that time of year again. The McRib is back. 

[GlorifiedRice]

 

Watch This Woman Deliver an Impassioned Speech on Behalf of the McRib

[gfweb]

if it were sizzling crispy, and the bun was tooth-some, and the sauce less cloying, Id try it again.

 

3 strikes, not even at the plate yet.

 

Still its better than their wretched burgers.

[rotuts]

McRib-Locator ?

 

50 piece chicken nuggets and 10 McRibs ?

 

to each their own.

 

gfweb : you have not lived until you've Micro's a BigMac for 30 if still warm when you get home

 

just saying.

 

get right to those Fast Food receptors Toot Sweet.

[lindag]

Curiosity got me to try the McRib last year after reading about it here.

Once was enough for me.  It was wet and mushy and nasty!  I threw it away after a couple bites.

[Smithy]

Oh, that video! "Thanksgiving without McRibs is like Christmas without snow..." ..from a young woman in Santa Clarita, California.  The mind, she boggles.

 

(No, I haven't tried one and have no dog in this fight.)

[blue_dolphin]

Oh, that video! "Thanksgiving without McRibs is like Christmas without snow..." ..from a young woman in Santa Clarita, California.  The mind, she boggles.

 

(No, I haven't tried one and have no dog in this fight.)

 

I know!  I was wondering if she had another statement prepared to ask the council to address the Christmas snow issue, too.  Maybe that's for the next council meeting!  

Never had a McRib either but the McRib Locator doesn't show any sightings in my area even if I were so inclined.  

Edited December 2, 2015 by blue_dolphin (log)