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In-N-Out Burger: The Original Fresh Ingredient Pioneer
When In-N-Out Burger first opened in 1948, the company only provided a basic menu of burgers, fries and beverages. The foods it prepared were made on-site from fresh ingredients, including its french fries which were sliced and cooked to order. This California-based chain has never changed its methods since day one, which is pretty remarkable in the fast food world.
The company utilizes a vertical integration model for its raw ingredients, procuring and manufacturing much of its food supplies in-house. The company does not utilize freezers in its operations, shipping food daily to its stores from its facilities. In-N-Out takes its slogan, “Freshness You Can Taste,” seriously. In fact, we don’t even own a microwave or a freezer. We have always made our hamburger patties ourselves starting with fresh, high quality front-quarter beef chucks – no additives, fillers, or preservatives.
Chick-fil-A’s Handmade Biscuit Process Starts at Dawn
We only use the freshest ingredients and make everything we can by hand, daily, in our restaurants. We serve chicken made from breast meat, breaded by hand in-restaurant. Chick-fil-A’s biscuits are made from scratch every morning at each free-standing location, a labor of love well worth the effort. Employees responsible for biscuit creation get to work around 5:00 a.m. to begin the process.
Team members begin by pouring a special biscuit mix into a large mixing bowl with 32 ounces of ice water, setting the mixer to combine the ingredients for only 18 seconds on a low speed. After dusting the workspace with self-rising White Lily flour, the cook will remove the biscuit dough from the bowl and gently work until it’s flat. Once flat, the dough is folded in on itself several times to create air pockets that leave the biscuit fluffy and flaky. The dough is flattened again, cut into biscuit shapes with a circular tool, then moved to a buttered tray for baking until it reaches golden perfection.
Culver’s ButterBurgers: The Art of Pressed and Seared Perfection
Our ButterBurgers® are made with our special blend of three cuts of beef: sirloin, chuck and plate. When it comes to beef, you want fresh beef. Frozen beef loses moisture and when you lose moisture, you lose flavor. Culver’s ButterBurgers are cooked to order, meaning they aren’t cooked until after you order them. Culver’s uses fresh, never frozen beef, and the pressing and searing technique locks in the juices and therefore the flavor.
Grill masters learn the art of pressing and searing the beef on the grill. Pressing the beef also ensures it is the right thickness to cook evenly on the grill. The beef is seasoned with a salt and pepper mixture. Even its frozen custard is made with “family farm-fresh dairy,” and “made in small batches right in the restaurant all day” while every ButterBurger “is cooked to order and topped with a lightly buttered, toasted bun.
Five Guys’ No-Freezer Policy Creates Daily Freshness
Five Guys restaurants operate with a simple rule: if it needs freezing, it doesn’t belong here. Their kitchens deliberately lack freezers, ensuring everything stays fresh. Employees hand-form beef patties each morning from 100% ground beef – no fillers, no preservatives. According to the Five Guys website, all five locations use fresh ground beef, hand-cut potatoes for fries, and “fresh ingredients hand-prepared.” There are no freezers in any of their restaurants.
Their legendary fries begin as whole potatoes. Staff members hand-cut them daily before double-frying them in peanut oil to achieve that perfect crispy-outside, fluffy-inside texture that’s earned them a cult following. Additionally, their buns, a “proprietary item,” are “baked fresh at bakeries five days a week.”
Whataburger’s 24/7 Made-to-Order Commitment
Since 1950, Whataburger has been grilling 100% fresh beef patties on oversized toasted buns. Each burger is made to order – never sitting under heat lamps waiting for customers. The 5-inch patties require a longer cooking time, but loyal fans insist the wait is worth it. Your Whataburger doesn’t hit the grill until you order it. And our beef has one of the quickest production-to-grill timelines in the quick service restaurant industry.
With strategic distribution partners – and multi-million dollar investments in warehouses across San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston and Atlanta – Whataburger guarantees a farm-to-table supply chain, rare in the world of fast food. In-house distribution and supply chain management to ensure optimal freshness. Fresh vegetables, chopped in-house daily. Cheese made with milk sourced from American dairy farms.