I'm a casual employee, here to answer your questions about anything. I work back area, so I mainly assemble burgers and cook/fry.
[AMA] I Work at Macca's, Ask Me Anything!
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Front area mainly consists of females, and back area males. Unless you ask, that's most likely where you'll be put.
Do they usually grant these requests easily, if male wants to work at front, or female wants to work out back ?
Seems nicer job working at counter, IMO (male). Also seems better chances to move up into management, after showing promise at front counter.
Do you want fries with that?
Nope, I've lost interest in fries and nuggets a month after I started.
A caramel waffle cone, however? Yes.
How much for a whole bag of caramel or chocolate fudge?
Buy 100 large caramel sundaes, ask for extra sauce. Then ask for all the sauce to be put into a container on the side.
So that's what, $485 minimum? Extra sauce, maybe $600?
Why is it every Maccas insists of pre-boxing all the fries 20 in advance, so that when you actually get them they are cold? How hard is it to cook to order?
That definitely shouldn't happen in off peak periods, where most of the time your fries are made to order.
However, when it's busy the fries are boxed in bulk. They won't sit for too long though.
Again, whenever they're cold it's best to tell the manager. You'll probably get a freebie too.
You should do what we do at HJ. Don't box them until someone orders them. Have someone dedicated to fries when it's busy. Simples.
I've worked at Maccas before, ask them to make fresh fries and they should have no problems putting down a batch for you. Now whenever I have maccas I explicitly ask for fresh fries and I've never had any cold fries or problems :)
I just find it ridiculous that someone needs to ask for hot fries
I think because the majority don't care enough. If everyone asked, they probably would fix it. I ask for my burger to made fresh fairly often, especially if it is a mcmuffin in the middle of the day.
God id rather that.
I miss the old Maccas, the used to be fast maccas. I hate the slow maccas, the takes too long maccas, the made for you maccas…
Do people spit on food?
People dont. Animals do.
Nope, there's security cameras everywhere that all stream to the manager's office.
what about the manager?
Nope, there's security cameras everywhere that all stream to the PM's office.
do it on their fb
Hmm will try that, thank you very much sir!
Better get a lawyer son, better get a real good one.
Do not misuse their logo!
Ive also had this happen.
is the frozen coke/soft serve machine really broken, or has someone forgotten to turn it on?
When it's 'broken' it really just needs cleaning. Those things need a lot of cleaning as they get used so much. I feel as though upgrading the machines nationwide wouldn't be that bad of a thing to do, but again there's a large opportunity cost with that.
Is this really a thing? None of my local Maccas have had that issue. Then again they're all owned by the same guy.
They're only used by front area, so I don't ever really know if they aren't working. From what I've seen however, it doesn't break down very often at all at my restaurant.
What happens if I order a waffle cone or similar and max out the toppings? Like choc fudge x5 or with oreos etc? Would it come in a cup?
@Clear: Yep it does. When we get a cheeseburger, without cheese, sauce or the bun we just put it in a hotcake container.
Same with a grilled chicken burger. People sometimes buy just the chicken from a burger and cancel everything else. Same story, put it in a hotcake container.
What is the most disgusting thing you've witnessed in regards to back of house cooking/cleaning?
One time when slicing the tomatoes, a pretty experienced crew trainer thought it was a good idea not to use a mesh glove to protect his hand. He accidentally got his hand, and those things require a lot of force. There was blood everywhere, and a majority of the kitchen had to be stopped so we could clean and sanitise the entire place.
My store is always super clean, however the one thing I hate doing is emptying the sides of the grill. The oil and grease there is insane and gets everywhere. It's impossible not to spill on your shoes when you carry it out.
Worked at MCD's for 7 years inbetween high school and uni, emptying the grease traps still ranks #1 as my worst ever task to do at any job I've had ever! Worst was back in the days of closing at midnight, we'd just finishing cleaning everything (including the floors) but the one dude who was supposed to empty the traps forgot to do it… then proceeds to rush it and spills it everywhere! Another hour of cleaning ensued… T.T
Does that top removing the catchment thing at the bottom of the meat freezers that smell like rotting meat?
@nahhhwotlol: Nope we used to clean ours at least twice a week so never got that bad, although I could imagine it being easily forgotten. The worst smelling thing I remember was the Big Mac sauce… a cannister of that spilled in the back corner of the fridge would rival a rotting corpse!
I'll chime in.
One time a little 6 year old wet himself out of fear on the play ground and I had to clean it. Let's just say I quit a few weeks later. One of the most utterly disgusting things I've ever had to deal with.As a parent… it's just wee.
Lucky it wasn't spew or poo. THAT would be disgusting to clean! Actually, even poo isn't that bad. Spew gets to me though. Such a strong smell :(.
Yeah but it had been left there for lime an hour. All over the play ground down the slide up the top down the side etc. I set reached and nearly spewed quite a bit. Still have ptsd lol.
Out of fear?
Lol I remember when that sutff bothered me. Being a parent hardens you mentally, but you must walk through the fire.
1st ever post, Long time reader
What do you get from Macas Any Special creations , Or standard menu
Interested to see responses,
Just a tip for anyone out there who likes cheeseburgers, and not the $3.30 price tag:
Order a hamburger($1), go customize it and add a slice of cheese ($1)and you've got yourself a $2 cheeseburger.
This also works for many other items. It's always annoying seeing an order for a cheeseburger without cheese , when they could've just purchased a hamburger for $2.30 cheaper lol.
Are you saying do that a thing the register? I notice you can’t do it via the app.
Back when I worked at Maccas, one of the managers took it upon himself to ensure promo items weren’t customised like that.
You can do it on the instore kiosks very easily. It'd probably be a bit awkward doing it at the register, but it's still possible.
@LikeClockwork: At my local, couldn't do it on the Kiosks when Hamburgers were $1 earlier in the year. Haven't tried now that they have come back on the $1 promo but will check it out.
@akyeeeahdude: Had the register lady tell me they don’t put cheese on the 1$ hamburger so I ordered a hamburger and a slice of cheese.
They put the cheese in the McNuggets box. The guys in the back put 2 in there aswell
What are some other kiosk hacks you could recommend? :)
I recommend looking out for the new promotions on the change range. When they come out, adding extra meat and all that is a pretty good way to gain value.
According to the social policy, I'm not allowed to 'leak' what new deals or promotions are coming out. However, do keep your eyes peeled for $2 Fig Tacs.
$1 for a slice of Macca's cheese™ is a rip-off!
I have taken my own cheese to Hungry Jacks before for a whopper.
A real OZBargainer would carry their own slices of cheese
Welcome to OzBargain. :)
Hamburger hack cheeseburger + special sauce + extra onions + extra pickles
When you make a sundae, do you add topping, then add ice cream, then add topping on top? Or do you just add icecream and then topping on top? What are you officially supposed to do and what do most people end up doing?
As I work back area, I've never made a sundae before. However I just checked the 'resource library' and found the build card.
It turns out you add 30mls of topping to the bottom (fill to lower rim & create a peak, whatever that means), then add 5.5 swirls of soft serve and then finish it off with another 30mls of topping.
Most people would use this, as build cards are the official way to do everything and managers get pissed off if you don't follow it.
Clockwise or counterclockwise for the swirls?
Like clockwork.
lmao i personally did anti-clockwise
Small size is topping only on top and large is both sides.
Male here, used to work at the front only so I have a lot of experience with the ice-cream/shake machine. At my store we added ice-cream and then toppings only on the top for small sundaes, and for large sundaes topping on the bottom and top. For large ones I used to put topping on the bottom and then squeeze it around the top of the cup so it would cover the whole inside of the cup, then add ice-cream and then top it off with more topping.
Is filet-o-fish the least popular burger and therefore more likely to not be as 'fresh' as the other burgers?
The filet-o-fish isn't too popular. There's three beef patties, 3:1 (3 make a pound), 4:1, 10:1. They are all grilled and put into a heating tray where a timer is set. These are always pretty much made to order due to how often they're purchased, as 10:1 is used on most burgers such as cheeseburgers and the Big Mac. There's no worries there, they will always be super fresh.
On the other side of the kitchen, is the fryer vats. The fish is fried here, notably in a separate fryer so it doesn't cross contaminate. Everything that fish touches has a blue handle. Of all the fried (nuggets, McChicken, crispy chicken, fish) and grilled meat, I would say that fish is definitely the least made item. It often stays in the heater past its timer, so a new batch will have to be made and the expired thrown to waste. The best way to guarantee the freshest fish you can get is to just ask.
How much food is wasted?
Could it possibly be given to poor people, the homeless or tightarse OzBargainers?
We take a tally every quarter of the day. There's a lot. Most of it is just meat that has been dropped, however sometimes there's a perfectly fine burger that nobody picked up.
Largest source of wastes: Milk and 10:1 patties (Big Mac, cheeseburger, etc.)
@HighAndDry: Stock up your nuclear war bunker with cheeseburgers. The bread may go stale, but those things never rot.
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/19/is-this-the-worlds-oldest-mc…
So a cheeseburger contains only 45g of meat?
45.3592g to be exact.
"10:1 is the most popular meat. It is used in items such as Big Macs, Cheeseburgers and any variant of the two (ie McDouble, Double Cheeseburger, Mega Mac, Double Beef n Bacon). It is named 10:1 as it is a 10th of a pound. They take roughly 40 seconds to cook a batch of eight."
So the 3:1 are the Angus patties?
Sure are.
So big mac is only .2 of a pound of meat? damn
I like filet-o-fish….
What brand is the caramel sauce ?
I'm fairly certain it's produced by McDonald's, however next time I'm in the freezer I will check the box to see if I can find anything.
What discounts do you get? Do employees just make themselves burgers when managers not around? Do they give out freebies to friends/family and abuse it?
You get 50% off orders less than $20 30 minutes before your shift, after your shift and when on break. The place I work at is one of the busiest in the country, so there's always managers everywhere. It's impossible to get away with making your own burger. If you knew a burger was going to a friend or family, say it's a custom order with a grill slip on it, you could probably chuck an extra slice of cheese on or extra sauce.
In terms of freebies, yesterday we had an order of 100 cheeseburgers come in. Once we handled it, all crew got a free frozen coke lol. If you're asked to stay behind for a bit, you'll always get a free meal too.
do you also get paid to stay behind?
Yep, nothing like time and a half though. Just your standard rate.
@LikeClockwork: Chime: thats weird, I got paid time and a half if I had to stay behind
But i think different branches have different pay rules@LikeClockwork: I think T1.5 only applies if you work more than an 8 hours shift unless you're a permanent employee.
Is it harder to get hired if you're over 18? I attended a group interview which I feel went pretty well but didn't end up getting the job.
When I worked at Hungry Jacks everyone use to get asked where they would like to work, Kitchen or Counter. It was that most males would say kitchen and most females said counter.
Having said that though the counter staff usually dealt with multi-tasking. Like taking orders on drive through while making up drink trays/drinks/washing dishes while kitchen staff had to constantly carry 20kg boxes of meat from the storeroom freezer to the broiler freezer/And receiving inventory of 100+ 20kg boxes that needed to be rotated into the storeroom etc which of the 5 females (in kitchen) I worked with every single one would always ask a guys to carry the heavy stuff anyway.