Is the McRib a Sausage Patty?

The McRib is a barbecue-flavored pork sandwich that is regularly sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. This sandwich is made from boneless picnic pork, a cut that is known to be hard and fatty, but can be made edible with a little bit of magic. This process involves the use of salt to extract proteins and bind the meat into a shape. A McRib will provide you with 36 percent of your daily salt intake, which is quite a lot.

McDonald's admits that, despite its name, the sandwich isn't made of ribs. The McRib consists of a half-buried pork burger shaped like miniature ribs, barbecue sauce, onions and pickles. It is served on a 52 inch (14 cm) roll. The United States military had the goal of providing low-cost meat to soldiers on the ground during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

The McRib looks like a small rib, but it's actually a pork shoulder. It is spread in barbecue sauce and served on a hoagie roll with raw onions and pickles. It's ground pork, salt and nitrates that are the same as you get in any breakfast sausage burger, but pressed in a different shape. McDonald's tried a chopped steak sandwich before the McRib hit stores.

This was a delicious concoction of chopped steak and onions on a hoagie-style bun, with an optional meat sauce to top it off. But let's say that due to some scientific reaction, a little azodicarbonamide ended up in the McRib. The pork picnic or boneless pork is the way McRib is made; this is a highly prized cut that is usually tough and greasy, but can be delicious when grilled to perfection. It's been a year since the McRib last appeared and ever since people have been clamoring for it.

Every time McDonald's management reintroduced it they learned new things about customers who liked it and ultimately loved their sandwich. In addition to the traditional hot dog, bratwurst and knackwurst, German cuisine includes more than two dozen other types of sausages. There used to be a web crawler for McDonald's restaurants that offered the McRib so that fans could travel to find it when it wasn't available locally. In addition to the McRib, McDonald's also introduced McNugget chicken, breakfast cookies, salads and McChicken Sandwich.

Since then, the McRib has continued with limited reintroductions for what appear to be scheduled time periods in specific markets. The McRib first debuted in 1981 and has since made several appearances over the years, making it a sought-after rarity. You've probably heard the story that the only difference between a McRib and a gym mat is that you can't fight in a McRib. While I won't be in a hurry to use more McRibs this year, I can say that trying one is certainly an interesting experience.