1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: Lauren of ok obamb Here. It's a mick rib world 3 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: and we're all just living in it. Much like the 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: first snow of the season or spring break, McDonald's release 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: of the cult favorite mic rib sandwich is something that 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: a lot of people get behind. In case you don't know, 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: the mic rib consists of seasoned, boneless pork shaped into 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: a rib meat style patty and coated and tangy barbecue sauce, 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: then topped with sliced onions and pickles on a long bun. 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: And now it's back nationwide for the first time since 11 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: just what needs right. The McRib was created by McDonald's 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: first executive chef, Renee Rand, who also developed those famous 13 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: chicken McNuggets as a means to combat the chicken shortage 14 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: the curd. When those McNuggets debuted, apparently every franchise wanted 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: McNuggets and there wasn't a system in place to supply 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: McDonald's corporate with enough chicken to meet demand. So a 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 1: Rand developed the mcribb for the franchises that got left 18 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: out to debut. After a year of test marketing, that 19 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: first McRib appeared in McDonald's stores in two. Despite the 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: cult like appreciation for the sandwich, mcribb was actually considered 21 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: a failure, even with support throughout the Midwest. McDonald's discontinued 22 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: the micrib in five, citing a lack of dedicated pork 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: eaters in the United States, and then it made a 24 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: major comeback in as a promotional tie in to the 25 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: Flintstones movie. The sudden popularity and support for the McRib 26 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: sparked a movement to restock it select stores across the 27 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: United States and Canada, but the McRib disappeared again in 28 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: two thousand five. McDonald's even planned the micrib Farewell Tour, 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: featuring an online save the McRib campaign. So this all 30 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: begs the question, what exact is the McRib. Well, it's 31 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: not pork rib meat. It's mostly meat from the pork shoulder. 32 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: It's called restructured meat, and this food processing technique was 33 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: created by the US Army in the nineteen sixties to 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: lower its food costs. These new meats were added to 35 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: m r e s for troops and so essentially the 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: McRib is made of pig meat, including boneless pork picnic 37 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: shoulder pressed into the iconic micrib shape with some barbecue 38 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: sauce added for flavor. McDonald's did allow the late Grant Immahara, 39 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: former co host of MythBusters, behind the scenes in with 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: West Bellamy, then a teacher and now a department chair 41 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: at Virginia State University and vice mayor of Charlottesville. Bellamy's 42 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: tweeked about how an appetizing the meat looked had caught 43 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: McDonald's attention. The two watched as the pork meat was 44 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: processed and pressed into shape, and then flash frozen to 45 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: be shipped to restaurants. In the video, the vice president 46 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: of McDonald's u S pork supplier Lopez Foods, says the 47 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: only ingredients in a McRib are pork, water, dextros, and preservatives. 48 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: So if you are one of those who's been waiting 49 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: anxiously for the mac rib heads up, it's available at 50 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: participating restaurants as of December two, but who knows how 51 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: long it'll be there. Today's episode was written by Jeremy 52 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: Glass and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this 53 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: and lots of other restructured topics, visit House to Forks 54 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart 55 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: Radio For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i 56 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 57 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.