A former McDonald’s employee has revealed just what it’s really like to work for the fast-food giant, and exposed some confidential information, including a secret menu item and the meal he never orders.
Bruno Bouchet worked as a crew trainer at a McDonald’s Brisbane outlet while in high school from 2000 to 2003 between the ages of 14 and 17.
For three years, the then-teenager worked in every area of the store, from the kitchen, to the drive-thru, the front counter, McCafe and even kids’ birthday parties.
The now-34-year-old shared his insider knowledge with Daily Mail Australia, including the one meal he refuses to order, and the age-old myth of workers allegedly spitting in burgers.
The Sydney managing director and former Kyle & Jackie O radio show producer said he also learned some valuable life lessons that he carries with him to this day.
Ex-McDonald’s employee Bruno Bouchet (pictured at the age of 14 in 2000) has dished out the things you didn’t know existed about the fast food chain, including the secret menu item
The secret menu item
Bruno – who’s known on Instagram for his controversial lists where he ranks items from best to worst – said biggest secret item on the menu when he was working was the Bacon McFlurry.
‘You’d mix in bacon bits and caramel sauce into a McFlurry – it was incredible. Think of it as the McFlurry version of Canadian Pancakes,’ Bruno told Daily Mail Australia.
‘This was such a highly guarded secret that even some managers had never heard of it before. The secret was only ever circulated amongst back area staff who had worked there for ages.
‘To order it at a McDonald’s you didn’t have a hook up at, you’d ask to speak to the oldest looking guy in the kitchen and pray to god he knew what you were talking about when you mentioned the “Bacon McFlurry”.’
The item he refuses to order
Chicken nuggets have long been a crowd favourite among diners but Bruno insisted it’s the one item he still refuses to order today.
‘The one item that freaked me out were the chicken nuggets… I’ve never, ever ordered or eaten nuggets since working there,’ he said.
He said while working there 20 years ago, he allegedly found ‘little feathers’ on the chicken nuggets.
‘On a number of occasions, I’d seen little feathers on them when I pulled them out of the freezer. The main reason I wouldn’t order them, though, comes down to how long they’d sit around in the heated shelf for,’ he claimed.
‘We always wanted to have enough cooked nuggets in case someone ordered a 24-pack. So you’d have a minimum of 24 nuggets just waiting there… sometimes for up to an hour. Sure, someone might order a three or a six-pack, but you still had a mountain of nuggets getting as hard as rocks.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted McDonald’s for comment. However this circumstance with the nuggets is not likely to happen in 2020, with the restaurant’s ‘made-to-order’ system now in place.
For three years, the then-teenager worked in every area of the store, from the kitchen, drive-thru and front counter to McCafe and even kids’ birthday parties
Would you like to add an extra…?
Bruno claimed there’s a reason employees are required to ask customers whether they’d like to add an extra item to their order.
‘Whenever you get asked whether you’d like an extra item with your order like an Apple Pie, there’s a good chance it’s old or about to expire,’ he claimed.
‘McDonald’s track wastage down to the smallest item such as a slice of cheese or a bread bun, so managers push staff to sell off the soon-to-be-expired items so it doesn’t reflect badly on their waste report.’
The pickle juice ‘hack’
During his time there, Bruno claimed the ‘back area staff’ had a pickle juice bowl which was used for employees to immediately treat cuts and burns.
‘When I started at McDonald’s, an older guy taught me this “life hack” that involved the giant pickle buckets we’d have in the kitchen,’ he said.
‘He explained that if you ever cut or burnt yourself, you simply dip your hand into the pickle brine for 30 seconds and everything would be fine. I tried it a few times and was blown away by how the bleeding would stop almost immediately.’
Employees ‘spitting’ in burgers
‘I’ve heard a lot of myths about back area staff doing gross things with people’s food, but in all my years, I never saw anything worse than the odd burger being dropped on the kitchen floor then hastily picked up and reassembled,’ Bruno claimed.
‘Customers can look into the kitchen, so it’s not like you can just spit in someone’s food without being noticed.’
The now-34-year-old father (pictured now) has shared his insider’s knowledge, including the one meal he refuses to order, the life lessons he learned and the secret item menu
In October last year, Bruno – who’s known on Instagram as the ‘list king’ – shared his ‘definitive’ rankings of McDonald’s burgers
The secret ‘cool stacks and relax’ in the back area
When he was working as a crew trainer, Bruno said he ‘implemented an unofficial strategy for the back-area workers called ‘Cook Stacks and Relax’.
‘We’d basically cook as much food as we could for 20 to 30 minutes – then we’d go hang out in the walk-in fridge and chat with the drive-thru chicks,’ he claimed.
‘We’d often have enough food to last us an hour and a half. Nowadays, though, everything’s cooked to order. Great for the customer, but gone are the days of “Cook Stacks and Relax”.’
The bread steamer ‘hack’ for unclogging pores
Bruno said another life lesson he discovered was using the bread steamer for unclogging pores.
‘A cool life hack that the front counter girls would do every few hours is put their faces really close to the bread steamers so they could clean out their pores,’ he said.
‘We were all pimply teenagers and obsessed with trying to look as normal as possible, so unclogging pores with a bread steamer sounded like a good idea. In hindsight, it was actually quite a genius thing to do.’
Coca-Cola syrup an alternative for caffeine
To power through a long shift, Bruno claimed he would drink Coca-Cola syrup.
‘If someone called in sick and you were already working, you’d sometimes have to do a 14-hour shift. To push through, many of us would go to the storeroom and chug straight Coke syrup,’ he claimed.
‘I’m still not quite sure what how much sugar was in the syrup, but it was enough to make you feel like you were operating at double speed.
‘I’ve never felt the same rush as I did from Coke syrup.’