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  • This is a Big Mac.

  • And this is everything that's in a Big Mac.

  • Welcome to Fast Food Chemistry.

  • Now, I've been desperate to try

  • an authentic American Big Mac,

  • but unfortunately there's no way

  • I can get my hands on one in the UK.

  • The simple solution was to get ahold of

  • every ingredient which goes into one --

  • there are over 50 --

  • and then to build one myself.

  • Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • You're not making a US Big Mac without me.

  • I'm going to oversee this whole operation

  • to see how close you actually get.

  • What I love about this show is that it combines

  • all the things I love about making Food Wars,

  • and also I do literally nothing.

  • So I am a fan of this format.

  • I've always wanted to say this,

  • but please do not try this one at home.

  • This one right here is alum.

  • This is potassium aluminium sulfate,

  • and it's primarily used in things like

  • leather tanning and dyeing and in fireproofing textiles.

  • It's pretty strong stuff.

  • For example, if you boil some of this,

  • it can actually dissolve steel in just a few hours.

  • OK, we're one chemical in

  • and already we're talking about dissolving steel,

  • did he say?

  • Um, no.

  • Harry, please be careful.

  • Put on some gloves for God's sakes.

  • This one right here is soy lecithin.

  • You've probably heard my Food Wars cohost,

  • Joe, mispronounce this one a million times.

  • Lechithin.

  • Leckithin.

  • Lecithin.

  • Leckithin.

  • Lechithin.

  • Leechithin.

  • Soy lecithin.

  • It's a lubricant and an emulsifier.

  • It's considered safe for consumption,

  • but there have been some preliminary studies

  • to suggest that overconsumption may promote depression,

  • which is kind of the last thing I need.

  • But what exactly do we mean by emulsifier?

  • Well, as we all know, oil and water don't usually mix.

  • An emulsifier is something

  • which helps you get around that problem.

  • In the Big Mac it's used in the cheese and the sauce,

  • just to kind of help everything stay together.

  • And finally we have polysorbate 80,

  • otherwise known as polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate,

  • or the more catchy "tween."

  • Now this might come in a handy applesauce-style pouch,

  • but it's probably our most controversial chemical here.

  • Studies have shown that it can lead to an increase

  • in colon cancer and infertility in mice.

  • It's not a guarantee to say that it will

  • do the same to humans, but it's probably not the best sign.

  • OK, oh Jesus.

  • Slice, ugh.

  • Pasteurized American cheese.

  • Ingredients are milk, cream, water,

  • sodium citrate, salt, cheese cultures,

  • citric acid, enzymes, soy lecithin, and colors added.

  • Get a load of this guy right here.

  • This one's a little tricky.

  • We don't have an exact recipe

  • for the pasteurized processed American cheese

  • which McDonald's uses in the States.

  • What we did find are the FDA requirements

  • for processed cheese.

  • Now to meet the legal definition of American cheese,

  • it must be made of cheddar, colby,

  • granular, or washed curd cheese.

  • We're choosing to go with a mild cheddar

  • because it already kind of tastes similar

  • to the Big Mac cheeses that I've had in the past.

  • From the ingredients list,

  • we can see the ones that belong to the cheese

  • and the ones which are added at a later stage.

  • The cheese itself is basically just made of milk,

  • salt, cultures, and enzymes.

  • Whereas later on, you will add the sodium citrate

  • as an emulsifying agent,

  • the citric acid as an acidifying agent,

  • and the soy lecithin as an anti-sticking agent.

  • The FDA requirements also specify how much of each of these

  • you're allowed to have in the finished cheese.

  • For example, we know that the soy lecithin

  • can only be 0.03% of the finished weight.

  • I think it's chemical time.

  • The chemicals have changed the consistency

  • of the cheese almost immediately.

  • It's gone from what was a very liquidy melted cheddar

  • with some cream in it to like, a very shiny-looking,

  • almost like a squeezy cheese.

  • And last but not least, the color.

  • That's good.

  • So in a relatively short space of time

  • we've turned this cheddar, which is quite a firm,

  • inflexible, very pale cheese,

  • into this classic American cheese.

  • It's amazing how little sodium citrate it took

  • and how quickly the change took effect.

  • Honestly, it was a tiny amount,

  • and as soon as it was sprinkled in,

  • made a whole world of difference.

  • Obviously it looks like American cheese,

  • but this is how we test if this is real,

  • authentic American cheese.

  • Ready?

  • Let's check it out.

  • Damn it, I was hoping it would stick.

  • Let's see if our cheese passes the test.

  • The pickle slices at an American McDonald's

  • contain cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar,

  • salt, calcium chloride, alum,

  • potassium sorbate as a preservative, natural flavors,

  • polysorbate 80, extractives of turmeric for color.

  • Ugh.

  • Now some of these chemicals

  • can actually be quite dangerous.

  • Calcium chloride can lead to burns in the mouth and throat,

  • excess thirst, vomiting, stomach pain,

  • and low blood pressure.

  • So I'm going to put some gloves on.

  • Now, despite its potential dangers,

  • calcium chloride is actually a great way

  • to improve the saltiness in food

  • without increasing the sodium content.

  • Alum is one that we've mentioned before.

  • And apparently this improves the crunchiness of pickles.

  • Potassium sorbate, as it says on the label,

  • is a mold inhibitor,

  • which will get the pickles a longer shelf life.

  • And finally, we have polysorbate 80.

  • Now this is an emulsifier which will thicken liquids.

  • However, it is also the one that gives mice cancer.

  • It's forming like, can you see this?

  • It's forming crystals, like stalactites.

  • Oh, it's like, solidifying or something right now.

  • What is happening?

  • Get away from it.

  • I feel like I'm watching someone making an explosive.

  • I just, the way he's shaking it, it's like,

  • gah, it's going to explode.

  • Looks like this is the first time

  • Harry's ever cut a cucumber.

  • Still quite lumpy.

  • The Big Mac bun in the US contains

  • the following ingredients: enriched flour,

  • which is ...

  • and diglycerides, enzymes, and vinegar.

  • We'll start with the flour.

  • This is British white bread flour,

  • which contains wheat flour,

  • calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, and thiamin.

  • So we're missing the malted barley flour,

  • the riboflavin, and the folic acid.

  • None of these are too suspect.

  • Malted barley flour contains enzymes

  • that break down starch to sugar,

  • and riboflavin and folic acid

  • are actually just vitamins B2 and B9.

  • So let's fortify our flour.

  • The only way to actually get the extra ingredients

  • that we needed was in vitamin form.

  • So we've got some folic acid

  • and some riboflavin tablets here.

  • It's like a pregnancy supplement.

  • You're supposed to take them

  • when you're trying to get pregnant.

  • Now that we have our fortified flour,

  • the next few ingredients are fairly simple:

  • water, sugar, yeast, and soybean oil.

  • Now these might seem fairly normal,

  • but we actually had some difficulty

  • finding soybean oil here in the UK.

  • In the US, apparently it's one of

  • the most common cooking oils.

  • But in the UK, it's used for two things,

  • massage oil and as a horse supplement.

  • So I'm going to need clarity on this.

  • When you say a horse supplement,

  • you're giving it as a supplement to a horse?

  • Or you take it as a supplement instead of eating horse?

  • Which is it?

  • Both are really weird.

  • Nailed it.

  • We looked up soybean oil in the USA,

  • and it was a much lighter color than this.

  • So this might not be as refined as the soybean oil

  • that you get in the US,

  • but fingers crossed, it should still be edible.

  • And finally, the extra ingredients.

  • Now the ingredients list has these as less than 2%,

  • so we have some idea of how much

  • of each of these we should be adding.

  • Oh, is that how chemistry works?

  • Just eyeballing it?

  • What are you doing?

  • We have just a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

  • Again, there's nothing too surprising

  • until we get to this one, which is DATEM.

  • Now, DATEM is diacetyl tartaric acid

  • ester of mono- and diglycerides.

  • Now, if you ever wondered how McDonald's gets their buns

  • so kind of soft, but also quite springy,

  • this might be the difference maker.

  • It improves the strength of the gluten network.

  • It's like, really soft, right?

  • I know it's not supposed to be that way,

  • but it's kind of like, it's got a bounce to it, right?

  • So our buns have risen.

  • We're going to put them into some ring molds,

  • top them with sesame seeds, and then bake.

  • It appears that Harry has raided someone's dorm room

  • and stolen their microwave-hot plate combo.

  • I don't know how this is going to turn out.

  • OK, here we go.

  • So here is the bun we made today,

  • and here is a bun we made earlier.

  • Now the differences between these two

  • are that this one has all the chemicals McDonald's uses,

  • whereas this one is literally just water, flour, and yeast.

  • Visually, the one we've made today

  • looks like a much better color.

  • It's a nice, even golden brown all around.

  • As you see with the one on the left, without the chemicals,

  • it's actually got this big tear around the side as well.

  • Now it's unclear exactly why this happened,

  • but it could be because this one has some chemicals

  • which help the gluten stay strong

  • and withstand the expansion in the oven.

  • But that looks, actually looks pretty good.

  • I'm very surprised by that.

  • The Big Mac big sauce is made --

  • Our American Big Mac sauce contains

  • soybean oil, from before, remember that?

  • Sweet relish, which is diced pickles, sugar,

  • high-fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar,

  • spices, onion powder, salt, extractives of paprika,

  • and soy lecithin.

  • Now, kind of like the soybean oil,

  • we had some real difficulties getting hold of

  • high-fructose corn syrup in the UK.

  • It's just really not used at all.

  • We were able to track down some regular corn syrup,

  • but only as a kind of specialty imported product.

  • But the only difference is that high-fructose corn syrup

  • goes through a process which converts some of its glucose

  • into fructose, which makes it even sweeter.

  • Yup, corn syrup is very common in the United States.

  • You can get it in the baking aisle.

  • I've gotten it before.

  • It's good for when you're making barbecue sauces,

  • like pulled pork.

  • I could not get high-fructose corn syrup.

  • I looked it up, and sure enough,

  • you can only get it at industrial-level, five-gallon drums.

  • It's pretty cheap.

  • Now we've already talked about

  • what some of these chemicals do,

  • but we haven't talked about xanthan gum yet.

  • Xanthan gum is a thickener.

  • And I can understand why you might want to put it

  • into a sauce to thicken it up.

  • But just before we do that,

  • we're going to test it out on some water

  • to see how effective it is.

  • Harry, my friend, you just invented thick water,

  • which we've got here in the States.

  • So this is for people with swallowing issues.

  • It actually makes it easier.

  • I mean, is it really like --

  • It doesn't --

  • Hmm.

  • Ooh, that's weird.

  • It's like a gel.

  • Where have you been all my life, thick water?

  • Silky, smooth.

  • Props to the people over at Thick-Its.

  • They're not a sponsor.

  • You make a hell of a thick water.

  • Just about a half a teaspoon of it

  • turned about 100 milliliters of water into this.

  • So now we've made our sweet relish,

  • but that's just one of the ingredients in the Big Mac sauce.

  • Now we have to make the rest.

  • Now it's worth pointing out,

  • a couple of the chemicals in there are noting what they do.

  • So we'll start with the propylene glycol alginate.

  • Now this is usually used in the beer-making process,

  • and it will also give our sauce a nice glossy finish.

  • As for the hydrolyzed vegetable protein,

  • we have this small bottle of it here.

  • Now what this is is primarily a flavor enhancer.

  • But it's also a not-too-distant cousin of MSG.

  • The main component of this is glutamate,

  • which is the same as the G in MSG.

  • And last but not least, we have this,

  • which is caramel color.

  • Now caramel color is worth pointing out

  • because one of the by-products it can contain

  • is on the state of California's list of chemicals

  • known to cause cancer.

  • What we don't know is if McDonald's uses the specific type

  • of caramel color that contains that by-product.

  • That chemical that is on California's list

  • of cancer-causing chemicals, just pick a different color.

  • I don't, I mean --

  • I know you eat with your eyes, but it's OK

  • if the color is a little different.

  • Aren't you supposed to like stream in the oil very gently?

  • Oh, God.

  • More than that?

  • Loads more, just like, oh, gosh, that's a bit aggressive.

  • Oh, God.

  • Feel free to get involved.

  • I'm hearing lots of criticism from you guys.

  • Not many solutions.

  • It's like

  • when you first started living on your own,

  • and you had a roommate.

  • And you like, tried cooking something,

  • and you're both like, I don't,

  • you hold it, I'll mix it, having no idea,

  • having no skill on how to do this.

  • Just watching you guys do this is just like, oh, my God.

  • Wow.

  • Look at that.

  • Nailed it, guys.

  • And with that, we have our Big Mac sauce.

  • The color looks pretty good.

  • The consistency is pretty good.

  • It was very hard work trying to emulsify that by hand,

  • but honestly, not too disappointed with the result.

  • Wow.

  • That looks like Big Mac sauce, I have to say.

  • I'm very surprised by that.

  • That actually looks just like the sauce.

  • In the US, our Big Mac beef patty

  • is made up of 100% beef patty.

  • It is prepared with grill seasoning,

  • which is salt and black pepper.

  • Harry, get a spatula, man.

  • You knew you were going to do this.

  • Why are you using a spoon?

  • I've got to say, this is a very sad sight

  • to watch you try and make this burger, on this hot plate,

  • with a spoon, in an office.

  • So after all that,

  • we've made all of the components of a Big Mac.

  • The only things we've added are some freshly diced onion

  • and some shredded lettuce.

  • These, thankfully, are just made of onion and lettuce.

  • There's no additional chemicals.

  • OK, he hasn't even put it together yet, and I,

  • honestly, am pleasantly surprised.

  • At this point before assembly, my hat's off to you, Harry.

  • That actually looks pretty good.

  • That is so springy.

  • So there you have it.

  • Can you tell which one is ours?

  • Visually, Harry, I'll give you a 6.

  • If I got a Big Mac at McDonald's

  • and that's what was in the box, I'd be like,

  • what the hell's going on back there?

  • But it looks a lot closer than I thought it was going to be.

  • The fact that that bread, and that sauce,

  • and that cheese looks the way it did is very impressive.

  • The last thing to do is taste our burger

  • to see how it stacks up against an actual Big Mac.

  • I think the bun is good.

  • It's a great homemade bread.

  • I just don't think I've ever made bread

  • this good at home without those chemicals.

  • However, it doesn't quite have that real soft pillowiness

  • that the McDonald's one does.

  • There's not a huge amount to say about the beef.

  • The lettuce and the pickles are also pretty good, honestly.

  • No real difference noted.

  • And I think I actually almost prefer

  • the cheese that we've made.

  • I don't know if that's because we used better cheddar,

  • but I actually like our cheese.

  • We've got a nice thick slice, kind of holds up.

  • It also has a good flavor.

  • I think the sauce on ours is not quite as good

  • as the original Big Mac sauce.

  • While we followed the ingredients list

  • as exactly as we could,

  • there are still some herbs and spices

  • which they keep as a closely guarded secret.

This is a Big Mac.

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Making A US Big Mac Using All 54 McDonald's Ingredients | Fast Food Chemistry

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2022 年 04 月 16 日
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