1967-Burger Chef's Innovative Broiler
October, 2012
G.D.O'Bradovich III
October, 2012
fast food is high volume
In 1967, Burger Chef introduced a boiler that could produce 2,000 burger patties an hour. We will explore if this development was needed or if this innovation was superfluous.
In “Behind the Golden Arches” by John F. Love, we find a picture showing 46 buns being dressed (placing ketchup, mustard and pickles) at one time. We assume that there are 48 buns (12X4) with two buns not shown in the photograph. The cook time for meat patties on a flat grill is 125 seconds (2 minutes 5 seconds). The time to remove the patties from the side freezer, placing the patties on the grill, seasoning the patties, removing the patties to crowns and cleaning the grill will be assumed to range from 2 minutes 55 seconds to 3 minutes 55 seconds for a total production time of 5 minutes or 6 minutes. At a production time of 6 minutes to cook 48 patties, 480 patties will be cooked in an hour. At a production time of 5 minutes to cook 48 patties, 576 patties will be cooked in an hour. If two flat grills were present, the production totals would be 960 and 1,152 patties, respectively. |
This image from the McDonald's Museum shows that there is enough room to cook 48 patties. The introduction of dedicated bun toasters would allow 96 patties to be prepared on the grill.
Gentle Reader, we are beginning to understand that fast food service in the 1960’s was dramatically different than what we experience today.
Burger Chef’s introduction of a 2,000 patties per hour broiler would be almost twice the production of a typical McDonald’s franchise or a McDonald’s Brothers imitation.
We conclude that Burger Chef’s innovation was needed, as this was the naissance of fast food and there was an overwhelming demand for this type of product.
Burger Chef’s introduction of a 2,000 patties per hour broiler would be almost twice the production of a typical McDonald’s franchise or a McDonald’s Brothers imitation.
We conclude that Burger Chef’s innovation was needed, as this was the naissance of fast food and there was an overwhelming demand for this type of product.
Judging by the sheer number of French Fry baskets, one can reasonably conclude that fast food is defined by volume. June Martino, July, 1966.
Advertisement dated July, 1966 for Burger King promoting their 60 second service time.
With 60 second service times, people will line up. Burger King 1970's.
addendum april 24, 2016
Per the June 22, 1962 Times Daily article:
The average McDonald's location served 70,000 hamburgers, 31,000 milk shakes and 51,000 orders of French Fries each month. Each location can prepare 6,000 hamburgers daily. The article also provided that 36 hamburgers can be cooked in 110 seconds.
The average McDonald's location served 70,000 hamburgers, 31,000 milk shakes and 51,000 orders of French Fries each month. Each location can prepare 6,000 hamburgers daily. The article also provided that 36 hamburgers can be cooked in 110 seconds.
3,600 seconds [an hour] divided by 110 seconds = 32.72 runs per hour per grill
32.72 runs multiplied by 36 patties per run = 1,178 patties per grill per hour
We are unable to reconcile the production of 1,178 patties an hour with 6,000 patties a day. It is possible that those responsible for the press release did not expect a Great Occultist to "run the numbers".
We speculate that the 36 patties indicates a 12-12-12 run, where each set of 12 patties is turned over (to finish grilling), another set of 12 patties is laid. This continues across the length of the six foot griddle and, after six sets, returns to the starting position (the left side of the grill).
The brothers McDonald were in a unique situation. They knew hamburgers were 80% of sales at their BBQ stand and, unlike a startup operation, they were familiar with food cost and labor cost for their location. They could accurately predict how many hamburgers they would sell if they focused on that product and we suggest they priced the menu items on the projected annual unit sales.
In essence, the brothers worked backwards from what one would expect. By knowing annual unit sales of hamburgers, and total wages for the year, they determined a very low price point for the hamburgers [when compared to restaurants] that would pay both the projected annual wages and an indeterminate amount of other costs. The strongest evidence for this proposed methodology being correct is that although the California minimum wage increased from 75 cents in 1955 to one dollar in 1957 and then to $1.25 in 1963, the menu price for hamburgers and cheeseburgers did not increase.
Today, any increase in the minimum wage results in higher menu prices, yet the brothers did not increase prices even though wages increased 66% in eight years. This fact demonstrates the profitability of fast food versus restaurants. We suggest that the markups on the French Fries, milk shakes and soft drinks were the main profit centers and provided a significant "buffer" for the subsequent raises in the minimum wage.
Based on their advice to Mr. Fox regarding the Arizona McDonald's, we suggest that the brothers were not concerned with hourly sales, daily sales, weekly sales or monthly sales. To that end, we offer the average annualized sales for 1962 from the Times Daily article:
We speculate that the 36 patties indicates a 12-12-12 run, where each set of 12 patties is turned over (to finish grilling), another set of 12 patties is laid. This continues across the length of the six foot griddle and, after six sets, returns to the starting position (the left side of the grill).
The brothers McDonald were in a unique situation. They knew hamburgers were 80% of sales at their BBQ stand and, unlike a startup operation, they were familiar with food cost and labor cost for their location. They could accurately predict how many hamburgers they would sell if they focused on that product and we suggest they priced the menu items on the projected annual unit sales.
In essence, the brothers worked backwards from what one would expect. By knowing annual unit sales of hamburgers, and total wages for the year, they determined a very low price point for the hamburgers [when compared to restaurants] that would pay both the projected annual wages and an indeterminate amount of other costs. The strongest evidence for this proposed methodology being correct is that although the California minimum wage increased from 75 cents in 1955 to one dollar in 1957 and then to $1.25 in 1963, the menu price for hamburgers and cheeseburgers did not increase.
Today, any increase in the minimum wage results in higher menu prices, yet the brothers did not increase prices even though wages increased 66% in eight years. This fact demonstrates the profitability of fast food versus restaurants. We suggest that the markups on the French Fries, milk shakes and soft drinks were the main profit centers and provided a significant "buffer" for the subsequent raises in the minimum wage.
Based on their advice to Mr. Fox regarding the Arizona McDonald's, we suggest that the brothers were not concerned with hourly sales, daily sales, weekly sales or monthly sales. To that end, we offer the average annualized sales for 1962 from the Times Daily article:
840,000
372,000 612,000 1,824,000 |
Hamburgers
Milk Shakes French Fries Total Units |
No information was provided concerning the number of cheeseburgers or soft drinks sold. With these items included, the total number of units sold would be over two million.