All language subtitles for Modern.Marvels.S21E07.Fast.Food.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H264-BTN_track3_[eng]

- Maybe your stomach is
rumbling on a road trip

or you're just a
little tight on time.

Well, these classic
American icons are known

for speed, convenience,
and consistency.

And whether it's
breakfast, lunch, dinner,

or a midnight snack, they
have got your flavor.

What am I talking about?

One of the most
popular and tasty

American food
experiences: fast food.

Burgers and fries,
tacos, fried chicken,

sandwiches, milkshakes.

The options are endless.

And some come with toys.

The fast food industry
accounts for 200,000 locations

spread across the 50 states

and brings in a whopping
$239 billion a year.

Today, I'm gonna
experience what it's like

to work the line in
one of the most iconic

and oldest fast food
chains, White Castle.

And we're going to explore
the wide world of fast food.

Just how much beef does it take

for this White Castle
factory to keep up

with the slider craze?

How did In-N-Out revolutionize
the drive-through

and where can we
find the only copy

of KFC's secret chicken recipe?

Your order is up

because this is "Modern
Marvels: Fast Food."

(upbeat theme music)

(cars whooshing by)

(suspenseful music)

The story begins
with a 5 cent burger

and medieval architecture.

White Castle is
arguably the original

American fast food restaurant.

Established in 1921,

White Castle started
selling slider-sized burgers

for 5 cents and serving
their customers with speed,

getting them their food fast.

White Castle has also
pioneered carry out fast food

in the frozen aisle
in your grocery store

and has been a cultural
mainstay for decades.

- [Spokesperson] White Castles,
those legendary hamburgers

and cheeseburgers with
the irresistible taste.

- Today I've come
to this location

of White Castle here in
Whitehall, Pennsylvania

to see how it's all done.

We'll also head to
the mothership,

White Castle's meat plant

where 156 million sliders
are processed every year.

But our fast food
journey begins here,

in the trenches, above
the grills and the fryers,

where we'll explore the
modern fast food industry.

(dramatic music)

(soda burbling from fountain)

- [Adam] Smell of meat on the
griddle, sizzling onions,

and fries crackling to life
greets you like a warm hug

the moment you enter
this tasty haven.

I can't wait to get started.

Now this is big for me
because I am well aware

of the magic of White Castle
from this side of the counter.

But hopefully today
you will expose me

to the magic on the other side.

- Yes, we will.

- There really is nothing
that tastes like White Castle.

There is simply nothing
like a White Castle slider.

There is nothing like a
White Castle clam strip,

a chicken ring.

That flavors keeps
people coming back.

I mean, I'm living
proof of this.

After Little League games,
that was the thing we did.

- Right?

- Okay, so will you show me

how this magical
operation works?

- Adam, let's get behind these
castle walls and let's do it.

(upbeat music)

Here's your uniform.

- Thank you so much.

(magical wind chime)

Let's get to work.
(air whooshes)

My first assignment

breakfast.

(egg sizzles on pan)

- We're gonna do
the Belgian waffle,

egg and bacon cheese sandwich.

- Now those of you at home,

do not attempt to
adjust your dial.

I'm in a White Castle.

This is a real egg.

So every single breakfast
sandwich you guys sell

you guys are cracking
fresh eggs for 'em?

- That's right, Adam.

- That is so
profoundly impressive.

At the scale that
White Castle sells,

operates, and serves clientele,

it's kind of amazing to think

that you guys are
cracking fresh eggs.

Now is the opportunity for me

to completely embarrass myself,

not just in front of Haskell,

but all the great hardworking
people here at White Castle.

Belgian waffle,
bacon, egg and cheese

- [Haskell] We've already
got our bacon ready.

So we don't have to
do anything there.

It's gonna be good.

And we have our trusty assistant

getting those Belgian
waffles in our toaster.

And they actually
come from Belgium.

- First, we oil up the
griddle and crack some eggs.

(egg sizzles on pan)

How do they control the heat,

so this isn't like a
flaming gigantic mess?

- The griddles we
use are AccuTemps,

and they're they're set to temp.

So this is set at 300 and
it'll never go above or below.

- Meaning these cutting-edge
griddles are designed

to keep the
temperature consistent

across the entire
cooking surface.

Which is kind of a
modern marvel unto itself

because knowing the
temperature control is so key

and having high technology

that will hold a
constant temperature

and every place on
this griddle allows you

to have that consistency and
that quality at the same time.

And once the eggs are
perfectly cooked...

- [Haskell] Voila!
- [Adam] Okay.

- [Haskell] We have
our Belgian waffles.

- [Adam] And it's
the Liege style,

so it's actually a
little bit more crispy.

It's got the
burnished sugar in it,

not the sort of fluffy waffle

that you might be
thinking of in your mind.

(upbeat music)

- [Haskell] So you can
take that first egg.

- [Adam] Yes, sir.

- [Haskell] Right
on top, all right.

And then we're gonna
take a slice of cheese,

right on top.
- [Adam] Okay, yes, sir.

- And then we're gonna
take two strips of bacon.

Awesome, and then we'll take
that other Belgian waffle

and put right on top of there.

And then you're just gonna
wrap it up, and there you go.

You've got the classic Belgian
waffle bacon, egg and cheese.

- So these things are like
a juice box of a real joy.

It's so perfect.

The White Castle box is iconic,

but as with all things in life,

it what's inside that counts.

And you better believe
I'm going to eat this.

This smells so good.

This smells like everything
that's right with breakfast.

Come on.

The best job in the world.

- Tell me what you think.

(suspenseful music)

- My first thought is,

why has it taken me
so long to order this?

(both laugh)

This is maybe the best first
day on any job I've ever had.

(both laugh)

But really, excellent.

I think that between the
quality of the waffle

and the fact that
it's a fresh egg,

it just doesn't feel like
any kinda fast food sandwich.

And I think maybe that's
where fast food can be

its most successful when it's
quick and it's convenient,

yet tastes as close as possible

to something you
might make at home.

I mean, really this is
unlike any breakfast sandwich

that I could ever order
from a drive-through.

This is superb.

White Castle offers this
beauty of a breakfast sandwich

all day and it's not
the only fast food icon

to make that move.

In 2015 earnings
jumped nearly 6%

when an all-day breakfast
option was introduced

at the world's reigning fast
food juggernaut, McDonald's.

McDonald's started
serving breakfast

in 1970 at a franchise
owned by Jim Delligatti,

the man who also invented
a little sandwich

called the Big Mac.

Another franchiser,
Herb Peterson,

changed the breakfast game,

when he invented the
Egg McMuffin in 1971.

This iconic breakfast
sandwich was developed

as kind of eggs
Benedict on the go.

In 1977, a breakfast
menu debuted

at McDonald's locations
across the country.

And it included hotcakes,
sausage, hash browns,

and English muffins.

By 1986, McDonald's
is said to serve

one out of every four breakfasts

not cooked at home in the U.S.

Breakfast might be the most
important meal of the day.

- [Haskell] Now you're on to
the big leagues.

This is where it all happens.

- [Adam] But at White
Castle, we've gotta get ready

for the lunch rush.

- So Adam, here you are.

You're at the fry station,

affectionately
known as the Beast.

Okay, and the reason
why we call it the Beast

is because you'll get hit
with a bunch of barrage orders

whether it's fries, mozzarella
sticks, chicken rings,

chicken breast,
fish, fish nibbles.

They can all come
at you at one time.

- Really?

This bad boy can
cook every single one

of those foods to
crispy perfection.

- If you look up, we've
got some screens up here.

This is gonna show you
when a customer orders,

all the fry items
will show up here.

All right, so be ready for that.

If you look directly
straight ahead of you

the red placard there.
- [Adam] Yes.

- So you see number
one says fries.

Number two says onion rings.

So if somebody orders a fry,

you come look at the fryer,
you hit button number one.

That's for fries.
- [Adam] Right.

- Button number two
is for onion rings.

- [Adam] When a food
gets dropped into the oil,

hitting its assigned button
tells the fryer to cook it

for a specific amount
of time and temperature.

- Here we've got our fries.
- [Adam] Yes, sir.

- Right, and on this side,
we've got our onion rings.

I'ma keep it simple for you.
- Thank you.

- I'm gon' have you
on the right side,

- Gotcha.
- And I'll let you do fries

and onion rings and I'll
stay on the left side,

and I'll do all the
other sandwiches.

- Love it.

And as soon as an order pops
up on the overhead screen,

it's time to feed the Beast.

- Uh oh, that's on
your side, Adam.

- Okay.
- Sack of onion rings.

- Got it.

Dammit, dammit.

Not as easy as it looks folks.

- [Haskell] A large, 15 pieces.

- [Adam] Two, four,
I wanna make sure

that my count was right.

- [Haskell] There we go.
- [Adam] Hit number two.

- [Haskell] There you go.

(air whooshes)

- [Adam] It's a great feeling.

Your number gets called
and your order is ready

and waiting for
you at the counter.

But before it gets there,

your fast food has gone through
an assembly line of workers,

all playing a part
in the kitchen.

It's a system designed to
keep up with ferocious demand,

and there is demand.

McDonald's sells more than
75 hamburgers every second.

Taco Bell sold a half
billion Doritos Tacos Locos

in a little over a single year,

and a new KFC opens up
somewhere in the world

every six hours.

- [Haskell] A six
piece chicken ring,

a three piece mozzarella,

and I gotta get the hash browns.

- [Adam] And once
the orders start...

- [Haskell] But now on your side

you're gonna make a
french fry with cheese

and you're gonna have cheese
sauce on the side as well.

- [Adam] They don't stop.

I'm telling you, look
away for a second

and this fryer jumps
up and bites you.

- That's why we
call it the Beast.

- [Adam] The Beast indeed.

This well-oiled
machine is a testament

to how important deep fryers
are for a fast food kitchen.

In fact, one fast food
titan built their empire

on an innovative deep fryer.

(dramatic country music)

Kentucky Fried Chicken, home
of Colonel Harlan Sanders,

a purveyor of an
legendary chicken recipe.

- Many have tried to
replicate our original recipe,

Kentucky Fried Chicken,
but nobody's been able

to get even close to
the signature recipe

that fuels our
24,000 restaurants

and $28 billion of business.

So at the heart of our
brand is Colonel Sanders.

He's the founder of the brand.

And he's certainly what made
it incredibly successful today.

The Colonel made the
world secret recipe

that you know today.

- [Adam] Colonel Harlan
Sanders started selling chicken

from his service station in
Corbin, Kentucky in the 1930s.

Dedicated to perfection,

the Colonel refined
his chicken recipe

until he found the perfect
blend of 11 herbs and spices.

The magic secret blend caught
the attention of Pete Harman,

who partnered with the Colonel

and opened the first
location of KFC.

Harman gave the Colonel's
chicken the name

we know it by today,
Kentucky Fried Chicken.

And five years after
opening the first location,

Harmon also came up
with its iconic slogan,

finger lickin' good.

And to get a look at
how this classic chicken

gets made today we're
frying up a batch

with KFC corporate
chef Chris Scott.

Hopefully he'll let
a secret or two slip.

- For me, it's really
about continuing the legacy

of what KFC already is.

And my role is to create
new and exciting dishes,

drawing more customers
and make people think

about KFC as an
innovative restaurant.

- [Adam] Chris
also experiments

with new ways to
improve crispiness,

texture, and flavor profile
across the KFC menu.

- [Chris] We have a
water bath ready to go

for the breading process.

- [Adam] KFC's
original innovation

is its signature fried chicken.

And we're about to
get an insider's look

at how the magic happens.

It begins with the coating,

where the secret
formula gets added.

- First, we're gonna put our
flour in, now our seasoning.

- [Adam] Chris could tell
us what's in this spice blend,

but then he'd have to kill us.

- The actual blend of
herbs and spices is created

at two different facilities.

Half is created at one facility.

Half is created at another.

It then gets shipped
to another facility

where it's gonna be
blended together.

So that that way,
none of our suppliers

actually knows what
our full recipe is.

- So we are very secretive
about our secret recipe,

simply because every
couple of years,

someone claims to
have discovered it.

And the reality is there's
no way they could have.

There's only one print
copy of our secret recipe.

It is stored at a secret
safe here in the building

in Louisville, Kentucky
at our headquarters.

If it got into the wrong hands,

who knows what would happen
to our chicken empire.

- [Adam] After the top
secret spices are blended

with the flour, in
goes the chicken.

- [Chris] I'm gonna mix it

'til it looks
fairly incorporated.

Our pressure fryer's
what we're using

to make our original
recipe chicken.

It is what the Colonel
worked on in inventing.

- [Adam] The Colonel developed
a special pressure fryer

based on a standard
pressure cooker.

Freshly breaded chicken
gets lowered into a chamber

filled with oil
and then sealed in.

As it heats up, the oil cooks
the chicken skin rapidly

and the pressure building
inside the chamber

seals in moisture that
would normally evaporate

in open an fryer.

The result, a moist
juicy piece of chicken

encased in a
shatteringly crispy skin.

- It really creates
a juicier product

and it sets our 11 herbs
and spices really into it.

And it actually expedites
the cooking process.

- [Adam] The original recipe
fried chicken is a mainstay,

but what's KFC cooking
up for the future?

- We have an amazing
innovation history.

We're always innovating
on new products

like our new chicken sandwich.

- [Chris] For our Kentucky
Fried Chicken sandwich,

we're gonna do is a
very similar process

as what we would do for
our original recipe,

only instead our chicken
filets are breaded twice

for our chicken sandwich.

(chicken sizzles in fryer)

- [Adam] Double breading
makes the chicken extra crispy

when it's fried up.

And when it's ready, the
freshly fried chicken goes

in a nicely toasted brioche bun

and gets topped with
mayo and pickles.

(light cymbal shimmers)

- The future for
Kentucky Fried Chicken

is incredibly bright.

We're constantly
innovating to bring new

and exciting recipes
to our customers.

- [Adam] As for exciting
new fried phenomenon

here in the present, I got an
order up for White Castle's

loaded fries, a pile of French
fries fresh out of "the beast",

covered in real bacon bits,
melted cheese, and ranch sauce.

- [Haskell] Oh, that
looks beautiful, Adam.

Oh, look at that.

- [Adam] Fortunately, the
person who ordered

these loaded fries was me.

(Haskell laughs)

I'm gonna take this
order. (groans)

The French fried
fruits of my labor,

the operative word being labor

because of the
ensuing food baby.

I recommend the loaded fries.

Oh my goodness.

- So Adam, what are
you feeling right now?

- Very happy, like so happy.

- I can see that warm, nacho
cheese hitting you, Adam.

- You know what it is.

We talked about how
having a real egg

really affects how good
the breakfast sandwich is.

Things like using real bacon
affect how good the fries are.

I'm just gonna run some tests
on these in the back there.

I'm going to just
gonna do some tests

just for like
corporate evaluation

of toppings as related
in the mass index.

I'm gonna go back
there for a moment,

but I'm gonna eat these fries.

- I'll get back on
the Beast. (laughs)

(light cymbal shimmers)

- [Adam] How much did
Colonel Harlan Sanders get

when he sold KFC in 1964?

A quarter of a million dollars,

$2 million, or $20 million?

The finger lickin' answer
when Modern Marvels returns.

- [Adam] Not long after
KFC became a

franchise national brand,

Colonel Sanders sold
KFC for $2 million.

Today, the brand is
valued at 8.3 billion.

(light upbeat music)

The sizzle, the smell,
the taste, the hamburger.

It's an icon of the
fast food industry,

and with good reason.

On average Americans
eat up to 30 pounds

of burgers every year.

And of all the fast food
burger joints you can think of,

White Castle was the first.

But I think now
it's probably time

to move further into the menu

to arguably one of
the most iconic foods

in the American
dining landscape,

American fast food landscape,
the White Castle slider.

- You're exactly right, Adam.

We served over 600 million
sliders every year.

- [Adam] Ooh, I got to
have accounted for

at least a couple
hundred of those.

- Well, I'll give
you another stat.

We've been open a hundred years.

We've sold over 20
billion in our history.

- That's incredible.

- [Adam] The reason people have
scarfed up over 20 billion

of these magical
bite-sized burgers

is because of their taste, but
also because of their value.

And this was true from
the very beginning.

White Castle was founded in 1921

by Billy Ingram
and Walt Anderson.

The first White Castle location
opened in Wichita, Kansas.

- The story behind the
invention of sliders

is that Walt Anderson
had become so frustrated

by the time it took to
cook a meatball sandwich,

he slammed his spatula
down on top of meatball

and flattened into a small
patty, inventing the slider.

- [Adam C.] Walt Anderson
ran a small shop

outside of factories in Wichita.

And eventually he opened a
storefront called White Castle

in part because the building
would look like a castle.

The slider sold
for a nickel a pop

and they were extremely
popular because they were

cheap, affordable,
and they were encased

in these little buns
that you could take

with you wherever you want.

- [Adam] Over the years,

the price of the original
5 cent White Castle slider

has increased but has always
remained affordable.

In 1950, the price
went up to 12 cents,

less than half the price of
a cup of coffee at the time.

Bye 1970, the price of the
slider grew to 14 cents,

about the same as a round
trip subway fare in New York.

And today the average price

of a White Castle
slider is just 79 cents.

You can get more than 10 sliders

for the average price
of a movie ticket.

That's across 377
locations in 13 states

including the one
where I'm about to make

the slider magic happen.

- [Haskell] So here we go.

First, we're gonna do our buns,

and we're gonna take
out a set of 30 buns.

- [Adam] That's
right, 30 buns.

That's because White
Castle's signature to-go box,

the Crave Case, can
hold up to 30 sliders

and the massive Crave Crate
can house 100 of these puppies.

In fact, the custom griddle
that we're cooking on

is specially designed to hold
exactly 30 sliders at a time,

maximizing efficiency.

How fast you can
one of your workers

set up 30 and put together 30?

- From beginning to end,

I've seen team members do
it in less than a minute.

- That is deeply impressive.

Let's see if I could
break that record.

- Just get under
the whole front row.

- Pulling out a stack
of 24 buns in one go

is harder than it looks.

- [Haskell] Don't drop the
buns 'cause they're precious.

- They are.

Oh boy, oh boy,
this is not good.

This is not.

Oh man, I am so sorry.

I am so fired.

Oh God, God the humanity.

Nope, no, no, no records
will be broken today.

In my defense,
it's my first day.

- [Haskell] We'll just slide in,
Adam, like this underneath.

Break 'em at the back.

- [Adam] Oh, come on!
- That's your row of 24.

Just like that.

And then we'll just
grab a row of six.

We're gonna do 30 sliders
on this first round.

- [Adam] And the first
step, grilling onions.

- [Haskell] That's perfect.

- [Adam] Okay, it's perfect?

- [Haskell] The next
thing is our meat patties,

hundred percent beef.

- [Adam] Yes, sir.
- Okay.

So if you open that meat box
to your left, that's right.

- [Adam] Okay.

- [Haskell] And then we're
gonna come over here

with it and then to the
furthest part of the grill

start at the top and
just layer 'em down.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,

boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

- [Adam] Like that?
- [Haskell] Yup.

- [Adam] These sizzling
patties are the heart

of the White Castle slider.

But they wouldn't be
the White Castle patties

without those five
signature holes in the meat.

And there is a stroke of
genius behind this design.

When the slider patty
hits the griddle,

they're stacked on top of
a layer of grilling onion.

The steam from the onions
gets inside the hole,

circulating inside the
patty and cooking it

all the way through, which
means this is one burger

you don't need to flip.

This cuts down the
time it takes to grill

up a fresh batch of sliders.

Ooh wee!

- Now we're gonna
do the seasoning.

- Now can you tell me
what this is your no?

- That is a special blend
just for White Castle,

so I cannot indulge.
- Is it really?

- [Haskell] the secrets
of that seasoning.

- Okay. All right.

Who know, secret,
special herbs and spices

right here at
White Castle, okay.

After a gentle dusting,
the buns go on top

to get steamed by the hot onions

and meat until they're
ready to come off the grill.

- So now you got the
original sliders off.

- Yes, sir.

- Each one gets a pickle.
- You got it.

- And then we're gonna
box 'em up to go.

- [Adam] But
there's a problem.

(dramatic music)

Oh no, there's
one without a box.

Whatever shall we do with it?

Hmm.

Got an idea.

(upbeat music)

- [Adam] McDonald's Quarter
Pounder with Cheese,

Taco Bell's Chalupa
and Subway's Foot-long.

These are just some of the items

on menus that have raked
in over $50 billion

in annual sales
in the U.S. alone.

Every fast food spot has
signature menu items.

And at White Castle,
it's this juicy slider.

Oh my God, it feels
like coming home.

I called my mom, told her we
were filming at White Castle.

She began to share memories of
how my grandfather loved it.

And think about it,
a hundred years.

Since the very
beginning of the 1920s,

how many generations have
experienced this?

Mmm.

It's true.

White Castle has been serving
its sliders for a century,

making it almost as old

as the broader definition
of fast food itself.

- [Elizabeth] The history of
fast food really starts off

with the creation of
the automat lunchroom

in 1902 in Philadelphia.

- [Adam] Automat
restaurants serve customers

ready-made food using
vending machines.

- Horn and Hardart built
the automat to create a way

for people who didn't
have time to sit down

and eat a long lunch,
commuters specifically.

They were looking
for quality meals

very quickly and affordably.

- [Adam] Automat
weren't really automatic.

There was an army of workers

behind the walls of
the vending machines

cooking and replacing the
food purchased by customers.

- So you'd enter the
automat and you would choose

what you wanted to eat by
inserting 5 cents into a slot

and lifting a
little glass window.

And behind that window,
you would have things

like mac and cheese
or meatloaf or pie.

And then you would go
off to the lunch room

and enjoy your meal there.

- [Adam] A decade after
kicking off in Philadelphia,

Horn and Hardart leveled up
by opening another location

in one of the
busiest urban centers

in the United
States, Times Square.

Nearly 10 years after
that, White Castle's birth

kicked off stiff competition
from more fast food icons

like McDonald's in 1948,
Burger King in 1954,

and Taco Bell and
Wendy's in the 1960s.

This competition and
inflation meant a decline

in food quality at
the automats compared

to reliable fast
food attractions,

like the Big Mac,
KFC's fried chicken,

and of course the
White Castle slider.

This delicious hunk of joy

is White Castle's
main attraction,

but they also room for
an occasional guest star.

And I'm about to
get the sneak peek

at their latest menu experiment.

- So right now we're
gonna be making two

of our limited time
only sandwiches,

the Sloppy Joe and
the Smokey Joe.

- For those of you
who may not know,

Sloppy Joe is
usually ground beef,

seasoned with kind of a
tomato sauce with vegetables,

but it has its own
kind of rich flavor,

kinda magical tangy,
somewhat spicy thing.

Bringing in a ringer
for a limited run

is a common play in
the fast food game.

- When you think about
limited time menu options,

LTO's is what they're called
in the fast food world,

you think of the McRib,
which is the most delicious

and most polarizing
LTO in the world.

- [Adam] The McRib made
a big comeback last year.

After a decade off the menu,

it got its biggest release ever,

selling in more than 10,000
McDonald's locations.

Some LTO's are heavy on both
creativity and calories,

like KFC's donut and
fried chicken sandwich,

Wendy's Breakfast Baconator,
or Taco Bell's Nacho Fries,

which costs just a dollar
and sold 53 million times

in its first five
weeks of release.

- Part of limited time
offerings and the appeal of them

is that they have
this short shelf life.

And so if they're on
the menus full time,

there wouldn't be this
excitement about it.

You would take it for
granted, but there's always

this shouting of something
new and something fun

and the gimmick of having
something kind of appear

on a menu and then disappear.

(upbeat music)

- [Adam] And the difference
between the Sloppy Joe

and the Smokey Joe is?

- [Haskell] So we've got
that nice onion crisp

on top of that Smokey Joe.

And we've also got this
nice smoked cheddar cheese

on top of that as well.

- Sounds delicious.

- We're going to take one scoop

of our Sloppy Joe
for each sandwich.

- [Adam] One scoop on each?

- Yup, just right on
the bottom bun, yup.

You're gonna do one more
scoop on the other bun,

and you can just smell
those flavors, Adam.

- [Adam] It smells delicious.

- just the bun top on top,

and that's how you
make the Sloppy Joe.

That's the classic right there.

- Okay, right there.
- [Haskell] Right.

And now we're gonna
do our Smokey Joe.

- Smokey Joe.

- So you're gonna take one
scoop of our crispy onion.

- [Adam] Put it right on top?

- [Haskell] Yup, and
then you should have

that smoky cheddar
cheese right on top,

and then bun on top of that.

And that is your classic
Smokey Joe slider.

- Sloppy Joe and the Smokey Joe.

After putting in
so much hard work,

I am going to divest of my mask.

That's awesome.

It's so good.

The same way I've been talking

about how the fast food
experience brings back memories,

you immediately go
back to these memories.

Sloppy Joe is one of those
like beautiful memories

of childhood cafeterias.

Come on, admit it.

It looks like your childhood.

If you had Sloppy Joes,

and were fortunate enough
to have good Sloppy Joes,

oh, it was just like this.

That was delicious, and
that's the regular Sloppy Joe.

But they also have
that Smokey Joe.

(upbeat music)

That's amazing.

What took you guys so long?

A hundred years.
(Haskell laughs)

It'll be your new favorite.

Come in and have it, have
it a lot so it's here often.

Please, please, do it for me.

This is delicious.

I could stand here
and quietly enjoy

this smoky goodness all day.

But it's almost a
little too quiet.

I have to say normally you'd
have customers like hollering

at you from one side.

- [Haskell] Right?

- Like I'm picturing like a
dinner rush or a Saturday.

- Yes, we're only
doing a drive-through.

We're not even doing
dine-in right now

because of what's going
on with the pandemic.

- [Adam] That means all
the customer action here

is at the drive-through window,

which is why it's my next stop.

(upbeat music)

- [Adam] You've been there.

You're running late.

You don't have time to cook,

but you've got to pick
up something and fast.

That's when you reach
for that lifesaver

of the American road,
the drive-through.

And today, it's my turn
to take your order.

This is Max.

He has been watching
me like dropping buns

and trying to get it together

with a great amount of patients.

So Max, thank you so much,

but he's giving me one small
crack on the drive-through,

which I appreciate.

Will you show me how we
put orders in and stuff?

- All righty, so drive-through.

This is my favorite position.

- [Adam] When the car pulls
up to the Intercom outside,

it triggers a motion sensor,

which alerts the person
working at the window.

This is when the ordering
starts and it does not stop.

You could be typing
in one order.

You're talking to
another client,

talking to another client,
and so on and so forth.

- Yup, keep it going,
keep it continuous.

So you can save the
order, take another car,

save that order, take a
third car, four, five.

Once a customer pulls up to
the speaker, it'll go ding.

You'll pres this button right
here, and you're activated on.

- What is the reply,
that standard reply

that you're meant to give
when someone pulls up.

- Our best reply is
welcome to White Castle.

We appreciate your business.

How can I help you?

We appreciate your business.

How can I help you?

Got it.

All right, so I'm gonna try
to not mess up these things.

- Gotta think very quickly.
- [Adam] Heck yes.

- Gotta be quick on your feet.

- [Adam] Hopefully I am
and faster than I can ask

would you like fries with that?

(intercom beeps)

Hello, welcome to
the White Castle.

We appreciate your business.

May I take your order please?

The first system of
drive up service here

might've started the very
year White Castle was born.

- The Pig Stand was
born in Texas in 1921,

and it claims to be the
first drive in restaurant

in the United States.

And it was a barbecue place
where you would drive up

with your car and you would
be served by a car hop.

And that was the
beginning of the model

that eventually would
become drive-throughs.

- [Lauren] With the big push
for freeways in the 1940s,

a lot of restaurants
that weren't close

to freeways sorta died off.

And there was a need for
families who were traveling

on freeways to be able to pull
off and quickly grab a meal.

- [Adam] And by
the end of the '40s,

a major innovation meant
you didn't need to wait

for a car hop to
take your order.

- What Jack in the
Box did differently

was it had a microphone
that went to the kitchen.

And so a driver would come up

and deliver their order
through the microphone

and then drive up to the
window and wait for the food.

- [Adam] But the modern
drive-through experience

isn't a one-sided conversation.

- What In-N-Out did in 1948
was create a two way speaker.

So that was another innovation
at the time that we now know

as something being very familiar

to drive-through experience.

- [Adam] Right now,
I'm getting familiar

with this experience from
the other side of the window.

But Max has some feedback.

You gotta remember,
you're the first voice

they're hearing when they
pull up to that speaker.

So you gotta sell this
White Castle brand.

- [Adam] Challenge accepted.

There's some really good
Sloppy Joes, actually,

that we have for a limited time.

By the way, the Smokey
Joe in particular

happens to be really delicious.

- [Customer] Yeah?

- I'm just saying it's only
here for a limited time

and I actually eat what we
make here and it's delicious.

- [Customer] All right, lemme
have two of the Sloppy Joes.

- [Adam] I'm a natural.

All right, any sides or any
onion rings or French fries,

mozzarella sticks,
something like that?

The fries are awesome.

The fries happen to be awesome.

It's all about
timing though, legit.

It's all about timing and
not putting too much salt.

I might make Employee
of the Month,

but there's no time
to rest on my laurels.

Hello, Welcome to White Castle.

We appreciate your business.

May I take your order, please?

There you go, there's
your medium Sprite.

Can I get you any sauces?

Because the orders keep coming.

Hi, welcome to White Castle.

Can I take your order please?

And coming.

And two of stuff with cheese.

- Right now, you should be
making a small cherry Coke.

- [Adam] Copy that.

- [Customer] Okay,
I'm ready now.

- Absolutely, ready for you.

What may I get you?

Can I get you any
sauces to go with that?

- [Customer] No, I'm good.

- All right, you're good.

Drive carefully, nasty
weather out there.

- [Customer] All right, game on.

- Bye-bye, okay, bye.
(laughs)

- Team, how's Adam been doing
since he's been here, right?

Give him a round of applause.

(team cheers and claps)

- [Adam] I've
worked up an appetite.

(laughs) THat was,
it was oddly exhilarating.

(upbeat music)

And the Haskell is rewarding
me with an exclusive treat.

- So Adam, we're gonna take
it back to the beginning.

We're gonna take
it back to 1921,

and we're gonna make
our 1921 slider.

This was something that
was on the menu back then,

but it's also something
to commemorate

our hundredth
birthday this year.

- Is it available to customers?

- Currently, we've got
it in two locations,

Scottsdale and Chicago.

We're gonna make this
specifically for you.

- This episode is only
going to get better.

You will get very hungry.

Which of the following led to
the nationwide introduction

of the McRib in 1982?

A national pork surplus,

a shortage of chickens,

or was it a sharp
decline in Big Mac sales?

The answer after the break.

- [Adam] The answer is a
shortage of chicken.

According to a McDonald's
executive chef at the time,

when the Chicken McNugget
was introduced in 1979,

it was so popular it led to
a shrinking chicken supply.

Helping franchises make
up for this led McDonald's

to create the McRib.

(light upbeat music)

Whether you're having McDonald's
classic crispy golden fries

or a Whopper right off
the Burger King grill,

it always tastes like
it's supposed to.

The reliable
consistency of fast food

is one of its hallmarks.

In fact, when Shake
Shack attempted to switch

to fresh hand-cut fries,
many people let them know

how much they preferred
the classic crinkle cut.

But food also evolves.

And at White Castle,
the latest change

is the introduction
of the 1921 slider.

- Okay, in the 1921, we're
back at our griddle station.

Right here, you can see,
we have the nice beef here

along with our nice
roasted onion there.

- [Adam] So the onions are
already a little bit different

because instead
of going raw onion

and steaming it
right in the grill.

these have already seen
a little bit of heat.

- [Haskell] Yes.
- Got it.

The patty here doesn't have
the same signature holes

as the regular
White Castle slider,

meaning it has to be flipped.

It's actually less
efficient to make this,

but what White Castle
is losing in efficiency,

they're hoping to
gain in flavor.

- Take that seasoning.

Now that seasoning's different

than the other seasoning we use.

- It is, this is the original.

- [Haskell] That's right.

- And this is the 1921 season.

No doubt, also secret blend?

- [Haskell] That's right.
- Okay.

The spice blend and roasted
onions are not the only things

different than the 1921 slider.

The meat for this
specialty slider comes

from a local premium
beef supplier,

but the original slider patties

with the five holes come
from a little farther away.

(air whooshes)

(light piano music)

- [David] We are here
at White Castle's

Zanesville meat
processing plant,

or as we like to call it,
the providers of sliders.

My name is David Rife.

I oversee all of the
manufacturing operations

within in White Castle.

White Castle was started

by my great-grandfather,
Billy Ingram.

Lot of Billy's friends called it

his crazy hamburger experiment.

- [Adam] And this is
where that crazy experiment

has led the company today.

- At this facility here,

this is where we take beef
trimmings, grind them,

turn them into those delicious
White Castle slider patties

that you get to eat
in our restaurants

and at our retail products.

- [Adam] Currently, the
Zanesville meat facility

processes 650,000 sliders a day,

3.2 million sliders a week,
and 13 million sliders a month.

(upbeat music)

- [David] The whole process
begins on our loading dock.

We get shipments of frozen
ground beef in five days a week.

Trucks come in, bringing
us frozen ground beef.

We unload those trucks.

We put about a
quarter million pounds

of meat a week
through this freezer.

(machine humming and beeping)

- [Adam] All that meat
gets thoroughly inspected

before it's ground down,
mixed, then ground down again.

The slider meat is then pushed

through a special
mold to take shape.

- That meat horn
is what gives it

that wonderful square shape.

- Meat horn sounds like an
edible musical instrument,

but it's actually
a sculpting tool,

giving the patty
its iconic look.

- This is where we get our
two by two square patty

with the five holes in it.

If you look at these
five rods right here

that's what creates
the holes in our patty.

- [Adam] The meat horn
doesn't just poke holes.

It also shapes the ground meat

into blocks that gets
sent to a freezer.

- They're in there
for 20 minutes,

get just a perfect
crust so we we slice it,

we get a nice even slice
on our hamburger patty.

Those slicers have the
ability to slice up

to a thousand slices a minute.

- [Adam] The finished
patties get stacked, packed,

and shipped out to
White Castle restaurants

to the tune of 156
million sliders a year,

including a shipment
that ended up right here.

- [Haskell] So now we take
that slider press off.

Oh man, look at that.

- [Adam] The patty has
a char and a crispness

that immediately sets it apart

from the standard
White Castle slider.

- But we're gonna add
our cheddar cheese.

- All right, the smoky cheddar.

- [Haskell] Yes, it is.

- Ooh, it's so good.

One of my favorite
things on the menu.

Standing here watching
smoked cheddar melt

on a burger is definitely
me in my happy place.

- [Haskell] No, that's
perfect right there, Adam.

We can take those off and
slide 'em onto our buns here.

- Okay, you got it.

- [Adam] Throw a
couple of pickles on

and then we wrap up these
drool-worthy sliders.

All right, I am gonna show
one of these to the camera

and then show the other one
to the inside of my mouth.

(camera clicks)

- [Haskell] So Adam,
what do you think?

- They were so good,
I nearly ate my glove.

I was trying to put too
much of it into my mouth.

It is, flavor-wise,
the perfect hybrid

between a White Castle
slider and a backyard burger.

It has the char, the
crispiness, the smokiness,

even down to the onions
and the cheese itself

that I would associate with a
burger at a family barbecue,

but it has that unmistakable
White Castle bun.

It's really kind of
amazing to see both

of those flavors in
one delicious package.

It might take longer to whip
up 30 of these bad boys,

but man, is it worth the wait.

1921, it's both a year
White Castle was established

and the number of these
you'll want to eat.

My shift is over,
my belly is full,

and we got an exclusive
peak behind the curtain

at two of the fast
food industry's titans.

In the world of burgers to
the world of fried chicken,

from working the line at
the legendary White Castle

to finding out why KFC is
an international phenomenon,

you can't tell the
story of American food

without also telling the
story of the fast food chains

and restaurants that
help build and define it.

So the next time you grab
your burger, your fry,

remember, there's
a lot of hard work,

ingenuity, and technology
to keep it at a fair price,

and of course, fast.

(upbeat music)