Hamburgers made completely by machine

[Caslon]

I see this happening more and more in the near future. That machine will only improve in coming years. The bun looks a little over toasted and the chopped onion pieces look a bit large. That will get improved upon. I see fresh hamburger vending machines within 7 years.

Momentum Machines robot-powered restaurant is opening in San Francisco - Tech Insider

 

[CraigC]

Hopefully more and more folks will stop eating fast food garbage.

 

[Aunt Bea]

It is an interesting idea.

I would be concerned about food contamination, bacteria, mold growth, etc...

and I would hate to be the poor kid that has to clean the thing!

 

[GotGarlic]

It is an interesting idea.

I would be concerned about food contamination, bacteria, mold growth, etc...

and I would hate to be the poor kid that has to clean the thing!

Why would you be more concerned about contamination with a robot that is limited by programming in what it can do than a human who has free will and can be careless and irrational?

 

[roadfix]

I'm surprised this hasn't been done years ago. Automated fast food making machines have been around for decades, but mostly used outside of the U.S.

 

[Caslon]

I'm surprised this hasn't been done years ago. Automated fast food making machines have been around for decades, but mostly used outside of the U.S.

Right...Japan. They already have way more sophisticated automated vending machines than the US. They're robotized already.

It'll slowly find its way into one of the big fast food chain stores. Currently, both Burger King and Carl's Jr. use a conveyor belt to flame-broil their patties.

 

[Caslon]

It is an interesting idea.

I would be concerned about food contamination, bacteria, mold growth, etc...

and I would hate to be the poor kid that has to clean the thing!

One space...just 2 employees...and...THE MACHINE !!! Da Da Da DA DAAA !!! (cue in the threatening music).
It'll be like Starbucks...one every 100 paces.

 

[Zagut]

It'll slowly find its way into one of the big fast food chain stores. Currently, both Burger King and Carl's Jr. use a conveyor belt to flame-broil their patties.

Oh it won't be slowly if fast food joints have to meet an unrealistic minimum wage.

I can't speak about Carl's Jr. but Burger King has been using a conveyor belt to flame-broil their patties since the 70's.

There is a big plus with this system.
A computer is less likely to get your order wrong then a minimum wage human who doesn't really care.

And as far as it being sanitary.

I'd trust a robot over a human with questionable training (Did they really understand or care.) skills.

Some of those "Food Service Personal" believe rubber gloves are all it takes no matter what they do while wearing those gloves.

There is a thing called washing your hands and I"d much rather see those preparing my food doing that rather then wearing a prophylactic used incorrectly.

 

[Caslon]

Oh it won't be slowly if fast food joints have to meet an unrealistic minimum wage.

I can't speak about Carl's Jr. but Burger King has been using a conveyor belt to flame-broil their patties since the 70's.

There is a big plus with this system.
A computer is less likely to get your order wrong then a minimum wage human who doesn't really care.

And as far as it being sanitary.

I'd trust a robot over a human with questionable training (Did they really understand or care.) skills.

Some of those "Food Service Personal" believe rubber gloves are all it takes no matter what they do while wearing those gloves.

There is a thing called washing your hands and I"d much rather see those preparing my food doing that rather then wearing a prophylactic used incorrectly.

They'll have irradiation to cut down on bacteria. I don't care. Irradiate automate me.

 

[CharlieD]

I've seen it in action. I think it's a great idea for fast food places. Emphasis on "fast". I was at rest stop with probably thousand people there, huge place. McDonalds had such a machine. It was spitting hamburgers in seconds. Machine was taking orders too. If you want "fast" food, you got it. I think it's great idea.


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[Bigjim68]

Mcdonalds

I just went through the MickyD's drive in. The drink machine is now fully automated. Gets its instructions from the order printer. Measures and pours the exact amount of ice and product and pops on the lid. Spits it out the other end lidded

Another soon to be fifteen buck job gone.

 

[RPCookin]

I just went through the MickyD's drive in. The drink machine is now fully automated. Gets its instructions from the order printer. Measures and pours the exact amount of ice and product and pops on the lid. Spits it out the other end lidded

Another soon to be fifteen buck job gone.

All of the McDonalds around here just hand you a cup and you fill your own. I prefer that so I can refill it before I head out. So that job has been long gone for a while now.

 

[roadfix]

All of the McDonalds around here just hand you a cup and you fill your own. I prefer that so I can refill it before I head out. So that job has been long gone for a while now.

But you can't do that at the drive-thru.....

 

[Caslon]

I just went through the MickyD's drive in. The drink machine is now fully automated. Gets its instructions from the order printer. Measures and pours the exact amount of ice and product and pops on the lid. Spits it out the other end lidded

Another soon to be fifteen buck job gone.

Inside some major fast food restaurants now, instead of a bunch of soda dispensers lined up now in row, there's one monster dispenser with only one shute. That means waiting until the person programming in their choice has finished. It used to be that 3 people could dispense their choice of soda from 5 separate dispensers at the same time, each labeled with the drink's name. The one big soda machine I saw in some fast food restaurants is new to me. Modernization. It makes sense tho. A lot less tube feed lines needed and less having to laboriously flush them all out from time to time.

 

[roadfix]

^^^^ It also discourages patrons from multiple refills when there's a line...

 

[RPCookin]

But you can't do that at the drive-thru.....

In the drive-thru, the same person who hands your order out the window also is usually the one who fills the drink orders. Not that i'm opposed, but it seems like a rather insignificant part of the whole process. Short of total automation in the entire food line, I don't think that they gain anything with a robot drink fixer.

 

[Caslon]

In the drive-thru, the same person who hands your order...

...will be all that's needed.

 

[RPCookin]

...will be all that's needed.

Then where do kids go to find their first job? I've known families where every kid worked at McDonald's as soon as he or she was 16, until they finished high school.

 

[erehweslefox]

A computer is less likely to get your order wrong then a minimum wage human who doesn't really care.

And as far as it being sanitary.

I'd trust a robot over a human with questionable training (Did they really understand or care.) skills.

Some of those "Food Service Personal" believe rubber gloves are all it takes no matter what they do while wearing those gloves.

As someone who has worked both in fast food, yes for minimum wage, and in back and front of house for several different kind of restaurants, I can tell you the level of subsistence motivation doesn't really matter, they have the same motivation, to get through the night and not lose their job. And about a similar regard for your food.

Now a robot burger machine I would say would need to be cleaned out nightly, by someone, and likely field stripped and detail cleaned every two or even one week, to maintain hygiene. Remember, the sanitation of a machine is only as good as its maintenance. Generally when things are automated to a large extent, it only gets paid attention to it when it breaks.

So yeah, give me Bubba on the McDonald's grill (already McDonalds using reshipped frozen, minamal input from staff etc... is something I avoid) over robo-burgerchef. Bubba at least knows he can get fired, if a rat crawls into robo-burgercher, how long will it take people to find it? Don't laugh, one fast food place I worked for shut down their soft serve ice cream machine for the winter (amusement park), didn't clean it, and nobody checked it in May when we opened, took us four days of complaints before anyone figured it out, as the machine worked fine, just the taste was a little... off.

 

[Addie]

All of the McDonalds around here just hand you a cup and you fill your own. I prefer that so I can refill it before I head out. So that job has been long gone for a while now.

I would rather have the self serve. I want less ice in mine. All it takes is one or two ice cubes to chill your drink. Even the large ones. Less ice, more soda.