Bill Cianci's (Mostly) Burger Reviews: Arby's

Where:
3585 NJ-66, Neptune Township, NJ 07753

What:
-Beef 'N Cheddar sandwich

-Jalapeno Roast Beef Slider

-Ham Slider

-Chicken Slider

-Sweet Potato Waffle Fries

You eat hotdogs don't you?

After all the mystery-meat videos, articles, reviews and obnoxious TV hosts over the years, I finally got around to experiencing Arby's first hand.

Let me start by saying, the "roast beef" is in no way, a traditional roast beef. Arby's has managed to transform a traditional sandwich meat into a processed, modern-day imposter. If it looks like the real thing, smells like the real thing, and has texture like the real thing, for the sake of convenience, we're going to eat it. I'm not saying Arby's meat isn't real, on the contrary, here is Arby's roast beef ingredients cut and pasted from their website:

Beef, Water, Salt, Sodium Phosphates.

So, contrary to some of the crazy press Arby's roast beef receives, the meat is actually beef - this is good. We can assume Arby's does not use 100% beef since it is not mentioned. This doesn't mean there are worms or ears in there.

The sodium phosphate found in the beef is a form of sodium that acts as a preservative which can also change the texture of foods, but it's used in very small amounts, so we'll assume this ingredient isn't all that bad for you.

So? What transformation is happening to Arby's beef between the farm and the drive-thru window? Perhaps a better question to ask would be; why is it happening?

I can't answer these questions, but I can comment on my Arby's experience, and after trying the roast beef, I got the distinct impression it's made similarly to the hotdog process. It's as if the beef is enhanced with flavorings while being pulverized into a slurry, after which, it is injected into a plastic casing where it gets it's shape before cooking. These casings would be roast beef sized casings as opposed to hotdog-sized.

Take a look at these screenshots taken from a behind-the-scenes YouTube video at Arby's, this piece of meat just came out of the oven, or whatever that cooking machine is. My hotdog analogy might not be too far-fetched...

Beef is cooked at 200 degrees for 48 hours...

Then kept in a warming oven until used...

The beef is then sliced and weighed per order...

Each portion of The Classic Beef 'N Cheddar is 3oz.

Now let me be clear, I am not bashing Arby's in any way, I'm just trying to understand how they arrive at the texture of their beef. It was nothing like roast beef, yet it was neither spongy nor tough nor dry either, in fact, there was nothing unpleasant about it at all. However, the texture does feel a bit like you're eating roast beef flavored bologna; which would be another nod to my analogy.

Enough analysis, here it is:

First, the sliders -

The chicken slider sucked, it was dry and bready.

The ham & cheese slider was surprisingly good. The ham color looks more like turkey than ham, but it tasted like good ham.

With jalapeno's that tasted freshly cut, the jalapeno roast beef slider was also a surprise .

Before moving on to The Classic Beef 'N Cheddar, I'll need to mention the "Horsey" sauce. It's a light horseradish flavored sauce that does a great job of enhancing the sandwiches. I strongly recommend it.

The Classic Beef 'N Cheddar was by far the most respectable sandwich of the bunch. The beef-to-bun ratio was spot-on and the decision to put all this inside a toasted (and very fresh) poppy seed onion roll is nothing shy of genius. The cheese is Arby's version of Kraft's Cheese Whiz, with it's sharp, cheesy flavor just enough to be a perfect match for the serving size.

That's it, mystery meat or not, it's a decent, satisfying sandwich with no gastric side effects. Did I mention you get 2 for $6 dollars? Don't be a food snob, go and try a Classic Beef 'N Cheddar.

The sweet potato fries get an honorable mention... very good.

I'll be reviewing Arby's Reuben sandwich next time, it shocked me...