Arby's, just how is their roast beef made?

[cheri]

About twice a year I get a craving for a roast beef sandwich from Arby's, which makes me wonder, just what is in that roast beef loaf they use to shave the meat for their sandwiches and how is it made? is it then pressed or formed together somehow? Does anyone know how they do this? Is it then roasted or ............ ???

[ML8000]

I don't think it's pressed...or maybe sort of. I always thought it was cured like a ham, which then allows it to be sliced like paper.

[cheri]

What is curing exactly? I have seen cured and uncured pepperoni and was wondering then, and also now that you mention it in relation to Arby's roast beef.

[ML8000]

I think inuksuk hit upon it. When I mean cured, I mean with salt and sugar like the average supermarket ham or coldcut...not a real smoked/cured ham.

[inuksuk]

This article on Snopes.com will not completely answer your question but might allay the worst of your fears. Arby's roast beef is not made from some sort of meat-flavoured congealed gel. I think, just my own guess mind you, that Arby's beef is just cheap round roast that has been tenderized with papain (or something) to its peculiar, almost gelatinous texture. http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient...

[LikestoEatout]

About 15 to 20 years ago you would in to Arby's and see actual beef roasts that they roasted in ovens on site. When you ordered a sandwich, someone would slice it off the roast in front to you and make the sandwich. Obviously that has changed!

[fara]

i don't get that. why would people accept a change like that?

[ccbweb]

Because many people value cost more than quality.

[ML8000]

...and Arby's seems to "butter" (or is it margarine) their buns and it gives you that extra taste of fat. It's also a good change from a burger.

[byrd]

the way the beef was processed then, is the way it's processed now, emphasis on processed.

[pescatarian]

I worked at Arby's 20-odd years ago, and it might have appeared to be a "roast", and yes they were sliced after cooked, but I remember seeing what those things looked like when they came out of the packaging before they were cooked. They looked like processed meat that had been formed into a roast, not a real beef roast.

[BRB]

I too worked at Arby's many years ago and for a very short period of time . . . but I recall the pre-cooked roast beef looked similar to a loaf of liverwurst, hardly solid and entirely unappetizing. That being said, I never minded the flavor of the beef once cooked.

[ccbweb]

From the Arby's website, under "printable ingredients list"
Roast Beef:
Trimmed Boneless Beef Chunks (Minimum 70%) Combined With Chopped Beef For a Maximum of 12% Fat. Contains up to 9.0% of a Self-Basting Solution of Water, Salt, Sodium Phosphate.

But heck, it tastes pretty good, especially on an onion roll.

[charlestonfoodiegal]

I knew good ol' ccbweb would have an analysis for us. For one who despises chains and fast food joints alike, his analyses are always on point.

[ipsedixit]

When you can get 4 for $5, do you really want to know??

[krez]

Exactly. Roast beef sandwich + Arby's sauce = yum.

[Wes Mantooth]

I don't want to know... for the price, I'll choose to be blissfully ignorant.

[SW Florida]

Hi, new to chowhound, but very interesting. Found the site when researching how to copycat the recipe for Arbys Beef Sandwich (and the person who referred to "Snops" WOW!!!) Ending result, SCORE!!! A recipe @recipegoldmine.com/crockpotsand/betterthanarbysroastbeef.html. Didn't have to cook 24hrs, but turned out really good and it's real beef. Shredded not shaved, but you know what's in it. Even had leftover packets of Arbys and horsey sauses! RIGHT ON!!! Good Luck

[Redstone]

Well, it's always been a kind of "meat loaf" concoction, and I used to REALLY like it...I'd go WAY out of my way to eat there a couple of times a year (there are none close to where we live).

Something has changed, though. A new Arby's was built about 30 miles from here last summer, so we went there.

The texture of the beef has changed form vague (which was OK with me) to revolting, now including BONUS GRISTLE BITS.

And the flavor? I suspect they changed the marinade to include a healthy splash of kerosene, if my taste buds don't deceive me.

Redstone

[c_porter88]

hello im a manager at arbys for the past two years and i was just looking around a bit when i found an interesting bit on snopes.com so i did a little more browsing and found this website where people post things about restraunts so i figured id put in my two cents.. if youve read the article on snopes youll find out our roast is not in gel form or liquid for that matter it actually arrives in cases 4 to a case they each weigh ten pounds so fourty pounds a case they are then cooked in 200 degree ovens for three hours enough time to let the middle get to a temperature of 140 degrees they are then moved to a holding oven called a sham to continue to cook for 30 minutes to let the temp reach 150 degrees and stays there untill time for it to come out onto the slicer wheras the article says its cooked cooled then sliced this is not true because if you let the roast cool it allows bacteria to grow it is the put on the slicer with a warming pad or heat lamps to keep the roast hot as most people see when they walk in they can see the roast being sliced the might not know what the warming pad lookss like so assumes its cooled. Anyway i just thought that id verify that arbys roasts are not gel form they even have packing and shipping routing numbers on each individule roast that we have to put that number on our "beef sheet" that way if a food bourne disease come in and people get sick the company will know what pasture that cow came from and stop recieving meat from that pasture until they resolve the issue so if you have any doubts about our roast you have nothing to fear, however our fries are not so healthy from the oil but thats another time thanks for reading this if youve made it this far lol, hope you have a great day and "Thank you for thinking Arby's".

[duckdown]

thanks for the post! hey, i'll still eat there

don't forget your 'enter' key next time ;)

cheers!

[podunkboy]

I don't believe it. I think that deep beneath the Earth in a secret cavern, there's this "Queen Arby" that deposits these beefy homogenized baby Arbies, that are then harvested, brought to the surface, and while still warm, sliced into piles of beefy deliciousness. That's what you MEANT to say, right?
And the curley fries...they GROW that way, don't they? Yummmmm.....

[Bobfrmia]

I'm bored, so I read this thread.
This is a great post. It sums up the fast food industry perfectly.

[Jen76]

It sure does. A coworker of mine (lovingly) refers to Arby's sandwiches as "butt meat and squirt cheese." And, FWIW, I never remember seeing this in an Arby's: "About 15 to 20 years ago you would in to Arby's and see actual beef roasts that they roasted in ovens on site."

[sbp]

Not a chance it hell there were actual beef roasts. I used to go as a kid -- 40 years ago. Even then, if you looked at a single slice of the meat closely it resembled beef headcheese. Odd shaped blocks of meat in a jigsaw pattern.

[wrestlingcutie09]

i work at arbys and the roast beef is pre basted. all we do is let it defrost for three days and cook it between 4 to 5 hours and place it on a slicer and we control how thick or thin its sliced. but dont ever eat at the arbys in pickens south carolina because or district manager sold raw red bloody beef to the customers.

[Humbucker]

Wow, I had no idea each outlet got the meat raw and could control the thickness of the slicing. A part of me is curious what a medium-rare, thick sliced Arby's sandwich would be like...

[monkuboy]

Those new roast beef sandwiches they are showing in the commercials that are supposedly giving burger joints a run for their money look disgusting. They look more like shaved spam or thin sliced ham than anything resembling real beef. Yuk.