Receive A Crispier McDonald's Hash Brown With A Request That's Too Easy Not To Make

For five glorious years, thousands of McDonald's stans chowed down on the fast food giant's all-day breakfast — dubbed by one Redditor as "hope in food form" — until the plug was pulled in 2020. While some blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for its disappearance, former Mickey D's corporate chef Mike Haracz suggested on TikTok that the real reason was the amount of labor it required. Today, it falls to other outlets to fill that gap, as McDonald's breakfast cut-off is 10:30 a.m. While we love an Egg McMuffin (do this to have it Swedish style), if the Golden Arches' hash browns are your go-to breakfast item, ask for them well-done and prepare to have your mind blown.

The chain's everyday hash browns are a seasoned blend of hashed or riced potato with potato or cornflour, which are shaped and partially fried before being frozen. Traditionally, they're cooked until just golden brown, and, for the most part, they're tasty enough. But, just like this classic Dairy Queen sundae, a simple request can make a big difference. Asking for your hash browns to be served well-done means they're cooked for a little longer, giving you a much crispier bite — and that's just the start. Inside is where the real magic happens. Because it's been cooked for a little longer, the interior is creamier and tastes closer to mashed potato, rather than fairly bland, shredded tuber. "Go well done, guys, or don't go at all," said this TikTok reviewer after a side-by-side comparison.

As more people are being switched on to McDonald's well-done hash brown, you might be wondering: if they taste crunchier, creamier, and altogether better, why doesn't McDonald's just serve them that way to start with? Unfortunately, the answer is likely the same reason why the all-day breakfast was nixed: time. Mike Haracz explained that the aim of fast food restaurants is to serve as many people as quickly as possible. Hash brown stations can be easily overwhelmed with orders, so to keep that flow of food a-comin', their cooking time was pared back, even though many would argue it has a slightly negative effect on both the texture and taste of the hash browns.

Devotees of the breakfast staple continued to order and eat them, presumably making company bosses happy while minimizing the amount of leftover food at McDonald's outlets. But then the well-done hack went viral, and customers are seeing, hearing, and tasting the difference in their hash browns. "No other way to eat the hash browns except [well] done. That crispness and crunch is what we're after," enthused one Redditor. If people are willing to wait the extra time for crispier McDonald's hash browns, who knows? The company may even bring back all-day breakfasts, ending the misery of hash brown lovers who miss that 10:30 a.m. cut off by mere minutes.