5 Fast Food Chains That Don't Use Microwaves & 5 That Do

As customers, we know that fast food can be hit-or-miss, the presentation can be shabby, and service can be shoddy. But when it hits the spot, it keeps you coming back again and again. We don't expect McDonald's to deliver a Michelin Star experience, and that's perfectly okay. We like our hamburgers and fries to look and taste the exact same every time, and many of us have even come to prefer Whoppers over gourmet ones.

It's only when a chain moves away from the things we love about it that we're forced to re-examine our feelings. For example, when McDonald's stopped cooking its fries in beef tallow, or when Burger King, the chain that's been flaming grilling burgers since 1954, now zaps them in a microwave-like machine. There are, in fact, lots of fast food chains that use convection, booster, or combination ovens, which incorporate microwave technology to cook food entirely or warm food up.

Now, understandably, there are benefits to these advanced cooking machines, from consistent flavor and temperature to smoother workflow and an ability to churn out higher quantities in shorter time periods. The downside, however, is often that food doesn't taste as good as when it's freshly made, and the difference is noticeable. Here are fast food chains that don't use microwaves, and ones that do.

One thing that separates In-N-Out from most fast food chains is that it refuses microwaves or freezers. It is committed to using quality, fresh-made ingredients. The burgers here don't require thawing, aren't pre-flattened and packaged, and never see the inside of a microwave. In-N-Out controls the entire process, from the cow to the buns. As the official website notes, the patties are "individually inspected, whole chucks" from specially selected cattle, cut from the bone and ground at one of the chain's patty-making facilities in Baldwin Park, California; Lathrop, California; or Dallas, Texas.

The 100% USDA ground chuck is layered by-hand with freshly-delivered ingredients, including hand-leafed iceberg lettuce, real American cheese, onions, and tomatoes, and served on old-fashioned, slow-rising sponge dough. And every burger is made one at a time, fresh to order. "We don't even own a microwave or freezer," In-N-Out underscores. Burgers come with In-N-Out's polarizing fries, which are individually cut in-store from potatoes shipped directly from a farm and cooked in 100% sunflower oil.

Subway technically doesn't use microwaves, it uses speed (or booster) ovens, which are like fancier microwaves that combine microwave technology with convection heat. Anyone who's been to Subway has no doubt witnessed employees toast sandwiches and melts before wrapping them in logo'd wax paper. This convenient contraption is designed to speed up cooking time without impacting food quality, and it's how the sub bread develops a crispy outer layer without losing its moist interior or frying the toppings. The model Subway seems to use per the brand, TurboChef Bullet, can reportedly cook an 8-inch sub in just 20 seconds, which ensures that your toasted Italian B.M.T. tastes the same every time.

Interestingly, a employee revealed on Reddit that Subway did use microwaves at one point, before pushing them out of the spotlight in favor of ovens. "We used to be able to microwave our sandwiches until a year ago. then we had to move our microwave to the back of the store onto our prep table," they commented. Other employees in the thread say the microwave option is still available if requested. That aside, whether you prefer microwaved or toasted, we recommend skipping Subway's meaty sub sandwich.

Five Guys makes smash burgers fresh-to-order. The patties are grilled on a flat-top until well-done to ensure a consistent product chain-wide, and to adhere to ground beef health code standards. According to the website, employees are expected to use their eyes to know when a burger is finished, which implies that they are trained to grill them. On top of that, Five Guys doesn't use anything frozen. 

Vacuum-sealed ground beef is delivered to each location, where it is inspected by employees, and hand-molded into meatballs weighing between 3.5 and 3.7 ounces, per Business Insider. Once the balls are formed and ready, they're stored in the walk-in fridge for no more than 30 hours until the orders come in. Employees load a batch into a refrigerated drawer beneath the grill where they're easily accessible and check the temperature every two hours to ensure it remains cold.

To avoid cross-contamination, the baked-fresh-daily bread and meat are cooked at separate stations. Employees start by toasting one of Five Guys' propriety buns, made from a secret recipe that hasn't changed in over 30 years, and use a smasher to compress each patty. Five Guys cooks burgers without oil, relying on the natural fats and juices from the patties, while the fries are cooked in peanut oil.

McDonald's revolutionized fast food, so the fact that it uses microwaves isn't a stretch. One of the questions on the website's F.A.Q. page is, "Are McDonald's eggs microwaved or grilled before serving?" To which the chain replied, "It depends on which egg you're referring to." As it turns out, the freshly cracked and scrambled eggs are grilled with real butter, whereas the eggs featured in the Sausage Burrito are pre-cooked and then delivered to locations and microwaved before being served.

The bigger question is if the burgers are microwaved or not. The site says that McDonald's uses 100% USDA-inspected ground beef, though forms the patties, pre-packages, and freezes them at the supplier. A blend of 86% salt and 14% pepper is added when they make it to the grill, per Yahoo!, which after doing a bit of digging, we learned is a clamshell, George Foreman-like griddle. A former employee on Reddit shared the chain's trade secrets, saying that the burgers are cooked for three to five minutes and "sprinkled with salt, then loaded into a warmer tray" where they're only meant to sit for 10 minutes tops.

But apparently, the same doesn't apply to all patty types. Quarter Pounders come from never-frozen fresh beef and are cooked to order. So while McDonald's uses a microwave for some of its menu items, it still uses a griddle, and sometimes never-frozen beef, for its hamburgers.

"Do not try this at home, in a field, or anywhere" was the disclaimer shown at the beginning of a 2017 Moe's Southwest Grill commercial, which was followed by the complete and utter destruction of a microwave. The stunt underscored the chain's commitment to using quality, fresh ingredients cooked on a grill. Moe's is known for its over 20 fresh ingredients, from corn pico de gallo and pickled jalapeños to tofu and dark meat adobo chicken.

According to Retail & Restaurant, the process changed in 2023 when Tory Bartlett, the former chief brand officer, announced that the chain would be switching from a grill to the "Rational" oven, a combination-style oven with three cooking methods: convection, steam, and a combo of both. "The biggest benefit to these ovens is the menu innovation that will become available to us — we are able to cook nearly anything in these." The ovens were expected to be installed at Moe's locations nationwide by the end of 2025.

Nonetheless, there's a chance that some locations still carry grills. Someone on Reddit reported seeing one at their nearby Moe's in October of that year. And another person, who appears to be an employee, said that due to the backlash that Rational ovens have received, the chain has slowed down on converting locations. So, it looks like Moe's is stuck somewhere between.

Starbucks has plenty to offer if you're looking for a bite to eat, but let's face it, people mostly go there for the coffee. Playing second fiddle to a pick-me-up is perfectly fine, considering it's a coffeehouse. We just wish the chain didn't use it as an excuse to serve premade breakfast sandwiches warmed up. When you walk into a Starbucks, you can clearly see the ovens from across the checkout counter. And in the off chance that you've never been to a Starbucks, even employees on this Reddit thread confirm it. "...it's really sad to see the decline in quality," one person commented.

In 2020, it was revealed that frozen pastries are delivered daily to locations, including bagels, muffins, cake pops, cookies, loaves, and madeleines. There are some refrigerated items, too. The pastries are typically thawed overnight and warmed up in an oven when ordered, and the same goes for pretty much all of Starbucks food. The chain reportedly uses a TurboChef oven.

You'll find no heat lamps or microwaves on the premises of this fried chicken chain. On the Raising Cane's website, the company proudly touts its use of only the highest-quality ingredients cooked to order. Workers, called "Bird Specialists," are taught to dip and bread chicken by hand, which means that the chicken you get is fresh out of the fryer. In a Mashed interview with Raising Cane's co-founder, Todd Graves, it was revealed that the signature chicken fingers come from breast tenderloins, that are soaked in a brining solution for 24 hours.

The crinkle-cut fries are cooked to order, too, and so is the Texas toast made of sesame pull-apart bread. And, of course, a meal is incomplete without Cane's Thousand Island-style Sauce, a proprietary blend that's made fresh daily, along with the hand-mixed coleslaw. Even the beverages are house-made. The iced tea is brewed throughout the day, and the lemonade comes from freshly-squeezed lemons, 100% cane sugar, filtered water, and crushed ice.

Like other chains featured on this list, Dairy Queen has hopped on the booster oven bandwagon. In response to a comment on Facebook, the company said the burgers are made to order, and sometimes ahead of time if the location is busy. It added that it doesn't use microwaves, but instead cooks food with a microwave-like oven that, supposedly, doesn't impact condiments, toppings, or bread buns. Despite an attempt to offer clarity, customers in the comments still believe Dairy Queen zaps its food. Along with having one of the worst fast food hot dogs, it wasn't long ago someone reported seeing an employee microwave two double burgers.

The accusation was seemingly confirmed on Reddit by a former employee, who said, "Back when i worked there, the last step to making a lot of menu items would be to microwave it for like 3 seconds." Nevertheless, other employees stress that Dairy Queen cooks food to order, and only uses a booster oven afterwards to ensure orders are served hot. Yet that hasn't stopped customers from complaining about the impact booster ovens have on taste. Whatever the case, one could argue that the constant confusion surrounding the difference between a microwave and a booster oven, from the perspective of customers, proves that booster ovens really are just souped-up microwaves.

On Chipotle's website is a page that outlines the chain's values, which include "making food fresh every day." Its food doesn't contain artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, and no freezers or can openers occupy the kitchen. Chipotle's menu revolves around 53 easy-to-pronounce and recognizable ingredients, from white cheddar and juniper berries to its tender barbacoa beef.

The company cooks the latter sous vide-style for around 24 to 36 hours, after which it adds the spicy and smoky signature chipotle adobo marinade, then seasons the meat with oregano, cloves, and bay leaves, slow-braises it for an extended period, then hand-shreds it, and loads it into a plastic bag before its shipped to a location. Employees then drop it into hot water, and voilà!

Chipotle pre-seasons and pre-cooks most of its food off-site, like the barbacoa, steak, and carnitas, which are "finished" in-store. The chicken is the only protein that's cooked raw. There are some employees, however, who say that their location does cook the barbacoa and carnitas. Either way, the fact remains that Chipotle does not use microwaves.

Rather than a traditional grill, Burger King uses two machines capable of cooking large batches of beef patties by moving them through an open flame, one a conveyor-style upright broiler and the other can cook stacks at a time. The flame-broiling (not grilling) machines were created by Duke Manufacturing and Nieco, and they've been in use at least since 2007. The machines are equipped with programmable timers and can cook batches of 12 burgers or eight Whoppers in under five minutes, which comes in handy during busy shifts. Burger King also uses it for its chicken.

So, yes, Burger King does still cook its burgers in-house. However, that isn't what customers complain about: It's about what happens between the broiler and delivering an order. Burgers, bacon, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and other menu items are held in a warmer microwave, called a "hopper," until an order comes up. "We are required to put every patty in the hopper (microwave) regardless of how fresh it is," someone shared on Reddit. Food is only meant to sit in the hopper for a few seconds, but of course, no two shifts are alike.

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