McDonald's is one of the most popular fast-food chains in the world, with 43,000 locations worldwide, including restaurants, McCafes, and drive-thrus. The core menu has variations in every country, but the iconic lineup of McFlurry's, salty fries, and the Big Mac burger remain among the most sought-after products.

However, many customers will know the experience of receiving an order that tastes warm rather than hot. A former employee of shared an insight into the fast food chain and revealed on a Reddit forum how you can get freshly cooked food every time you order. The user, who uses the alias Lithifried, said: "I work at Mcdonalds and I prefer people who come inside for cook to order food, doesn't hold up the drive thru at all."

The Reddit user responded to a fed-up customer who revealed that they had seen the viral tip suggesting ordering "unsalted fries" to get freshly cooked ones, which McDonald's workers have deemed ineffective.

Under the alias Nahrwallsnorways, they wrote: "Employees talking about how angry it makes them. Saying things like, 'Just ask for fresh fries if you want fresh fries' or 'We keep unsalted fries to the side just in case someone asks, so we can give them old food for being dumb'.

The McDonald's customer added: "I don't order unsalted fries. Yet every time I go through the drive-thru and ask at the intercom, as nicely as I can put it, "Oh, and would you please make sure those fries are fresh? Thank you," I get handed a bag of lukewarm greased-up fries."

According to the former employee, ordering at the drive-thru is where most people who want a freshly cooked order go wrong as it makes it difficult to sustain a quick service for other customers.

A fellow Reddit user called in on the thread to point out, "We need to get customers in and out of the drive-through, especially the ones we pull forward for them to receive their food...Most of our customers are NOT happy getting pulled waiting for fresh food."

They suggested that the super-quick service is more difficult when customers request freshly cooked items. Food can only last so long before it gets cold, so it is kept under the heater until the customers are called up to collect their orders.

According to the retired McDonald's crew member known as commodeore640 on Reddit, "Fries take only seven minutes before they expire".

Another Reddit user agreed that the frustrated customer should order inside the restaurant instead of the drive-thru window as this allows workers to take the time to make food fresh.

Another suggests asking for food "cooked to order" rather than "hot" as "that's how the employees understand that you want it made then".

Several McDonald's workers suggested your food is more likely to be freshly cooked when it's busy in the restaurant or drive-thru because the turnover of orders is so fast.

A Reddit user who claims to be an assistant manager at a McDonald's branch revealed: "I don't understand why people get so upset when someone asks for their food cook to order. The only time I think it's kinda silly is when we're super busy and they ask for fresh food because it's constantly being put in the fryer."