Oh, So THIS Is Why The McFlurry Machine At McDonald’s Is Always Down

It’s been a long day and all you really want is a McFlurry to make the stress melt away. But when you roll down your window in the McDonald’s drive-thru, you get smacked with a “sorry, our McFlurry machine is down.” What? Why today of all days? In fact, why are the McFlurry machines down more than they’re ever up and running? (At least, it feels this way). Although we’re sure you don’t want to hear it, there actually may be a good reason behind your bad McFlurry luck.

According to a January 2017 Wall Street Journal piece all about the McFlurry soft serve machine frustration, the process of cleaning said machine actually takes a lot longer than people realize (up to four hours). A spokesperson told the Journal:

“We regularly service our soft-serve equipment during off-peak hours. Customers who come in during that time may encounter a longer wait time or soft-serve dessert unavailability.”

A former McDonald’s employee went into a bit more detail. Cleaning a soft serve machine is an 11-step process that begins with mixing up a sanitizing mix with warm water, removing and rinsing seven separate parts, scrubbing two fixed parts for 60 seconds, and wiping the entire machine with a sanitized towel.

However, even though we now know the truth, we still really feel Caito Potatoe’s viral rage.

Because the cleaning process takes so long, employees often tell customers that the machine is down rather than reassembling or interrupting an automated cleaning cycle.

We get it. We really do. It just seriously sucks.

@LeoGbay look at this disappointment at McDonald's 🙁 pic.twitter.com/CoE3i5JVY1

— Melissa ✨ (@melissuhh_m) July 20, 2016

When all you came for was a McFlurry and the ice cream machine is down pic.twitter.com/07wApHrqIP

— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) January 5, 2017

Just been in the maccies drive thru for about 15 minutes for them to tell me the McFlurry machine isn’t working. 🤬

— Olivia Prince (@oliviaprince94) November 28, 2018

But think of it this way — when your local McDonald’s staff tells you that the McFlurry machine is down, take it as a blessing. That means it’s being properly cleaned and taken care of, and when you do finally get your McFlurry you can be sure that there’s no bacteria swimming around in there.

Luckily, you can easily make your OWN ice cream if the McFlurry machine is down. Watch our So Yummy video and learn how to make no-churn ice cream truffles! Take that, McFlurry.

Even so, it always stings when we can’t get our beloved McFlurry.