The True, Steamy Story of the Egg McMuffin

Hockey puck breakfast turns 40

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In December 1971, Ray Kroc paid a visit to a McDonald’s restaurant owned by Herb Peterson. The fast-food chain’s president had learned that the franchisee had cooked up something that would solve a problem that had confounded Kroc for years: McDonald’s did no breakfast business. Kroc sat down, and Peterson served him what looked like a hockey puck: a poached egg with a slice of cheese and Canadian bacon on a toasted English muffin. Kroc ate one sandwich—and then a second.

The Egg McMuffin turns 40 years old this year, and with breakfast now making up 25 percent of McDonald’s sales, this egg on a bun is a cornerstone of the chain’s menu—so critical to the $12.5

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