http://i.imgur.com/ny13czK.jpg crappy proof, but its all i have since i quit last week

Edit: I'M THE GUY THAT PUTS THE FROZEN FOOD ON TRAYS AND PRESSES BUTTONS. CUZ SOME OF YOU ARE DOUCHEBAGS.

Comments: 427 • Responses: 43  • Date: 

tankofgas72 karma

Is it true that most of the food at Tim Hortons is frozen and re-heated?

When you say baker do you mean you make the stuff before it's shipped?

TheBigTaco7277 karma

Baker as in the store itself, not the manufacturing plant. and yes that is basically true. biscuits, eggs, sausage, donut bases, all frozen. we fill the donuts and put the stuff that goes on them like peanuts, drizzle, icing and such.

HonestAbed43 karma

Wait hold up... Their eggs are frozen? I worked at Mcdonalds and even they use fresh eggs, except the folded ones, but no one really buys those. Man, Tim Hortons has really been slipping, I guess because they have such loyal customers that they can just shit all over them.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but we definitely need to reel back the blind loyalty to Tim Hortons in Canada.

TheBigTaco7252 karma

They come in a box, and are similar to hockey pucks which is frequently what we use them for with brooms in our down time.

pm_me_your_buttpics37 karma

what's something every common, everyday visitor to Tim's should know?

TheBigTaco7273 karma

everything is frozen. and it is a difficult job, especially when so many people are ordering food at once. so dont get mad when your order takes a little longer than you expect.

agusu26 karma

Did you ever overcook or messed up anything while cooking in the store? Is it a big deal? What happens if you get a major burn while cooking?

TheBigTaco7232 karma

its hard to burn things since everything has very loud, annoying timers. but if something does burn, which i haven't had happen, you would just throw it away

clockKing_out22 karma

Do you get to experiment, and if so what cool things have you baked?

TheBigTaco7246 karma

not often, we have to do it behind the managers (and cameras) backs. but i made a vanilla filled donut with mint frosting and chocolate drizzle. it wasnt too bad.

eastoneleven20 karma

Can I hire you to make me tea biscuits all day?

TheBigTaco7230 karma

I should mention im in the US, so we dont have some products like tea biscuits

hiremenow2213 karma

Wait wait wait. Where is this US Tim Horton's?

TheBigTaco7219 karma

They're literally on every corner. It's like the hookers of the food industry.

stereoearkid13 karma

That's not actually true though… There's Tims in New England and Ohio and some other places, but most of the USA doesn't have any. For example, if you search for Tim's near Kansas City, MO, you see that there aren't any within a 50 mile radius.

TheBigTaco729 karma

In the northeast I mean, it's dunkin donuts almost everywhere else.

hellothere00717 karma

What do you think is the worst food there?

TheBigTaco7244 karma

they are evidently getting a "buffalo crunch" donut, which has an indent in the middle filled with buffalo sauce, and the rest has a hot sauce covering for the crushed chips to stick to. i will not be buying that.

WTBKarma16 karma

We don't have TH around here, so if I ever do bump into one, I'd like to know your top 3 suggestions of things to try, maybe your favs?

TheBigTaco7217 karma

its dependent on location, but i would try the peanut donut, an iced cappuccino, and the turkey bacon club sandwich. i got that every shift for the first few weeks.

duduface13 karma

What's it like being a baker for Tim Hortins?

TheBigTaco7216 karma

well for me it was crappy, mostly because my boss was a scumbag and treated the bakers like dirt. if you can handle lots of abuse and never getting told "good job today" or anything, than go for it. it is all dependent on the location, however.

notfromantarctica10 karma

A donut shop near me is up for sale. If I purchase it, would you teach me your ways?

TheBigTaco7216 karma

everything is probably not frozen there, but i can try

TTDTK9 karma

What's your worst customer experience?

TheBigTaco7228 karma

i don't deal with customers much because im in the back all day, but i have seen a woman just walk in and dump her coffee on the counter because it wan't sweet enough. and there was already like 7 sugars in it.

samanthar12167 karma

what is your favorite thing to bake?

TheBigTaco729 karma

Muffins, cuz I put them on a tray and press a button. Easiest things ever. And they smell delicious when they're done.

guitarheronick16 karma

What was the weirdest experience you had while working there?

TheBigTaco7213 karma

Our store is supposedly haunted, like shadows on the security cameras following the openers around, the freezer door opens slightly and closes by itself when I was back there.

Missmartam4 karma

What happens to the food that is not sold that day, like donuts? Do they donate anything to the poor?

TheBigTaco7217 karma

At the end of the day, everything is thrown. We used to donate, but someone complained of the quality of the donated food so we stopped. Real grateful, right?

kater_tots4 karma

I was wondering if a lot of the food at Tim Hortons comes in at or below freezing?

Maevenn3 karma

All of the goods you "bake" arrive frozen, some stuff like muffins come in pails of batter that are thawed in the fridge and scooped into pans. When they switched from traditional bakers to the new system, huge parts of the stores were converted to massive walk-in freezers to accommodate the new stock that was previously stored as bags of mix. (I'm not OP, but worked as a baker for three years when they switched to the "par-baked" method)

0xFFE34 karma

Muffins haven't been batter for years. They're now also par-baked.

Maevenn1 karma

eew. I thought things were bad when I left, but that explains some things.

TheBigTaco728 karma

Yeah the muffins come in boxes, frozen, and in the wrapper. Put them in a rack of 12 and press a button

Thechris533 karma

Why did you quit?

TheBigTaco728 karma

Management was a bunch of slutty teenage bitches who didn't care about their workers.

AlphaIVX3 karma

[deleted]

TheBigTaco724 karma

The constant need for everything, people yelling at you from every direction things they need, and things your out of. I'm only one person, a human. I can only do so much.

daBestUsername3 karma

[deleted]

TheBigTaco726 karma

Our uniforms don't have pockets, and there's cameras on you from every angle that they watch fairly often, so not really.

AtheistComic3 karma

[deleted]

TheBigTaco723 karma

I left before they merged, even though there is a BK literally two minutes walking distance from my store.

terrysp3 karma

Did you really quit, if so why?

TheBigTaco728 karma

I did, management was a bunch of scumbags who treated me and everyone else like dirt

MechaCanadaII3 karma

What makes your chilli so goddamn delicious?

TheBigTaco728 karma

Don't know, I want to puke when I have to put it in the warmer.

Trent_Boyett6 karma

Is that because you pour it out of a plastic bag and the chunky splash that it makes in the warming tray reminds you of throw-up?

TheBigTaco727 karma

That and the smell.

bdeakyne2 karma

I have never been to a Tim Hortons but am in Canada this weekend. What should I order? I am a big fan of doughnuts.

TheBigTaco722 karma

Yes, the timbits are all good. I'm not huge on sweets, but any of the chocolate cake donuts are good.

beautifullymade332 karma

Can I only ask you questions on baking ?

TheBigTaco722 karma

no, i was on the floor, as we say, for about a year and two months before i became a baker.

Wlpdx2 karma

As an American who has never had the pleasure of trying Tim Hortons, how is Tim Hortons?

Garren19112 karma

Anything you get there isn't amazing, but it's cheap. Take anything on their menu, and compare to another place. The other place is better, but Tims is cheaper.

TheBigTaco726 karma

Well said.

zeppelin1231 karma

Why do tim hortons employees refuse to toast bagels when you ask them to? Literally every single time I ask for a double toasted bagel, when you get it back it's so untoasted that you would've been better off ordering a regular bagel and the breathing hot breath on it a few times.

I wouldn't be surprised if they actually didn't toast it at all, and just ran a sharpie pen around the rims of the bagel halves to make it look like the edges were burnt from the 'toaster'.

I wish I were bill gates rich, I would buy tim hortons and then just terminate the business. Fuck that heap.

TheBigTaco721 karma

The toaster us probably set on a super fast setting, cuz it's probably busy. It's for the sake of time. Not agreeing with it, though.

jaybis1 karma

Is your coffee always as fresh as they advertise it to be? I've gotten burnt coffee a few times that tasted like it had been sitting there for a while. Love the iced Capp though :)

Devium922 karma

The freshness thing is hit and miss. Get some of the hard-core "corporate kool-aid" ladies and you better your ass that coffee is 20 minutes fresh. Go on a weekend when it's slow as molasses, staffed by 15 year old who couldn't give a crap? You can bet your life savings that coffee is possibly an hour old.

I worked overnight shift. We had a guy so lazy his pots were marked (grease pencil to mark the death time 20 minutes from present time) with a death time of 2+ hours old. Yeah. That was gross.

TheBigTaco721 karma

Exactly

petgreg1 karma

Some things are listed as kosher. What are the odds something listed as kosher will touch/get non kosher stuff on it in the ovens? Are they treated separately?

TheBigTaco721 karma

We have separate trays for donuts and sausage and such, and they even go in separate ovens. The design for the donut tray is more of a wire, while the one for eggs and sausage is a flat pan. Donuts/muffins/etc in one oven, sausage/eggs/bagels in another. And the trays are washed nightly.

WheelingThroughLife1 karma

Is it true the donuts are shipped frozen and partially cooked and then finished off in store?

ajnadeau3 karma

[deleted]

TheBigTaco722 karma

Well said

Smartt881 karma

Favorite donut?

TheBigTaco722 karma

Vanilla dip

nhawk_dragon1 karma

FTFY: Baker at Burger King.

No?

TheBigTaco722 karma

Partially why I left

katelynmae1 karma

Will you make me some cherry and chocolate timbits?

TheBigTaco721 karma

We discontinued the cherry :(

PixieRose1 karma

How do you not weigh 400lbs and have a serious caffeine addiction?

TheBigTaco722 karma

After eating and drinking it every single shift, I want to puke when I smell donuts and coffee now.

Eudaimonics1 karma

Do you work in Canada or the US?

and what do you think of the other side's Tim Horton's?

Also, what do you think of the new flagship Tim Horton's being constructed in Buffalo, complete with a shrine to the former Sabre himself?

TheBigTaco722 karma

I'm in the US, and Canada has smaller portion sizes, at least for the coffee. I haven't heard about that yet, thanks for showing me. I feel like it's gonna get mobbed and do well especially in this area.

Josiawesome1 karma

What's it like being Canadian?

TheBigTaco722 karma

I work at a US one :(

cloudmerchant1 karma

Forgot about the auto mod. My comment originally:

I'm sure someone else has said this, but you could be in deep shit for this AMA, my friend. Tim's is super litigious, and will lose their shit utterly if you even post something disparaging on social media. As an employee - or previous employee - you probably signed something stating you wouldn't do exactly this sort of thing.

My QUESTION is this - are you aware of this?

TheBigTaco722 karma

No clue, if I signed something about it I lost/threw out the paper. A year and a half is a long time. I haven't really said anything bad about the company, I've just talked about my store and our practices.