I’ve never been big on the roast beef sandwiches at Arby’s. Nothing personal against Arby’s, roast beef just isn’t really my thing. Put some chicken nuggets in front of me and that’s another story. They’re a simple, tasty item, sure to please most fast food eaters. Another factor in their favor… it’s hard to mess up a chicken nugget.

Arby’s recently introduced their Popcorn Chicken Shakers. It’s basically breaded and fried morsels of chicken served in a cup. Dump your favorite sauce inside… place the lid on and shake it up. There’s barbeque sauce and buffalo sauce to choose from, but you can ask for honey mustard instead, which is usually reserved for the chicken strips. I prefer the barbeque sauce. I’ve had the popcorn chicken a number of times now, and only once did I actually do the shake-up routine. I guess Arby’s was trying to create a fun new way of enjoying their bite-sized portable food with the whole “shaker” thing but honestly, why bother? I’m a dunker. I’m not into the shaking… and besides that, I want to have more control over the amount of sauce on each nugget.

Sizing the cup to fit your vehicle’s cup holder (photo above) was a stroke of genius. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of a superlative but it sure comes in handy when you are grubbing on the go. The nuggets have a nice strong crust and each morsel is a good size for being classified as ‘popcorn’. They’re a little on the dry side but you won’t notice once you add sauce. I think the dryness comes from having a fairly thick breading. I also feel the breading leaves a bit of aftertaste. The chicken tastes fine, and isn’t overly greasy, which is a plus, but if you were making a list of nuggets that taste great even without sauce, these probably wouldn’t be on it. Trust me, add your favorite sauce!

If you’ve tried KFC’s popcorn chicken, you’ve likely spent time scavenging through fried crust to find the meaty morsels. Not so with Arby’s variety. It’s more like an array of different sized nuggets but all are decent sized. You’ll get about 8-10 nuggets in a regular order ($2.99), whereas you’ll get more tiny bits with the KFC version.

Arby’s popcorn chicken is tasty and filling. Coming in regular and large sizes, it’s a welcome addition to the menu. It’s good to see Arby’s continuing to branch out beyond roast beef. Within the past year or so, their toasted subs and new chicken choices have made me a fan. If you’re on-the-go and need a quick snack, I recommend giving the popcorn chicken shakers a try. The real question - to shake or not to shake?

Price: $2.99 (regular) / Website: Arbys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B

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Nutrition Facts - Arby’s, Popcorn Chicken (regular order).

Calories - 363
Calories from Fat - 147
Total Fat - 16 grams
Carbs - 27 grams
Saturated Fat - 3 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 54 milligrams
Sodium - 930 milligrams
Protein - 24 grams

NOTE: These nutrition facts are for the popcorn chicken alone, without sauce. Each flavor of sauce has different nutritional values, and depending on the amount used (1 or 2 packets, etc.) can vary quite a bit.

McDonald’s recently gave the “Moms’ Quality Correspondents” access to one of their poultry facilities to learn how Chicken McNuggets are made, so they can give their children the answer to that often puzzling question. According to the press release this is “unprecedented”. From what I can tell, these Moms work for McDonald’s. They have their own website, McDonaldsMom.com which feels much like an advertisement, or pseudo reality TV show. These are not people off the street, like you and me. I’m not really sure how “unprecedented” or unbiased we can expect it to be.

I can understand wanting to defend their product. Chicken McNuggets have been blamed for the ills of the world. More than almost any other fast food item over the years, they’re the one I’ve seen the strangest, and most numerous stories about. But the reality is, they’re not that bad, and many stories are false or exaggerated.

Anyway, I’m not sure this is the best way to convince skeptics of the wholesome nature of the Chicken McNugget. We shall see. In addition to the McNuggets, they apparently have a whole series of tours to various McDonald’s facilities arranged, and there will be videos, interviews and all kinds of good McDonald’s coverage to follow.

Here’s a couple highlights of the press release.

“Beginning their tour at Keystone’s hatchery, the Moms learned about food quality and safety protocols, including incubation operations and traceability — the process used to trace chicken menu items in restaurants all the way back to the egg. They also learned about McDonald’s stringent animal welfare practices in place to ensure safe handling of the birds. The Moms then visited a broiler farm to witness how the chickens are cared for, fed and nurtured until fully grown. Keystone Foods representatives also discussed the bio-security measures that are taken to ensure McDonald’s strict food safety standards are met.

On the second day of the tour, the Moms visited the food production facility where they saw first-hand how the meat used to make Chicken McNuggets is carved from boneless, white meat chicken breasts. The same white meat is used in all McDonald’s premium chicken menu items including Premium Chicken Salads and Sandwiches as well as Snack Wraps.” — McDonald’s USA

Visit McDonaldsMom.com to learn more, and follow their adventures.

I have to give Burger King credit for being creative with their Chicken Tenders. Instead of copying the look and shape of McNuggets from McDonald’s, they added a bit of artistic flair to this otherwise boring segment. Plus, sometimes it’s just fun to play with food, and build things, like when we were kids. These bite-sized deep-fried chicken morsels are great for that purpose, and they make some cool photographs too.

But food sculpture aside, it’s hard to get too excited about them (or anybody else’s processed nuggets) because these products are basically the bottom of the fast-food chicken barrel. After they’re finished using the breast filets and top quality cuts for sandwiches, strips and salads, what’s left of the chicken meat gets chopped and mashed-up, then formed into the shapes we consume. There is real breast and rib meat involved, but it’s the left-over scraps. They also use Mechanically Separated Meat or MSM, which is a product and process used in the industry for over 40 years.

The Crown-Shaped Tenders are breaded, instead of battered like the McNuggets. The result is a looser, more bumpy grainy coating, complete with a few falling crumbs. There are nice sized chunks of black pepper laced thru-out the breading. There is not much of a crispy or crunchy sensation, but I wouldn’t call it soggy either. Just soft.

The chicken inside is similar to McNugget’s meat, with a texture that immediately identifies itself as being heavily processed. If you compare the close-up shot of the bitten Crown (below) with the close-up shot of the bitten McNugget, you will see they look almost the same. To me, they taste almost the same too, but the Burger King version might have a slight edge in seasoning. Keeping in mind both are bland.

This segment of fast-food is wildly popular with kids, but I don’t have any children of my own to ask for opinions. So instead I’ve recruited my good friend Ron James, a regular fast-food eater himself who’s fathered several of these miniature humans, and is working hard to keep them fed. I asked for their feelings, and the answer was short and sweet — they like McNuggets better than Tenders. RJ also shared a funny story with me about his youngest son. Sometimes he purchases the chicken sandwich at Jack In The Box, takes the chicken patty out of the bun, and tells his son it’s a Giant chicken nugget. Apparently he loves it, but has a tough time dipping the giant nugget into those little tiny containers of sauce. I laughed out-loud when he told me.

Anyway, in all fairness, I could probably ask another friend with kids and discover they prefer the Burger King variety. I really think it would go back and forth, because we are not comparing apples to oranges. These products are so similar, I feel it’s comes down to personal preference, more than a question of quality or value.

As with most nuggets and finger foods, these are perfect for dipping and offer a choice of sauces: Barbecue, Creamy Buffalo, Honey Mustard, Sweet and Sour, or Ranch.

NOTE: Burger King sold a product under the “Chicken Tenders” name before, and many people ‘think’ of that product when they see those words. The old Tenders were bigger, longer strips of chicken, not nuggets. BK discontinued them, and this current generation of crown-shaped nuggets inherited the name.

The Chicken Tenders (Crown-Shaped) from Burger King are a worthy competitor to the McNuggets. The fact is, they share far more in common than they differ. And quite honestly, neither taste ‘great’. They have a nice assortment of dipping sauces. I’m not a big fan of nuggets in general these days. My tastes have graduated to the more natural, higher quality strips and filets that are available. That said, I feel BK’s nuggets are every-bit as good as McDonald’s, but I don’t find them to be much better.

Price: $2.29 (8 piece) / Website: BurgerKing.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C

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Nutrition Facts - Burger King, Chicken Tenders (8 piece).

Calories - 370
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 23 grams
Carbs - 18 grams
Saturated Fat - 6 grams
Trans Fat - 3.5 grams
Cholesterol - 55 milligrams
Sodium - 870 milligrams

N/A = The company has not made the information available.

To quote myself from a previous review — “I grew up eating McDonald’s food, and no matter what anybody else says about them, there will always be a place in my heart (no heart-attack jokes please) for items like the Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and their world famous French Fries. These classic favorites from my past are showing their age, but it’s nice to visit the old friends to see how they are doing.”

Skip ahead a few weeks to today’s review of the Chicken McNuggets.

Some would say this is chicken, and fast food at it’s worse. But it’s not that bad. The chicken meat is not gray in color as some people would have you believe. There was a time when nuggets were made from a combination of light and dark chicken meat, therefore making the center an off-white shade of blended colors, but it was never the so-called “gray meat” that’s been described and exaggerated so often. A few years ago McDonald’s made a change to using “all white meat”. Whether that was actually an upgrade or not is debatable, but most people would probably consider it so.

Anyway, if you are expecting chunks of a fine breast filet at this price, you are being unrealistic. These are not ‘natural’ cut pieces of filet, they are formed-shapes made from minced breast and rib meat. They also include Mechanically Separated Meat or MSM, a product that’s been used since the 1960’s. The meat is not the best quality, but it’s also not from an alien planet or manufactured by mad scientists in a laboratory. It’s real chicken - with nutritional value - and it will satisfy your body’s hunger.

The nuggets are battered and deep fried, with a crust that’s golden brown, light and crispy. Aside from the switch to all white meat, these are the same nuggets I grew up eating, and they still taste pretty good. McDonald’s has more expensive, more natural chicken strips for the crowd that desires something better, but the nuggets continue to be popular among loyal fans, and it seems that kids universally love them.

Included with the nuggets is your choice of dipping sauce: Barbecue, Sweet N Sour, Hot Mustard or Honey Mustard. These bite-sized chicken pieces wouldn’t be the same without tasty liquid flavors to dunk in. It’s all part of the McNugget experience.

The product is not without controversy. Aside from the tales of gray alien meat and cardboard-like taste, some more legitimate concerns have been raised.

The 2004 documentary “Super Size Me” alleged that McNuggets were, at one point in time, made from sick and/or old chickens unable to lay eggs, and that they also included chemicals such as tertiary butylhydroquinone (phenolic antioxidant), polydimethylsiloxane (anti-foaming agent), and other ingredients not used by a typical home cook. As of 2007, these two ingredients are still listed as possible ingredients of the vegetable oil that is used to fry McNuggets.
Source - Wikipedia.

There are plenty of such claims on record, but sorting thru them and trying to separate fact from fiction is not something I’m qualified to do. I will leave that job for the nutrition experts and investigators. Ever since I was a kid, it seems somebody has been trying to prove McNuggets have a dark side. Wisdom or Witch Hunt? God only knows.

Chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s are one of the original, legendary fast food icons. They still taste pretty good as long as you aren’t expecting too much. They are great for dipping, and include a nice selection of tasty sauces to choose from. I loved them when I was younger, but they are not something I find myself craving anymore. The trip down McNuggets memory lane was fun, but when I’m eating at McDonald’s the higher quality, better tasting and more natural Chicken Selects will be my choice.

Price: $1.89 (6 piece) / Website: McDonalds.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C

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Nutrition Facts - McDonald’s, Chicken McNuggets (6 piece).

Calories - 250
Calories from Fat - 130
Total Fat - 15 grams
Carbs - 15 grams
Saturated Fat - 3 grams
Trans Fat - 1.5 grams
Cholesterol - 35 milligrams
Sodium - 670 milligrams