KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

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Alpha8472
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KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by Alpha8472 »

They are testing hand breaded Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets at restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina.

They come in 8, 12, or 36 pieces starting at $3.49.

People describe them as huge pieces of popcorn chicken with less breading.
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by storewanderer »

Popeyes already has chicken nuggets that are hand breaded using the same breading as the chicken sandwich uses (bland city in my opinion).

KFC seems to be missing the mark here. Also I feel like this is a product they've had before.

KFC seems to keep missing the mark. KFC desperately needs to focus on core menu items and having a stable menu.

Maybe they need to just sell nuggets that are breaded in the original recipe or breaded in the extra tasty crispy breading and be done with it.

KFC's popcorn chicken is really awful, I can do better from the frozen aisle with an oven or air fryer. KFC's current chicken tenders are equally awful. These seem to be frozen products they serve that come in pre-breaded similar to other fast food places. These are way below what I'd expect from a place that specializes in chicken.

On the other hand KFC's chicken sandwich at present is quite good, excellent even. It seems to be using the extra tasty crispy breading.

For instance KFC should come up with a good gravy to serve. Then they could serve biscuits and gravy and also serve a country fried chicken plate (using the chicken fillet they sell as a sandwich).
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by Super S »

I wonder if these will be similar to the Kentucky Nuggets that they had in the 1980s, which I actually thought were good.
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: July 19th, 2022, 9:59 pm I wonder if these will be similar to the Kentucky Nuggets that they had in the 1980s, which I actually thought were good.
The late 80's was the last time I remember nuggets that were good. Weren't they just original recipe nuggets? I think they came in frozen. I could be wrong.
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: July 19th, 2022, 9:49 pm

For instance KFC should come up with a good gravy to serve. Then they could serve biscuits and gravy and also serve a country fried chicken plate (using the chicken fillet they sell as a sandwich).
KFC has served such a thing at times, I remember even a country fried steak (and country gravy) at one point. This was also part of the buffet that some KFC locations had.
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: July 19th, 2022, 10:06 pm

KFC has served such a thing at times, I remember even a country fried steak (and country gravy) at one point. This was also part of the buffet that some KFC locations had.
I think the issue was the gravy was just awful.

It shouldn't be that hard to come up with a decent canned gravy but I think they tried to use powder instead of a can.
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by Romr123 »

I was a mystery shopper for KFC in the late 80s. Visited 15 KFC restaurants per day in large cities throughout the US. Great job coming out of school. I've followed them since even after leaving hospitality entirely. To summarize what's probably going on, they will test items in cities normally where they have a mix of locations, ownerships, etc so they can identify flaws in the product, the instructions, the service flow, etc etc. They have huge test kitchens in Louisville, and have tested all the aspects of it they can in the lab, but need to get that experience.

Back in the late 80s, the national product launch I worked most on was Chicken Littles sandwiches and shoestring fries. Unpopular with the franchisees, but was attempting to get snack-type visits. Required them to invest in smaller friers and a sandwich station for assembly. Test products I worked on in cities included plated (rather than boxed) meals---these were tested in Knoxville, TN; and a char-grilled product (BIG kludge--used Pizza Hut conveyor ovens and jury-rigged grill pans where the grill was clamped on top of the chicken quarters after being dipped in sugar water) in Las Vegas and Nashville (as I recall). That one didn't go far. I also had to visit 5 Popeyes in Atlanta and order 10 individual red beans and rice for a research project (they wanted to understand real-world what the output was as they were perfecting the KFC urban menu (anyone remember Mean Greens...Mac and Cheese was another part of that menu research). Another research I did was for a McDonalds' chicken sandwich which wasn't the traditional round McChicken but was shaped more like a breast cutlet (though it was pressed/formed, not a whole muscle).

In those days, Kentucky Nuggets came into the store fully breaded and went right into the fryer. I believe popcorn chicken does that today. This is a strategy to extend the current hand-breaded boneless product (sandwiches/strips) into smaller bite-sized portion sizes. Things they'll be looking at include: can they ensure quality? Will the short cook time make a mess of the fryers? Can they be held? I do not know if the sandwiches/strips come into the restaurants raw or frozen, but I can't see how the nuggets could be anything but frozen (but then that takes you down another path--can a frozen item be adequately, evenly and REPEATEDLY breaded, cooked and served at the store level).

I try to sample what's new from KFC---the sandwich is quite good, actually (I'd put it just a half-step behind Popeyes along with Burger King, and TBH trust the average/random KFC's quality for it more than the average/random BK). Around here, they're touting "fried to order" sandwiches which clues me that they're not selling as many as they'd like to (as fry to order is a result of "we throw away too many of these every day").
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Re: KFC Tests Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets

Post by storewanderer »

The current strips are breaded in store? I thought sure they were frozen. Either way just awful.

The "fried to order" sandwich seems to have different meanings. At one franchisee I go to nothing changed and it comes straight out of the warmer like it always has. At the other franchisees they take it from the warmer when ordered and throw it in the fryer for 30 seconds then prepare it.
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