Well. It’s about time. All the major Fast Food players have experimented with – and ultimately adopted – a Fried Chicken ‘Sandwich’. Late to the original party, McDonald’s is taking the next logical step: market testing a dual-patty Chicken Big Mac…
A food artist’s conception of what a Chicken Big Mac
might look like, courtesy of The Washington Post.
They tried it in the UK and response was apparently good – good enough to consider trying it in the home market, North America. And we wonder what took the Burger Giant so long?
Anyway…
The burger under test in Miami is described as a standard Big Mac with Chicken rather than Beef parries and without the diced onion.
According to the news release announcing the Miami test, the patties are not chicken breast filets, but more like the ones you’d find in a McChicken: Flat. Only larger.
The sandwich is apparently a standard Big Mac with all the traditional trimmings. Just intone the ancient jingle for the rundown, substituting ‘Chicken’ for ‘Beef’ Patties.
Whatever the inevitable focus testers told McD’s product developers, the trademark diced onions are apparantly absent. Perhaps there was a flavour clash. I personally won’t miss the Onions.
Have any ‘civillians’ actually tried it?
One reviewer had negative feedback to offer – some of it downright snarky. But moments after I first read his post, it had been taken down without comment. Hmmm. His masters must have felt his comments violated the cardinal rule of commercial blogs: ‘Never say anything that might alienate a potential advertisier’.
In contrast, the new sandwich has been put on the limited-time feature list at McDonald’s UK after a successful market test there a few months ago.
And McDonald’s corporate types who issue ‘statements’ and write the unsigned media releases sound enthused.
The Washington Post (WAPO) reported McD’s responded to their request for further information with an e-mail saying: “We’re always looking to give our fans more ways to enjoy the classic menu items they know and love. […] While not everything we test makes it on our U.S. menus, we’ll use this time to gather feedback from both customers and restaurant crew as we consider opportunities to offer more delicious options in the future.”
Yadda, yadda, yadda. The standard textbook kind of non-answer that politicians have been using for millennia to say ‘something’ without actually communicating any real information.
Some hacking in the works…
We think an even better indication of the market’s interest in a Chicken Big Mac is reflected in social media activity suggesting ways of approximating one for yourself.
Mark Vayntraub, a food blogger and social media influencer who goes by the handle @markie_devo, rang in with additional info. He says U.S. McD’s staff are apparently being trained to make the new item, citing McDonald’s workers as his sources. He even posted an image of what looked like an instruction sheet for making it.
Using the instruction sheet, WAPO staff built their own version of the new Chicken Big Mac. They used a regular Mac and two McChicken Sandwiches (see image, above). Those who tried it agreed it was okay, but the avalanche of toppings made the chicken recede into the flavour background. On the other hand, the chicken texture was a refreshing complement to the standard Big Mac formula.
And It seems to me that their approach to bootlegging the new sandwich is a really expensive way to go!
My take
I’ll bet Crispy Chicken Sandwich lovers will love the new Chicken Big Mac. But word that the Chicken flavour gets submerged in the overall flavour profile annoys me. Maybe a little bit more salt and pepper on the chicken to bring it to the front?
And what about a spicy option, possibly with a spiced version of Big Mac Sauce? Or a spicy breading or dry spice dredge on the chicken? There are still lots of questions to be addressed…
~Maggie J.