I had the idea a few years back: KFC's Original Recipe chicken but in a boneless strip. When KFC came out with boneless strips of chicken, the chicken came in extra crispy, or a lesser version of what I remember extra crispy to be when KFC first introduced it.
The crispy boneless chicken was okay, but wasn't identifiable as a KFC product. Honestly, Popeye's spicy version was just as crispy but with more flavor.
So you would think I would be excited that KFC is finally coming out with a boneless Original Recipe version.
Like the Double Down sandwich, I would have been more excited if this came out 5 years ago. Seriously, KFC. You are slower with your innovations than any other fast food chain — even McDonald's is faster.
But unlike the Double Down sandwich, I could see myself ordering this.
The review
For those who remember my Double Down review, I felt like I got an inferior product, even by normal standards. This was the opposite. The counter person apologized more than once because they had to cook it fresh. I reassured him that was fine. (Yes, this was a different store.)
The advertising emphasized the meal, but the in-store advertising pointed out that I could add a boneless Original Recipe piece for $1 with any purchase. I bought a small cole slaw and a boneless Original Recipe piece for less than $3.
I ordered the white meat, but it also comes in dark meat. KFC tells us that the boneless white meat has 200 calories; a dark meat piece has 250 calories.
I actually got two small pieces for that $1. I was ready to take my purchase to the table when another counter person asked me what dipping sauce I wanted with that. In the spirit of Cartman, I went with the gravy.
The chicken was really hot, something that isn't normally true. My intention was to use my hands, but the spork came in very handy.
I enjoyed the taste of the Original Recipe. If you closed your eyes, you would know it wasn't the same feeling as eating a piece of regular chicken. Yes, the new chicken is boneless, but also skinless. You had the taste of the Original Recipe, but it wasn't as good as the skin off a breast or a leg.
The best part was the parts within the piece that didn't have chicken attached to it. This was as close to KFC skin as you can get without the skin itself.
The chicken itself was pretty dry, something true of the boneless, skinless variety. The gravy, still very good, came in handy.
As I was waiting for my chicken, I noticed that KFC has bite-sized Original Recipe chicken. I wondered what the big deal was about the boneless piece if KFC already had a smaller version of the same product. This would be worth another trip, maybe with a side of gravy for dipping.
Modern chicken: no bones, no skin
As much as I like the idea of boneless Original Recipe, I mourn the idea that actually eating chicken pieces is not cool anymore. Meat is attached to bones in animals. People do eat chicken wings, mostly buffalo, with bones, but somehow that is more ironic, not to mention the increase of "boneless wings."
People buy chicken breasts sans bone, even though it's more expensive and not as tasty. Convenience really is more important these days.
KFC says 80% of fried chicken in the United States is served off the bone. Figure that most of the remaining 20% is buffalo wings, and that speaks volumes about how Americans eat their chicken.
What KFC really should sell is Original Recipe skin. Give us a bunch of Original Recipe skin, some grilled chicken on the side, and cole slaw. Cartman's end around of eating just the skin illustrated what a lot of us felt and still feel like when it came to KFC.
"I ate the bones" is the theme of the advertising, since the chicken is boneless. "I ate the skin" also applies because the chicken is skinless. I wouldn't mind eating the skin.
I can't say this would make me go frequently to KFC, but the boneless Original Recipe was pretty good. I didn't have that sluggish feeling I had after the Double Down. I might be better off with the Original Recipe bites. If nothing else, this reminded me of why I liked KFC as a child, the joy of the original 11 herbs and spices in a piece of fried chicken, bones and all.
photo by me
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.