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Top 10 Reasons Why Chick-Fil-A’s Chicken Is So Delicious
Chicken sandwiches are basic items on many fast food menus, but the folks at Chick-Fil-A have raised the bar on this sandwich staple. Chick-Fil-A has gained a loyal customer base with its delicious chicken. Its carefully crafted sandwiches consistently get higher marks than any fast-food chain has a right to expect. With that in mind here is the Top 10 Reasons Why Chick-Fil-A’s Chicken Is So Delicious.
10. Timing Is Everything
Some fast for chains have gained a reputation for serving food to customers that have sat too long. Food served in a timely manner simply tastes a lot better and Chick-Fil-A has taken this truth to heart. This fast-food chain has a strict policy referred to as the 20-minute rule. The count down begins after the fried chicken is removed from the fryer. The prospect of having to throw food and money in the garbage encourages the managers to monitor and adjust the amount of chicken being prepared based on the volume of customers. Most Chick-Fil-A’s seem to do a pretty brisk business so most of the chicken sandwiches will be sold and gobbled up before time expires. However, if for some reason the fast-food chain finds itself with a glut of chicken the 20-minute rule will be enforced to help ensure quality is maintained. This policy prevents a hungry customer from unwrapping a soggy sandwich that doesn’t live up to Chick-Fil-A’s standards. Attention to these small, but important details can turn a mediocre fast food experience into a memorable one that will leave customers hungry for more delicious Chick-Fil-A fried chicken.
9. Fryer Etiquette
The uninitiated might assume that Chick-Fil-A just throws its chicken into deep fryers any which way, but this is definitely not the case. In fact, the fast-food chain has a very specific process that helps make the chicken as delicious as possible. The goal is to turn raw, breaded chicken cutlets into fried chicken cutlets over and over again. This doesn’t happen by accident; it happens because the Chick-Fil-A cooks are trained to position the cutlets with their tails pointing to the center of the fry basket. This positioning is an important factor in making sure the cutlets to cook evenly. The thickest parts of the chicken are near the outer edges of the fryer where the oil is hotter. If the cutlets were just thrown in the fryer at random the result could be a completely unsatisfactory product. The last thing hungry customers want is a chicken sandwich that isn’t fully cooked. This may seem like an unimportant detail to the casual observer, but the fast-food industry is very competitive and companies can’t afford to leave anything to chance. This fast-food chain knows that its customers care about quality and this fryer technique helps to deliver a consistent product to its customers.
8. It’s The Pickles
Pickles are a pretty common topping on fast food sandwiches – an obligatory item we don’t give a lot of thought to as we enjoy or meal. This is not the case with Chick-Fil-A because as far as this chain is concerned Pickles are a big part of what makes a Chick-Fil-A sandwich delicious. These sandwiches are not dressed up with a lot of extra toppings and flavors there is only the fried chicken, the bun and the pickles. The people at Chick-Fil-A were confident that this combination of simple flavors done well would be more than enough to make a delicious sandwich. It turns out they’re right. The Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich is a quality fast food sandwich that relies on carefully prepared ingredients that bring the best in each other. Because Chick-Fil-A leaves nothing to chance it trains its employees to position the pair of pickles on each sandwich side by side to give the sandwich maximum coverage. There is a rumor circulating on the Internet that the fast-food chain marinates its chicken filets in pickle juice before placing them in the basket fryers. Whatever the truth is there is no doubt that pickles are an important part of what makes Chick-Fil-A so delicious.
7. Seasoned To Perfection
In their quest to make its chicken sandwiches as delicious as possible Chick-Fil-A has worked hard to perfect the seasonings and spices that are part of the recipe. The combination of spices is really important for the grilled sandwiches because they’re not as naturally flavorful as their deep-fried cousins. Chick-Fil-A wasn’t happy with its grilled chicken sandwich so it went back to the drawing board to come up with a mix of spices that would make the sandwich as delicious as the fried chicken option that is so popular with customers. This meant taking the time to experiment with more than a thousand different combinations of seasonings before the chefs were able to hit on just the right formula. The exact combination they came up with remains a company secret, but it is known that the recipe includes sea salt, lemon, and garlic as well as a few special ingredients. The seasoning blend has proven to be a success with Chick-Fil-A customers who have embraced the grilled chicken sandwich as a delicious choice. The seasoning blend might be a secret, but the word is out on the tasty grilled chicken sandwich.
6. The Breading Is Big
We all hate it when the coating doesn’t quite stay on the chicken sandwich we’re trying to enjoy. You’re probably not surprised that Chick-Fil-A has a plan in place so this doesn’t happen the next time you sink your teeth into one of its delicious fried chicken sandwiches. Chick-Fil-A kitchens follow a specific procedure to maintain the quality and keep the breading in place. The first step in the process is to dip the chicken cutlet in a bath of milk and egg. There are specific instructions to put the large end of the cutlet into the mixture first. The second step is to completely smother the chicken with a flour mixture. These two steps are obviously important but according to Chick-Fil-A the third step sets its chicken apart. Employees are trained to use their body weight to work the coating mixture into the chicken. This strenuous mixing helps to ensure that the chicken is properly covered with the breading mixture before it goes into the deep fryer. This extra work might seem unnecessary to us, but we enjoy the benefits of this attention to detail every time we order a delicious sandwich from Chick-Fil-A.
5. Fresh From The Farm
Many fast-food chains have been known to cut corners to save money and make their operations more efficient. In a world of microwaves and frozen foods, Chick-Fil-A prides itself on its fresh chicken. Instead of having frozen meat trucked in large shipments Chick-Fil-A stores buy their meat from local chicken farmers. Using fresh chicken that hasn’t been frozen makes a big difference in quality and taste. Whether you get the grilled chicken or fried chicken sandwich you are more likely to get a tasty meal than if you take your chances with frozen chicken that could have been hanging around for a while before being cooked and served. Chick-Fil-A has to go the extra mile with its chicken because unlike many fast-food restaurants, it does not offer its customers a variety of hamburgers and other choices. This fast-food chain is all about the chicken and is expected to put out a superior chicken sandwich. If you could get a chicken sandwich at a burger joint that is just as good then you’d be less likely to stop at Chick-Fil-A. The company’s success is based on using quality ingredients and a number of careful preparation techniques. Chick-Fil-A has used this formula to deliver a product customers will want to keep coming back for. This approach seems to be working, but Chick-Fil-A will have to keep it up to maintain its position in this highly competitive industry.
4. POUR ON THE PEANUT OIL
It’s not exactly a secret that Chick-Fil-A fries its delicious chicken in peanut oil. But why peanut oil? The chain only uses pure, refined peanut oil because oils with more district tastes such as corn oil and olive oil tend to pass on their flavors to the food being cooked in them. Peanut oil’s relatively mild flavor does not come through and allows the flavor of the fresh chicken to take center stage. With the peanut oil remaining in the background the more important flavors from the breading, bun and pickles combine to make a unique taste that Chick-Fil-A customers have responded to. Perhaps some fast-food chains want to mask the flavor of their mediocre chicken with heavier oils, but Chick-Fil-A believes that using peanut oil in the cooking process allows the true flavor of the fresh and carefully cooked meat to reach the customer. The use of peanut oil by this fast-food chain is evidence that it believes that its chicken is delicious and you will too. The results speak for themselves so Chick-Fil-A will likely stick to this tried and true method and continue to pour the peanut oil. Most of us likely don’t think very much about what kind of oil our chicken is being cooked in. However, at Chick-Fil-A they are convinced these details matter if it is going to deliver the most delicious chicken possible.
3. STRONG BUNS
Good, firm buns are important…in the fast-food industry. The importance that Chick-Fil-A puts on having the right kind of bun to complement the chicken is just more evidence that the fast-food chain doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. A delicious chicken sandwich has many components and it is convinced that the quality of the buns is key to delivering the best chicken sandwich possible. Chick-Fil-A buns start their sandwich journey with a pat of butter applied by a machine then they go in the toaster. The buns emerge a crispy golden brown, but on the buttered side only. The outer part of the bun is left invitingly soft and fluffy. When the buns are ready the pickles are added to half of the bu and finally, the chicken cutlet is carefully placed in the middle of the other half of the bun. Chick-Fil-A believes this precise process is the best way to ensure a consistent and delicious product time after time. Most customers order the regular bun, but for customers who want it, Chick-Fil-A offers a gluten-free bun you can substitute with any sandwich. When we think of a tasty chicken sandwich we tend to focus on the chicken, but the right bun can be every bit as important. When you sin your teeth into a fresh sandwich a soggy or stale bun just won’t do and Chick-Fil-A knows it.
2. GRILL SAVY
Fried chicken sandwiches have made Chick-Fil-A a very popular fast-food chain, but they also make delicious grilled chicken sandwiches. This doesn’t happen by accident. Like with everything else the chain does it has a particular way it makes its grilled chicken sandwiches to get the quality product it wants. The average commercial grills simply didn’t cut it when it came to producing that smoky, charred flavor customers expect. The company couldn’t get what it wanted off the shelf so it decided to invest a lot of its own money to develop a special grill that would deliver the flavor it was looking for. The company believes it found what it was looking for when it relaunched its grilled chicken sandwich several years ago. Chick-Fil-A was so convinced it had developed the right grill for the job it decided to patent the grill. What makes this grill special? Your grill only cooks one side of the chicken at a time, but Chick-Fil-A’s grill cooks both sides of the meat at the same time. Another feature is the loose-fitting lid that doesn’t press the hot juices out of the meat during cooking. This lid design results in a fully cooked, but still, moist grilled chicken cutlet that even has the grill marks you’d expect. Once again this attention to the details helps make Chick-Fil-A’s grilled chicken sandwich a delicious option on the menu.
1. THEY’RE THE EXPERTS
Just about anyone can make a chicken sandwich, but can they make a delicious chicken sandwich? Some things are probably best left to the experts. Chick-Fil-A’s whole reason for being is to make delicious chicken sandwiches customers will keep coming back for. Over the course of more than five decades, this fast-food chain has developed and perfected techniques and recipes that have helped to make Chick-Fil-A one of the most popular chicken restaurants around. Part of this chain’s expertise is knowing that the little details matter. Using fresh meat instead of frozen, toasting the buns a certain way, placing the chicken in the fryer a certain way and using a particular kind of oil were arrived at through trial and error. By honing this experience Chick-Fil-A became an expert in making delicious chicken sandwiches. It has a reputation for using fresh ingredients and not taking short cuts in preparation. Tastes are very subjective so it’s not surprising not everyone thinks this chain has the best chicken sandwich. However, there is a consensus that Chick-Fil-A produces a consistent and relatively high-quality product that is only growing in popularity. Experts don’t do things halfway they have a plan in mind. Chick-Fil-A seems to have a successful plan that results in delicious chicken sandwiches.