Kentucky Grilled Chicken

Though I am not fan of KFC at all, I never pass up a free meal. If you have been watching TV lately you have seen the commercials advertising the grilled chicken product. I dropped in the Taylorsville Road location this afternoon with a friend for lunch and we both got a free two piece meal. Mine came with a leg and a breast, and I was completely unimpressed! The biggest problem is the breast was completely dry. This was coupled with the fact that it didn't really have much flavor at all. It was clearly grilled, as evidenced by the grill marks on the breast. In fact, I imagine it was left on the grill for a bit too long. The leg was not dry, which was not really a surprise, however it too was completely lacking in flavor. I rarely eat "fast food" and today I was reminded why. I am sure that if cooked properly this product is at least marginally edible, however when left in the hands of KFC kitchen staff things probably tend to go awry more often than not. I can't say that I will give it a second chance unless I get another freebie.

Conversely, I AM a long-time fan of KFC, and when prepared correctly their products are actually quite good (I might be a little biased, since I was employed for several years at Corporate as a Product Manager -- but it did provide some insight as to what goes into the QA process on their menu items)....I haven't tried the new grilled product yet (we attempted to purchase some this evening, but they were in a "gap" and the next batch was 20 minutes away from being ready)...however, this appears to be the latest incarnation of KFC's desire to offer customers a viable non-fried option...I don't know if it will succeed, but flavor IS going to be a crucial factor....grilled/baked/roasted chicken can be very flavorful, or it can be downright tasteless...I'm anxious to try it, but if you thought is was bland, I'm not optimistic for its long-term success.

This chicken is baked on a rack in an oven. It's not cooked on a grill. As far as flavor, it's bland. As an alternative to fried, check the nutritional info on their web site. It's not any better than the fried.

wasn't KFC recently promoting the notion that there was a "Cook" in every KFC kitchen these days? I'd love the know the required qualifications for that position if they cannot even grill a chicken breast properly...

I did check the nutritional info for grilled vs. fried the other day.

KFC Grilled Breast: 180 Cal and 4 grams of fat

KFC Original Recipe Breast: 370 Cal and 21 grams of fat

I've tried the new grilled chicken, with mixed results. If it's fresh, I think it's pretty good.

If it's been sitting, it gets overcooked and dry.

Oh, and the other day they were "out" of grilled chicken.

We tried it, and compared it to the main competition (e.g.: Kroger rotisserie, Meijers rotisserie). KFC - if fresh and not sitting around - is significantly better. I think the main difference is that the KFC is marinated/brined, which does make it juicier.

Now, when we arrived I was told that the batch had just come out, so maybe it's either not a "keeper" or - since it's only been around a matter of two weeks - not all KFC's are cooking it correctly; all I can think of for the dryness complaint.

Shannon, thanks for providing the nutritional values. I am not a KFC fan nor am I a KFC defender.... although I do like their slaw for some reason. However, my husband brought some grilled chicken home to try. I found it to be completely average.... maybe a bit on the dry side but overall, it was passable. We did think that the food could be "Basa-fied." "Basa-fied" is what we term dressing something up that is pretty average through presentation. I am pretty sure that if the KFC grilled chicken was used as an entree at a white table cloth place, properly presented, and artfully named, it would fare a lot better than out of the cardboard KFC box. I saw something on the Food Network where they did something like that and it was remarkable how the diner's impression changed.

Elizabeth, I love their coleslaw as well. We don't patronize them very often, though, so I did some research. The secret ingredient is buttermilk.

.... although I do like their slaw for some reason.

Ill admit Im into that slaw as well..guilty pleasure. In addition to Lynchs comment on the buttermilk Ive found theres also alot of sugar going on as well. Ive tried to replicate it at home with the help of many internet recipes claiming to be the original KFC slaw recipe with little luck. I think part of it is the "factory" shred cabbage they use. Its hard to get that same texture going on at home.

... I am pretty sure that if the KFC grilled chicken was used as an entree at a white table cloth place, properly presented, and artfully named, it would fare a lot better than out of the cardboard KFC box. I saw something on the Food Network where they did something like that and it was remarkable how the diner's impression changed.

Yeah, maybe like those Pizza Hut commercials where they take pasta into "real Italian" restaurants and everyone raves!! Personally my impression wasn't swayed at all by the fact that it was KFC and not something else. As others have mentioned, KFC and fast food restaurants in general have serious quality control issues. How can you make sure something is being prepared exactly (or at least relatively close) the same way in thousands of stores, across multiple shifts, by people making near or just above minimum wage? What qualifications do you have to have to be the "cook"? I had a friend who worked in the KFC corporate office a few years back. He said that KFC was testing a rotisserie product, but that it was scrapped because preparation was too involved and quality control had become such an issue. I never tried it, but he swore it was a great product.

After reflecting on it a bit more, even the flavor (supposedly marinated) wasn't good enough for me to consider trying it again in the hopes that I may get a fresh or properly prepared batch. I didn't mention in my original post that when I arrived it was the peak of lunch hour (around 12:15). The drive through was backed up and there was only 1 table available in the entire restaurant. The line for people ordering in and carryout was backed up to the door. Numerous other individuals were eating and ordering the grilled chicken. From this end, I seriously doubt it was a case where the chicken just sat around for too long. After reading some of the other posts I have little doubt that a "good" batch is palatable, however when dining out I prefer to at least have the odds in my favor the food will be prepared properly!

My memories of Kentucky Fried Chicken bring me back to my Chicago days. One, on Chicago avenue, just off Dempster in Evanston, only makes me recall a bunch of veins or tendons in the meat. The next memory was from a late night near Rush Street in Chicago with a bunch of friends eating out on the street. All I remember was it being very very greasy and fairly disgusting.

I think all of my KFC memories contributed strongly to me becoming vegetarian.....(though Korean Airways fish probably put me over the edge - food poisoning).

I, and my son, have been participating in protests against KFC's cruel treatment of chickens for the past two years. These protests have been done with PETA (People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals). KFC (YUM foods) has ignored requests to change how they handle and kill the animals. They have changed their practices in Canada, however, largely due to ongoing protests. If anyone wants more info, please let me know....

By eating at KFC, you're not just supporting a chain, you're supporting factory farming of animals, and an institution that does so in an exceptionally cruel manner...

Cheers,

Nimbus

edit for spelling typo - whoops

Always good to know where people stand, makes life easier.

I thought the grilled chicken was quite good. It was tender, juicy, and flavorful. Of course, we got there right around 6:30, in the middle of the dinner rush, so it probably didn't have much time to sit around and dry out.

Yeah, maybe like those Pizza Hut commercials where they take pasta into "real Italian" restaurants and everyone raves!! Personally my impression wasn't swayed at all by the fact that it was KFC and not something else.

Will, I totally understand what you mean about the food being from KFC. Tell you what, though. We have done this before to some of my husband's acquaintances: We took food from Basa and food from Lemongrass in St. Matthews. We told them the Basa food was from Lemongrass and vice versa. They were very impressed with the Lemongrass food that they thought was from Basa and mildly impressed with the Basa food. We never told them we made the switch. My point is not on the actual flavor or quality but the perception and the price. They pretty much thought the food was the same while the Lemongrass was half the price. My point with the KFC was that "better" restaurants could probably get away with serving that food and charging much more for it. Whatever the case, when you go into KFC and pay that amount for food, you are pretty much going to get what you pay for. Fast food is fast food. Cheap and quick. Without fast food I dont think my husband and I could have made it through school.

Elizabeth, I know I exclaimed the sentence about Pizza Hut commercials perhaps indicating sarcasm. My intent just to show that I find those commercials humorous, not to indicate that I doubted your statement or something of that nature. I have heard the same stories about other things such as wine (2 buck Chuck comes to mind, though it definitely tasted like 2 dollar wine to me!!). I think the distinction that needs to be made is the type of person you are dealing with. I am an avid music lover but do not necessarily have a musical ear like some audiophiles that I know. Not to get too technical, but if you give them an MP3 encoded at 256kbps and a FLAC file they will swear to the rooftops the 256 file is seriously compressed, lacking in sound quality, etc. Meanwhile, both sound nearly identical to me. That doesn't mean they are, it just means that I am not nearly as critical, or perhaps not a connoisseur of audio quality as much as I am of the music itself. The same is true of food, otherwise places like Olive Garden, KFC, and the like wouldn't be in business. Some people can't make distinctions about quality, ingredients, flavors, etc like others. This is not a bad thing, just the point that I had actually meant to underscore but didn't do such a good job.