{"id":14754,"date":"2012-06-28T14:06:46","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T18:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/?p=13100"},"modified":"2018-10-02T18:11:56","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T18:11:56","slug":"your-chicken-mcnugget-can-be-better-than-fast-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/your-chicken-mcnugget-can-be-better-than-fast-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Chicken McNugget Can Be Better Than Fast Food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>I\u2019m trying to make the point to a group of visiting high school students<\/strong> that if they create a chicken mcnugget from the freshest ingredients, they\u2019ll have the most energy.\u00a0 In Part 1 of the class, I wanted them to think of <a href=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/food-as-fuel\/cooking-science \" target=\"_blank\">Food As Fuel<\/a>, and realize that what they eat directly impacts their brain power and attention span.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LRRDJIx5ffs\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m borrowing a technique from Chef Jamie Oliver<\/strong> where he did a Chicken McNugget experiment, showing children how the item is made from pureed chicken fat, cartilage and some meat.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping to impress them with knowledge of where their food comes from and why it can be the difference between energy and lethargy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I used the analogy at the beginning of class that food is like batteries in a flashlight.\u00a0<\/strong> Loading two flashlights with different batteries, one with large \u201cD\u201d sized cheap energy, and another with more expensive \u201cAA\u201d sized energy, we quickly saw that bigger and cheaper isn\u2019t necessarily better.\u00a0 The \u201cD\u201d batteries quickly burned out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When you eat cheaper food, you burn out quickly too.\u00a0<\/strong> So, the demonstration today is how to make your own chicken mcnugget.\u00a0 They\u2019re actually quite simple if you know a standard breading procedure.\u00a0 But first, we have to identify exactly what good food is.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In general, foods are made of proteins, fats and sugars.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s the proteins that give us brain power, strong nails, shiny hair, and the ability to strive for excellence.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is the difference between average and excellent?\u201d I ask the class.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are some athletes the best\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s because of the fuel in their bodies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The most desirable part of a raw chicken is the breasts, then the legs and thighs.<\/strong>\u00a0 They are the best fuel for the human body, and they cost a bit more than fast food processed chicken.\u00a0 So, how does the national McLaboratory make this \u201cfood\u201d cost so little?\u00a0 It\u2019s because they use the cheapest energy, just like the \u201cD\u201d cell batteries.\u00a0 They\u2019re big on volume, but short on substance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A chicken mcnugget is made by a scientist, not a chef.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s formulated for marketing, not energizing high school students.\u00a0 The parts of the chicken left over from removing the high energy parts are what go into a formed chicken disk, along with binders and lots of corn.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In order for the students to create their own bite-sized bit of poultry protein,<\/strong> I\u2019ll have them cut fresh chicken breasts into cubes, dredge them in flour, then dip them in egg and coat in a very crunchy and light Panko crumb coating.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The entire class seems excited to accept this challenge, and they get right to work.\u00a0<\/strong> They\u2019re not repulsed by raw chicken, readily dip their fingers into beaten egg, and arrive at a crunchy product that is different sizes because they weren\u2019t made in a factory.\u00a0 This chicken was grown on a farm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Instead of adding fat by deep frying,<\/strong> their creations are placed in a very hot oven to roast and turn golden brown.\u00a0 When they are finished cooking, they look a lot more appetizing than the grease soaked chunks from the drive through.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve got them!\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve made my point,<\/strong> but when I hold up the fresh, nutritious, wholesome bites that we just made together, I\u2019m shocked at the response.\u00a0 Each and every student would STILL rather have a chicken mcnugget from the fast food restaurant.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhy would you still choose the fast food version?\u201d I had to ask.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s inconceivable to me.\u00a0 I have access to a grocery store.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been taught what fresh chicken is, and I\u2019ve eaten fresh chicken most of my life.\u00a0 Engineered food repulses me and I know the effects of living on corn.\u00a0 So why would they still choose the greasy one?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThat just doesn\u2019t look good\u201d was the response, and my entire world changed.<\/strong>\u00a0 I suddenly gained a new perspective on teaching fresh food and cooking.\u00a0 These students have the direct opposite opinion than I do.\u00a0 The fresh chicken looks weird, strange and not appetizing.\u00a0 The formed poultry puck is familiar and comfortable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s a terrible by-product of food deserts in urban centers.\u00a0<\/strong> The young children can\u2019t even identify a fresh piece of chicken.\u00a0 Chicken to them IS a mcnugget.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve got A LOT more work to do to change the world\u2019s view of food.\u00a0<\/strong> Back to the drawing board for me.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<h2>Discover the difference between how professionals and home cooks are taught in my next<br \/>\nFREE Webinar Workshop<\/h2>\n<p>Claim your FREE Spot for the next webinar session by <a href=\"https:\/\/events.genndi.com\/register\/169105139238437402\/5093b41c1c\" target=\"_blank\">CLICKING HERE<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/events.genndi.com\/register\/169105139238437402\/5093b41c1c\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-25201 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/FREE-Cooking-Webinar-Event.jpg\" alt=\"FREE Cook Webinar Event\" width=\"810\" height=\"450\" target=\"_blank\" srcset=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/FREE-Cooking-Webinar-Event.jpg 810w, https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/FREE-Cooking-Webinar-Event-480x267.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 810px, 100vw\" \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m trying to make the point to a group of visiting high school students that if they create a chicken mcnugget from the freshest ingredients, they\u2019ll have the most energy.\u00a0 In Part 1 of the class, I wanted them to think of Food As Fuel, and realize that what they eat directly impacts their brain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":23723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[39],"tags":[98],"yst_prominent_words":[1458,1451,1461,484,1447,1460,1333,1455,1453,1448,1456,1449,1462,1454,1459,1463,942,1452,1450,1457],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14754"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}