Back in the Biscuit Game
It's easy to understand why McDonald's would want a chicken biscuit offering at breakfast time and beyond. Despite sitting atop the fast food world with $36 billion in U.S. sales, more than double the sales of its closest chain competitor (Starbucks at $14 billion) and four times the sales of its closest category competitor (Wendy's at $9.5 billion) the arches are wobbly on a per-unit sales basis, compared to Chick-fil-A, which boasts a whopping $4.4 million dollars in sales per location, nearly double McDonald's $2.5 million.
Followers will always try to follow leaders and steal their thunder in some way. This isn't even McDonald's first attempt to do so. About five years ago they introduced their "Southern Chicken Sandwich", a blatant note-for-note ripoff of Chick-fil-A's signature sandwich, sporting a buttered steamed bun, pickles, and a steamy pressure-cooked filet. They also offered a breakfast chicken biscuit that clearly imitated Chick-fil-A's breakfast offering. Honestly, both were pretty good imitations of the original, but consumers just didn't respond and the items were discontinued. Maybe McDonald's should have offered waffle fries too.
Going Big and Going Different
Despite this lack of initial success, the pull of added profit was strong and, perhaps because of the success of all-day breakfast and the resulting all-day availability of biscuits, McDonald's has decided to give it another go. They've introduced a new chicken biscuit, initially alongside a lunch sandwich that shared the same fried chicken filet. That new lunch sandwich, dubbed the "Classic Chicken Sandwich" was again a simple affair: a soft bun, a chicken filet, a little special sauce, and pickles. Frankly, I loved it, and it was a bargain at only $3, but it has since been discontinued. I'm not sure why, though I suspect that it may have been too good a deal, cannibalizing sales of the deluxe line of sandwiches. But we shall not dwell on this sad happenstance, as there's nothing to be done about it.
The first thing you notice about the new breakfast biscuit, officially and ostentatiously named the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Biscuit, is how huge the chicken filet is. I mean, it's obnoxiously huge, suspiciously huge. When I first saw it, I thought it must be a bunch of crust with some fake pressed chicken loaf inside, because the value proposition suggested by a real chicken filet of that magnitude seemed impossible. The sandwich offers the tantalizing prospect of up to six bites of pure fried chicken in the morning before your teeth even make contact with the starchy biscuit. Could this be too good to be true?
Tasting and Testing for Real Chicken, and Going Head-to-Head
Initial tastings of the chicken biscuit left me more than satisfied, and the product tasted like real chicken, but I had to know for sure, so on a recent early morning, I passed through both McDonald's and Chick-fil-A's drive-thrus to collect specimens for careful analysis back at the Food Kingdom labs. The results, in retrospect, make a great deal of sense. McDonald's chicken biscuit, consistent with its appearance, does give you a bigger, heavier sandwich than does Chick-fil-A's, but then it's also a bit pricier, $3.18 with tax vs $2.75 with tax for its competitor. Let's let the pictures tell much of the story now.
Crispy, Savory, but a Little Dry
On the plus side, McDonald's chicken biscuit is nicely spiced– peppery with hints of oregano and other subtle notes that delight one's sense of scent, and subsequently one's palate. Its crunchy coating is something you can really sink your teeth into. It truly is fun to just eat fried chicken with your coffee before you even get to the biscuit part. The biscuit too is quite respectable and the savory flavor profile interacts nicely with coffee. However, because the chicken is pounded thin in order to be wider, you don't get as much tender chicken flesh to sink your teeth into as you do with Chick-fil-A.
On the Sweet Side
Often, flavor traits are only detectable in contrast to something else. I've had Chick-fil-A's chicken biscuit dozens of times, but until I had one right after I'd eaten at McDonald's, I'd never noticed how sweet it was. I'm talking cake-sweet, both the biscuit and to a slightly lesser extent the coating on the chicken. It's not a bad thing, but it provides a strong contrast to the other product. Once you notice the difference, you might find it offputting. On the other hand, this sandwich does so many other things right. Unlike its competitor, this biscuit is lightly stained by dabs of melted butter, and the chicken is cooked more carefully so that it's still steamy and moist on the inside. This is real Southern comfort food and McDonald's still can't quite match the mood that it conjures. The Chick-fil-A biscuit is cozy; the McDonald's one is jazzy, energetic, ambitious and sassy. I recommend enjoying both, depending upon your mood.
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It's easy to understand why McDonald's would want a chicken biscuit offering at breakfast time and beyond. Despite sitting atop the fast food world with $36 billion in U.S. sales, more than double the sales of its closest chain competitor (Starbucks at $14 billion) and four times the sales of its closest category competitor (Wendy's at $9.5 billion) the arches are wobbly on a per-unit sales basis, compared to Chick-fil-A, which boasts a whopping $4.4 million dollars in sales per location, nearly double McDonald's $2.5 million.
Followers will always try to follow leaders and steal their thunder in some way. This isn't even McDonald's first attempt to do so. About five years ago they introduced their "Southern Chicken Sandwich", a blatant note-for-note ripoff of Chick-fil-A's signature sandwich, sporting a buttered steamed bun, pickles, and a steamy pressure-cooked filet. They also offered a breakfast chicken biscuit that clearly imitated Chick-fil-A's breakfast offering. Honestly, both were pretty good imitations of the original, but consumers just didn't respond and the items were discontinued. Maybe McDonald's should have offered waffle fries too.
Going Big and Going Different
Despite this lack of initial success, the pull of added profit was strong and, perhaps because of the success of all-day breakfast and the resulting all-day availability of biscuits, McDonald's has decided to give it another go. They've introduced a new chicken biscuit, initially alongside a lunch sandwich that shared the same fried chicken filet. That new lunch sandwich, dubbed the "Classic Chicken Sandwich" was again a simple affair: a soft bun, a chicken filet, a little special sauce, and pickles. Frankly, I loved it, and it was a bargain at only $3, but it has since been discontinued. I'm not sure why, though I suspect that it may have been too good a deal, cannibalizing sales of the deluxe line of sandwiches. But we shall not dwell on this sad happenstance, as there's nothing to be done about it.
The first thing you notice about the new breakfast biscuit, officially and ostentatiously named the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Biscuit, is how huge the chicken filet is. I mean, it's obnoxiously huge, suspiciously huge. When I first saw it, I thought it must be a bunch of crust with some fake pressed chicken loaf inside, because the value proposition suggested by a real chicken filet of that magnitude seemed impossible. The sandwich offers the tantalizing prospect of up to six bites of pure fried chicken in the morning before your teeth even make contact with the starchy biscuit. Could this be too good to be true?
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| An early, evocatively lit encounter with McDonald's Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Biscuit. Note how the filet extends way beyond the borders of biscuit, offering unadulterated crispy chicken delight. |
Initial tastings of the chicken biscuit left me more than satisfied, and the product tasted like real chicken, but I had to know for sure, so on a recent early morning, I passed through both McDonald's and Chick-fil-A's drive-thrus to collect specimens for careful analysis back at the Food Kingdom labs. The results, in retrospect, make a great deal of sense. McDonald's chicken biscuit, consistent with its appearance, does give you a bigger, heavier sandwich than does Chick-fil-A's, but then it's also a bit pricier, $3.18 with tax vs $2.75 with tax for its competitor. Let's let the pictures tell much of the story now.
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| At the official weigh-in, we see McDonald's biscuit clock in at a hefty 6.2 ounces. |
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| Chick-fil-A's biscuit, while less expensive, also provides significantly less to eat, weighing only 5.6 ounces, a full .6 ounces less. Blasphemous, but true! |
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| Ah, but perhaps you're thinking that the McDonald's offering gets its great weight from a heavier biscuit. But you would be wrong! The chicken filet is a full .81 oz heavier than the original competitor! Note that, true to its name, the coating on the McDonald's filet is crispy, full of irregular crunchy edges |
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| The Chick-fil-A filet is, by contrast, steamy and moist, rather than crispy and, all things considered seems to be somewhat paltry poultry. |
So we've established that Mickey-D's biscuit sandwich is larger and weightier, but underneath the chicken's crispy coating, do we have real chicken, or is it rather a patty, a glorified oversized chicken nugget, a McChicken in a biscuit? Let's look inside and find out.
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| When we tear away the crunchy coating, we see a real breast filet, not chopped and formed chicken forcemeat. Yes, it's pounded a bit thin, but your three bucks is buying you the real deal. Incidentally, though it's largely hidden on the menu, McDonald's does offer an even cheaper chicken biscuit that really is the proverbial "McChicken on a biscuit". It's not bad for what it is! |
Ultimately, a Difference in Style
We've heaped a lot of abuse, at least, implicitly, on Chick-fil-A, noting how much smaller it is than McDonald's bold, swaggery, crispy-crunchy-juicy chicken breakfast sandwich. Ultimately, though, I wouldn't say one is better than the other. As noted, the smaller sandwich is also over 40 cents cheaper and might be all you really need for a tasty, reasonably satisfying breakfast. Let's review the differences in taste to help you decide what's right for you.Crispy, Savory, but a Little Dry
On the plus side, McDonald's chicken biscuit is nicely spiced– peppery with hints of oregano and other subtle notes that delight one's sense of scent, and subsequently one's palate. Its crunchy coating is something you can really sink your teeth into. It truly is fun to just eat fried chicken with your coffee before you even get to the biscuit part. The biscuit too is quite respectable and the savory flavor profile interacts nicely with coffee. However, because the chicken is pounded thin in order to be wider, you don't get as much tender chicken flesh to sink your teeth into as you do with Chick-fil-A.
On the Sweet Side
Often, flavor traits are only detectable in contrast to something else. I've had Chick-fil-A's chicken biscuit dozens of times, but until I had one right after I'd eaten at McDonald's, I'd never noticed how sweet it was. I'm talking cake-sweet, both the biscuit and to a slightly lesser extent the coating on the chicken. It's not a bad thing, but it provides a strong contrast to the other product. Once you notice the difference, you might find it offputting. On the other hand, this sandwich does so many other things right. Unlike its competitor, this biscuit is lightly stained by dabs of melted butter, and the chicken is cooked more carefully so that it's still steamy and moist on the inside. This is real Southern comfort food and McDonald's still can't quite match the mood that it conjures. The Chick-fil-A biscuit is cozy; the McDonald's one is jazzy, energetic, ambitious and sassy. I recommend enjoying both, depending upon your mood.
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