When you’ve been supporting restaurant owners and managers for as long as we have (65 years and counting), you tend to notice certain patterns of success…like what it takes to consistently serve up high-quality, craveable chicken that keeps customers coming back for more.
We thought to ourselves, “Why not take a closer look at these patterns and compile a list of “trade secrets” to help others find similar success?”
“That’s a great idea!” we also thought to ourselves. But, before we dive into all that, we should start with some chicken trends.
Chicken is the Most Consumed Meat Out There
Nearly everyone loves to eat chicken in some shape or form, and we have the stats to back it up.
According to Technomic’s 2017 Center of the Plate: Poultry report, 91% of consumers say they eat chicken at least once a week, topping other proteins such as beef, pork or turkey.
That’s a pretty high number, so it makes sense that restaurants and retailers alike are focused on offering innovative, craveable chicken options to their customers.
Because it’s so versatile, chicken is a great fit for menu items of all kinds – from health-conscious chicken-topped green salads to more indulgent fried chicken with all the trimmings.
Innovative, new iterations of chicken are popping up on menus all over the place. Restaurants are finding plenty of ways to mix things up based on regional favorites or trending flavors (i.e. chicken and waffles, Nashville hot chicken, or some other culinary creation) to satisfy their loyal customers and attract new ones.
A Diverse Range of Consumers with Diverse Preferences
Speaking of customers new and old, fried chicken provides them all with a familiar comfort food at a relatively low cost, but fried chicken also means different things to different people.
For some, fried chicken means an order of wings, while others may consider chicken strips to be the gold-standard. A little more than half of consumers prefer white meat over dark meat, and younger consumers are more interested in boneless options such as tenders and popcorn chicken. On the flip-side, older consumers prefer bone-in options.
With such a diverse range of consumers looking to order chicken – millennials and baby boomers, men and women, busy corporate workers and blue-collar wage-earners alike – it’s important to know your restaurant’s clientele inside and out, so you can tailor your craveable chicken dishes to their unique preferences.
Secrets of Successfully Serving Craveable Chicken [Top 5 List]
Ready to dig into some best practices to ensure your fried chicken turns out delicious and consistent? Here’s our recipe for success!
1) Start with Fresh Chicken Raised on Family Farms
A farm-fresh starting product is key to ensuring quality all the way through to your customers’ plates. Whether you’re serving cut up bone-in chicken or marinated chicken tenders…the quality of the meat matters.
2) Marinate Down to the Bone (or Core)
So you have a farm-fresh starter product, which is great, but now it’s time to marinate.
During this process, make sure the chicken is marinated all the way to the bone (or core on a boneless product). This provides moisture and flavor throughout the meat.
3) Hand Breading > Machine Breading
Now that your farm-fresh chicken is marinated to the core, it’s time to coat the product with Genuine Broaster Chicken’s secret, 65 year-old signature blend of herbs and spices.
For best results, even coating, and consistent flavor, we recommend hand breading rather than machine breading. Your customers can taste the extra effort in producing an evenly coated, higher-quality chicken product.
Trust us…our proven recipe has been making people go, “Mmm!” for generations.
4) It HAS to be Pressure Fried [CRITICAL]
When your fresh, fully-marinated, hand-breaded chicken is ready to hit the fryer, we simply cannot stress pressure frying as a superior cooking method enough.
We may seem a little biased, but there’s a reason we believe so strongly in our robust line-up of pressure frying equipment. It’s because Broaster Pressure Fryers really, truly do produce the best, highest-quality chicken possible. It is more juicy, cooks in less time and provides a less greasy product.
It’s why we can confidently say that Genuine Broaster Chicken is the taste of chicken perfected – and that’s a powerful impression to leave on your customers.
5) Keep It Hot & Fresh
Of course, you can start with the best chicken, marinate it to the core, bread it by hand with signature herbs & spices, and cook in a premium Broaster Pressure Fryer…and it could still fall short if you fail to keep it hot and fresh.
This final “secret” may seem like common sense, but it can easily be overlooked. In food service, it’s often the tiniest details that can make or break a menu item.
Don’t get sloppy. Keep your chicken craveable by maintaining proper temperature and freshness to serve your customers mouthwatering broasted chicken that’s crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside – every time. With quicker cook times you can cook less more often and serve fresh product each and every time.
– BONUS TIP –
If you consistently hit all five of the secret steps listed above, your restaurant will absolutely knock it out of the park with consumer liking scores, preference tests, and depth of purchase numbers – all of which are great indicators of success.
Now, it’s up to you to deliver. We know you can do it…and are even willing to help!
How to Get Started with Genuine Broaster Chicken
With the combination of Broaster Equipment, food product, branded packaging, and more, we make it as simple as possible to serve your customers what they want by becoming a Genuine Broaster Chicken trademarked operator.
With the ease of setup, quick preparation, and ongoing support through hands-on training, our turnkey branded food program not only competes with quick-service and fast-food chicken concepts, we outperform them.
And the best part? We don’t require any franchise or licensing fees, so you get to keep all your own profits.
At the end of the day, there are a lot of places serving fried chicken out there…but there’s only one Genuine Broaster Chicken.
