From Freezer to Fresh: Why QSRs are Transitioning to Freshly Prepared Fried Chicken
Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) have always loved frozen chicken. After all, it offers unparalleled convenience for the preparer. Items come pre-breaded, and operators only need to open the bag and drop the desired amount of product into the oil — no planning or preparation required.
Customers, on the other hand, have different priorities. They’re more interested in texture and flavor and generally dislike the taste of cut corners. Customers found frozen chicken acceptable when it was the only game in town, but now that many QSRs are raising the bar by preparing and breading fresh chicken on site, customers are flying the coop from freezer-to-fryer (FTF) operations and flocking to fresher options.
Wondering how significant a customer shift might be? Consider that chicken-forward QSRs make up 20% of the top 50 QSR list.
So how can you keep your competitive edge in this new landscape? A good place to start is learning more about preparing fresh chicken for optimum flavor and customer satisfaction. You may be surprised to find out it can be easier — and more profitable — than you think.
What’s so special about freshly prepared chicken?
Back in the 70s, customers were so happy with the concept of being able to get familiar flavors without having to wait that they took what they were given without complaining. Today’s customers live in a completely different world, where tasty fresh options are skyrocketing in popularity.
Chicken is the most consumed protein in the U.S., with notable chains, such as Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and KFC, serving crispy and delicious freshly breaded chicken. Their commitment to quality strikes a chord with customers, earning their loyalty.
In contrast, QSRs that continue to embrace the freezer to fryer process may find it more challenging to retain customers as they discover more flavorful alternatives.
The difference that fresh makes
When you bite into a piece of chicken, you can instantly tell a few signs about its preparation.
- Texture: FTF chicken tends to be dry and rubbery, while fresh chicken is crispy and juicy.
- Flavor: Frozen chicken offers a muted taste, whereas fresh chicken provides bold, craveable flavors.
FTF products lack the “wow” factor that today’s consumers expect, and as customers increasingly demand transparency about the ingredients in their food, fresh options help QSRs demonstrate commitment to quality.
Although this is a relatively new phenomenon with fried chicken, major QSR chains have recognized the superiority of fresh over frozen in regard to beef for many years. Wendy’s mentions its “fresh, never frozen” beef regularly in advertising, Five Guys promotes the fact that its franchises don’t have freezers, and multiple chains, such as In-n-Out, make their burgers with fresh beef. It was only a matter of time before this sensibility shifted to chicken, too.
Why proper breading technique and chicken breading equipment matter
As operations make the transition to in-house breading, it’s important they do their research to ensure the best results. Ingredients are important, but if they’re not using proper breading technique, the resulting product will not have right the taste and texture.
If your breading isn’t sifted often, its ingredients start to separate, leading to inconsistent flavor. Clumped breading in the form of “doughballs” start to form where stray liquid comes into contact with flour, creating alternating areas with no breading or thick breading, which can lead to under- or overcooking. The quality and flavor of the final product is inconsistent, leaving customers to roll the dice, hoping that they get a “good batch” when they order.
Fortunately, there’s a better way.
Essential breading equipment and batter stations
The difference between hand-processing and automation in food preparation is clear and obvious. Hand processes produce a wide range of variation from operator to operator — or even from batch to batch with the same operator depending on their mood, level of fatigue, or time available.
Automated chicken breading equipment works exactly the same way each time, ensuring consistent food quality, taking the stress off busy operators and producing quality output more easily with fewer labor hours. Automation produces the same delicious results in every batch, regardless of who starts them or whether they’re prepared during peak service times.
Examples of essential AyrKing chicken breading machines for QSRs include:
- Breader Blender Sifter (BBS)
This powerful breading station rapidly blends breading, ejecting doughballs and ensuring ingredients are evenly distributed. The process takes less than a minute, allowing operators to produce more in less time. - Mixstir
This innovative batter station takes on the time-consuming task of slowly and consistently mixing batters without injecting air into the product and disrupting the flavor profile. - DrumRoll
The DrumRoll breading machine gently tumbles chicken, adding a consistent coating of ingredients, reducing spattering caused by fryer “blow-off,” and extending the life of your fryer oil and breading. - Food prep carts
AyrKing’s food prep carts add a convenient breading or batter station when and where you need one, with a mobile, ergonomic design that makes food preparation easier, safer and more efficient.
This batter and breading equipment can help set your QSR up for success and consistency as you transition to freshly prepared chicken.
Making the change
When you switch from frozen to fresh, your staff will need to learn strict food safety protocols.
Key food safety protocols to follow:
- Keep raw chicken at safe temperatures using cold storage equipment.
- Avoid cross-contamination by separating raw and cooked food.
- Ensure staff follow proper handwashing procedures before handling foods.
- Use tools like ice bath carts or protein rails to streamline the process.
Implementing efficient workflows and instilling safe habits in your employees now will help ensure the safety of your guests when you make the transition.
AyrKing makes it easy
As you make the switch to freshly prepared chicken, AyrKing is here every step of the way, helping you stay competitive in the ever-evolving QSR market, reducing your ingredient and labor costs, and helping you increase your operational efficiency. Our dedicated team of food preparation specialists spends countless hours working on problems QSRs face every day and developing groundbreaking solutions to help you make better food faster, easier, and more profitably.
Want more tips for your transition to freshly prepared fried chicken? Watch our videos on how to achieve different types of fried chicken.
