I got a phone call from Jeremy a few days ago about trying out this new creation from KFC called the Double Down. I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out a new segment I've been wanting to write called Quality Control, where I'll review an iconic junkfood staple not only for it's overall strength but also on it's construction as compared to it's image presented by it's parent company. Basically, it looks great on tv, but how does is look on my plate?
What it is:
Foodies this un-sandwich is pure american processed food ingenuity at it's finest. The people at corporate have this to say:
"The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real! This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and monterey jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce. This product is so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!"
Not too bad sounding and only 1380 mg of Sodium. No Shit. Check out this PDF for a full breakdown of KFC's products www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf.
The Colonel would be proud of the overall cost effective nature of this product. Basically you've taken your staple product, chicken, and put some mayo, bacon, and cheese on top of one piece, put another piece of chicken on top, and call it a sandwich. Make a special piece of paper, and serve it in a product neutral box and you've managed to avoid bread (true to the commercial, there really is no room for it here) and create a sensation all in one go. If this was 1998 there would be a giant ATKINS APPROVED banner on the wrapping, and it would featured on Oprah as the flagship food in this new health food craze. Alas it is 2010 and with obesity as the new fad this revolutionary product is not even featured on the menu at my local branch, it's something you have to know to ask for. And so I did...
First Impressions:
The image on top is from the company site and the image on the right is my very own Double Down. The options are pretty limited no matter what so on initial inspection the sandwich that I bought looks very similar to what is advertised. I have to say I was pretty surprised. The special sauce was not as nicely placed, but it was just barely oozing out the sides, true to the advertisement. Another thing I noticed when I received this bad boy is that the bag was heavy, and this was the only thing i got besides water.
Before I began the second part of the visual inspection I had to taste this creation. My first impression is simple; SALT! After that the spicy chicken came through. The chicken was delicious and moist and I was reminded that KFC does in fact do chicken right. Still the saltiness was overwhelming and I couldn't get past it. The taste of the bacon was also lost in the saltiness, but it's texture did come through when I bit all the way through. The sauce tasted like spicy mayo that happened to be pink. Let's open up this sandwich and see what's inside.
Quality Control:
Image 1: An ultra close up shows some promise here. This is the untouched, still in the box sandwich. Still in the restaurant.
Image 2: Once I picked it up the bottom breast flopped down a little and bottom was a bit soggy. Special sauce oozed out one side. The bacon held firm. Overall the chicken is very crisp. The cheese is very hot.
Image 3: This is after I had eaten half of it. I suppose in the future I should really buy 2 sandwiches for this feature. I wanted to try it though, before i dissected it so there is was method albeit flawed. As you can see the 2 pieces of bacon do run the whole length of the sandwich, but are kind of puny. The cheese and the sauce have also fully merged.
Image 4: Who can deny the beauty of perfect looking bacon. Small piece though, and vivid bright colors. I am starting to wonder about the color additives in this bacon.
Image 5: A combo of the cheese and sauce. They had completely melted together at this point, but this is probably a good thing. The monterey jack is a milky white color, the brown is actually the pink sauce mixed with white cheese.
I'd say that the elements of this sandwich look as advertised. I should have taken a picture of the inside of the chicken but I can assure you it was moist and and white and a bit layered in appearance. There are only 4 ingredients in the entire sandwich so there is not a lot to screw up here. It looks like you get what you are expecting when it comes to the Double Down.
Aftermath:
SALT! I drank water for the rest of the day and could not quench my thirst. The sodium content is unreasonably high. 10 minutes in and had a weird feeling in my whole body, and a slight head ache. 1-2 hours out and I just felt really full and thirsty. Then, 5 hours out, when I thought everything was cool, I hot burped/threw up a little in my mouth. I took 2 pepcid and that quieted things down. I will admit to having a bit of a sensitive stomach when it comes to certain ingredients, but throwing up sandwich in my mouth 5 hours after eating it is a bit ridiculous. When you eat this you're doubling down on your stomach's strength at the very least.
I suppose since this is essentially a huge chunk of meat with mayo and cheese I should not be surprised that my stomach would react with a little discomfort. Still, this beast is just so salty and meaty it's nothing less than pure gluttony even if it's the only thing you eat all day. According to the USA it should actually be just that. The American Heart Association suggest you eat less than 1500 mg of sodium per day (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4708), and the FDA agrees (http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm181577.htm). If you were to get a coke and mashed potatoes with this thing you'd be past your daily limit in less than an hour. I checked out this pod from npr.org for some intersting facts on sodium http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=16727279&m=16727256
Please take note that while I've been able to find all the health information for this product, I cannot find a list of ingredients that it's various elements contain. When I realized that this entire product is 100% engineered meats and condiments, and that in fact nothing in this sandwhich is not processed, well it gave me pause. Instead of having to hit the bathroom with violent submission, I am constipated a day later as I write this review.
As an added bonus, this is a picture of Jeremy's last bite. He was kind enough to join me on this one. Majestic.
I am not going to eat this again. Conceptually it's just wrong, and in practice it's a hellacious vomit-burp inducing salt bomb.
Grade:
Visually Accurate: A-
Sandwich Artistry: B
Overall: C- ( I really wanted to give it a flat D, but the chicken was pretty decent)
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