I think I kinda have a love-hate relationship with McDonald’s chicken nuggets
They’re good when you’re hungry and then after you feel like throwing up
Let’s get started - without further ado, let’s do this guys
McDonald’s chicken nuggets, let’s find out what’s inside
... that meat
Grant Imahara: So we’ve been asking consumers for their questions about McDonald’s food
Number one category by far:
Wait wait wait, what is this?
What is this
just-
what is this dude?
This guy looks so familiar
*FAMILIAR MUSIC IINTENSIFIES* [ZZ TOP: Legs]
bust 'em bust 'em bust 'em...
Mythbusters!
"Asian dude from Mythbusters"
Let's see if it's him
Oh yeah!
It's the same guy from Mythbusters!
What is this?
"Compensation provided by McDonald's"?
So he's getting paid for this?
Now we know how this video's gonna go
Why did that Mythbuster cash not good enough?
The Mythbuster cash ain't good enough for you buddy?
Grant Imhara: So we’ve been asking consumers for their questions about McDonald’s food.
Number one category, by far, chicken McNuggets.
Specifically, what’s in the chicken McNugget
Five dollars --> ten piece | Grant: So I’m here at the Tyson plant in Tennessee on this gorgeous day to get you some answers
Gorgeous day; starts raining immediately when he says that
Alright, time to suit up and boot up!
Amy: ... Tyson foods open county facility
We're just one of five facilities in the United states that make chicken McNuggets for McDonalds
Grant: Now, my initial reaction...
I actually like Tyson.
They taste -
Their chicken's good
macdee chicken nugget the tastiest ones
Grant: ... 'cause you know, people think that you discover this giant factory
you have a bit of chickens, that you put into a grinder and you grind them up and
*fart sound resembling a smash*
... you pour that into a bowl.
and that's what you use to make a chicken McNugget.
that's not true.
alright, I'm going to show you a picture.
here give me that picture.
a, a, are you sure that's not true?
If you do a search on the internet for Chicken McNuggets
This- RT: OH YEAH
Grant: What is this?
I don't know where that picture came from but that's not used in Chicken McNuggets
Guys I've seen that picture before
That's nasty
That's called mechanically separated chicken
And for a long time that's actually what was in chicken nuggets
Like that's how they made them until there was new regualtions
I think some companies actually still make them like that
Most don't. But some do.
Grant: Now they say that this is "pink slime"
So if you grind up the parts of the chicken that you use, does it look like this?
No, and we'll see that later in the process today.
Alright
RT: She's so mad
She was so mad! Look at this.
Grant: ...That you use, does it look like this?
No, and we'll see that later in the process today
She's trying so hard to hide her emotions
She's like "you can't disrespect my chicken nuggets"
we'll get to that in the process later today
Okay?!
You'll see!
Grant: Alright
Amy, this blows my mind!
I mean there are multiple lines of people making cuts on the chicken
Just like you would at home or just like a butcher would
Amy: Absolutely
Right here is a whole cut of chicken.
So you can see here we've got the dark meat with the drumsticks
and the thighs, which does not go in Chicken McNuggets
And then you've got the breast meat, the rib meat and the chicken tenderloin
Which do go in the Chicken McNuggets
Now before we make the McNuggets, we remove the skin,
Grant: Yea
Amy: And then we later add a small portion back for flavour in the Chicken McNuggets.
Grant: For flavour...
Amy: For flavour.
Grant: Everybody likes a little bit of chicken skin
Amy: Sure
Grant: This is the only part of the chicken that goes into the Chicken McNugget?
Amy: Absolutely
Grant: Nothing Else?
Amy: Nothing else.
RT: Are they lying to me?
I want the truth!
You don't have to lie, we know. Like when we eat a McDonalds chicken nuggets,
We don't eat it cause we want to be healthy.
Okay?
We eat it cause it tastes good.
Grant: No beaks?
Amy: No beaks.
RT: We're just really hungry. So you don't even need to try to lie to me.
'Cause we're gonna eat it regardless
Grant: No feet?
Amy: No feet.
Grant: Okay Amy, so what are we seeing here?
Amy: So this is our grinding operation.
This is 100% white meat chicken
So the exact same cuts that you saw previously
And this is the actual plate that we use to grind the chicken
You know, this looks like a pretty coarse grind
much coarser than you'd find say in a supermarket
Amy: Absolutely, we grind it to give you that really meaty texture that you expect from Chicken Mc-
RT: I know this is just ground meat
The way it comes out of that tube is just making me feel a little uncomfortable okay.
Amy: Absolutely, we grind it to give you that really meaty texture that you expect from Chicken McNuggets
Grant: Okay
See this? This is what people think the final step looks like.
But
RT: It looks- It doesn't look too bad
Amy: Exactly
Grant: That still looks like meat
Amy: Absolutely
Grant: So Amy this is it, this is... this is where the nuggets are formed
Amy: Yes, each nugget goes through a very thin layer of batter
Followed by
A thin layer of breader (?)
and that breader contains some of the flavour components such as celery and white pepper.
Grant: Okay
Amy: And that fo-
Grant: I can smell the white pepper