In a word - YIKES!
I am watching an army of small, perfectly formed nuggets march along a conveyor belt, with manufacturer Gary Stiles, at his factory in Wiltshire. He has spent his life in the meat trade. At one end of the factory line is a pulp of half-frozen meat and skin in a giant stainless-steel hopper. Minced and mixed beyond recognition, it is being extruded through a small tube on to metal plates. These press it into pale pink nugget shapes which then trundle on down the belt. Through a dust bath of flour and seasoning they go, before being lowered under a sheet of constantly pouring batter. Then on in juddering formation through a tray of scattered breadcrumbs and into a vast vat of boiling oil for 30 seconds.
OMG! I’ve been reading FAST FOOD NATION these past two weeks and just read the chapter on Chicken McNuggets. You would not believe how their invention nearly 20 years ago has so transformed this nation — our eating habits, environment and political fortunes.
While I eat them occassionally, I usually avoid them for Wendy’s nuggets. Of course, after reading 1/3 of FFN I really should avoid McProcessed foods at all costs.
It’s veggie nugget time, m’dears. Ain’t enough love in the world to be testin’ your intestines with that mess’n.
OK George, do you recommend a brand? I want to leave the meat behind (esp. beef and pork) but I don’t know where to turn.
You know, anything that’s pulverized beyond recognition and then processed into little pieces of stuff that’s then fried-up can’t be good. It really hurts when they taste so good! But, gosh, what am I TASTING?
My eating habits lately have been really awful anyway. I think I’m starting to LOOK like I sit in front of a computer for a living. We gon’ hafta tighten it up very soon. September is always a good time for a life change …
The solution is easy… make your own darn chicken nuggets! Like Donald says, any highly-processed food is going to be full fo crap like that. The problem with food these days is just that—it’s overprocessed. The solution is easy—home cooking! :-)