A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Who Has The Best Fast Food Chicken Nuggets?

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

Today, Josh and Nicole explore the snackable form of chicken and give their honest ranking across multiple fast-food establishments. Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is mythical. What are nuggets made out of anyway? If you have to ask, you can't afford it, toots. Sorry, that was inappropriate. This is A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense.

A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show where we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Scher. And I'm your host, Nicole Tootsinaiti. What does toots mean? Does it mean tootsie? Like tootsie girl? Like a tootsie pop?

I think it's like an ethnic minority in Rwanda, the tootsie. Oh, tootsie people? Yeah. Oh. No, I don't think it's related to that. I don't know where toots comes from etymologically. And I do want people to know. I'm Googling it. Anytime Nicole and I do a little intro where there seems to be a little bit of friction,

sometimes we'll see comments where it's like I think they're in a fight. But you know that it's not because then we both coordinatedly turn to the camera, if you're listening on audio, but we still coordinate and say, this is a hot dog is a sandwich. So it's a bit of stage acting. We are actors. We are professional actors. You want to Juilliard?

I'm a thespian. I identify as a thespian. I'm thespian adjacent. I did go to a women's rugby match this Sunday, and I had a great time. Short for Tootsie, Tootsie from Tootsie Woodsy, a familiar form of address to a sweetheart, originally a playfully or nursery name for a small foot. From childish pronunciation of foot. Foot sounds like toot.

It's a kitty. It's like for kids. Tootsie Woodsy. I feel like I need to be like just chewing on a cigar. Hey, Tootsie Woodsy over here. Anyways, Nicole, tell them what we're talking about. Today we're going to be ranking a few chicken nuggets from a few fast food joints. Yeah, we're talking about what the best fast food nuggets are.

I didn't get all of them. Just to be fair, I didn't get all of them, but I got most of them. Well, it gets mattering. We got some of the heavy hitters here. People are really into Wendy's. We have our own biases here. What do you mean? I mean, you and I have been on record as saying McDonald's chicken nuggets are the absolute best.

And they're sort of the progenitor of fast food chicken nuggets. I've been saying progeny a lot. Progeny, that's a good word. I like progenitor. But no, McDonald's is like credited as being the first to introduce chicken nuggets. And a lot of people say it was taking influence from Chinese American fried chicken dishes. I mean, not tempura, but the way that Chinese American food, you take the little chicken nugget, if you will,

and then you bread it, and then you fry it, and then you sauce it. And so little tiny fried chicken pieces of processed meat that have preservatives like salt and citric acid and spices, and ascorbic acid. Sure. Who knows, mixed in there. And then breaded and fried, and now they are an absolute mainstay and they're more important than ever, Nicole.

Why more important than ever? Climate change! Oh god, can I eat one of these? Let's do it. The sea levels are sea leveling. We don't love that. No, but beef is getting more and more expensive to raise. There are more and more droughts and people are also getting wise to the health effects

of beef and so people are eating more chicken than ever. Really? Chickens are very small. Carbon emissions are lower to the health effects of beef. And so people are eating more chicken than ever. Really? Chickens are very small. Carbon emissions are lower. I eat so much beef. Yeah. I think you're a little bit in the minority on that.

Beef levels are dropping. And, you know, the American Cattlemen's Association, which I think their shorthand is just beef. Oh, really? Like the company, or not the company, but the association just calls themselves beef. It's what's for dinner. But hamburgers are getting more expensive. Chicken nuggets are cheaper. Fast food.

Labor prices are rising. They need to keep up profits for whomever. I put ketchup on my nugget. I hate ketchup on my nugget. What do you mean? So now there's like fast food chicken nugget wars going on. They're all competing for resources. They're making spicy nuggies.

I like spicy nuggets. We are now eating the McDonald's nugget. Nicole forcibly put it in my mouth. No, I didn't. There's cameras. I didn't force anything in your mouth. What do you think about McDonald's nuggets? Like, really try and analyze this from, Nicole, a professional chef's perspective.

Well, I will say it's a wonderful punch of MSG. Big time. I do taste a lot of MSG, a lot of that umami, a lot of that deliciousness. It is very chickeny tasting. I think, again, that's from the MSG. I do taste a lot of MSG, a lot of that umami, a lot of that deliciousness. It is very chickeny tasting. I think, again, that's from the MSG. I think there's a little touch of white pepper, which opens up for more flavors to be introduced. White pepper tastes like chicken. I agree. And I find myself seasoning a lot of the time my chicken with white pepper. And it really, it's almost better than black pepper. I don't know why exactly that is. So

white pepper versus black pepper. It's the outside. So it's the berry. So it's almost better than black pepper. I don't know why exactly that is. So white pepper versus black pepper. It's the outside. So it's the berry. So it's the pepper berry. When it's dry, they remove the outer black outside of it. So it's got like less to me of a fruity taste to it. It's less, well, the thing is it's less pungent, but it's more spicy. Agreed.

Yeah. Agreed, agreed. So you get less of that like fruity, almost tannic pungency, but you're left with some of that spice. But to me, I don't know if they add a bunch of white pepper to things like Campbell's chicken noodle soup. But I associate the taste of white pepper with soup, and I associate the taste of McDonald's chicken nuggies with white pepper. And those are really good. Also. How do you feel about the breading?

I think it's the best. Especially fresh, hot out the fryer. Yeah, yeah. Because it's a wet batter. Yeah. Right? Is it? Are we sure the fryer. Yeah, yeah. These are a little bit old. Because it's a wet batter. Yeah. Right? Is it? Are we sure?

Look at it. You can tell. It's actually a spilled Wendy's Nuggies. You can tell this isn't a breadcrumb coating, right? There's little aeration. Oh, yeah. There's no breadcrumbs. I agree.

There's like aeration in a wet batter, and it's actually really similar. It's effectively tempura. Yeah. Sure. Right? It's like cold water, spices, probably some sort of coloring, and flour. Do they come frozen? Yeah.

Okay. They're certainly frozen. They're frozen, they're cooked, and then they're frozen again, and then they're shipped to the McDonald's, and then they cook them, and you get an ultra-crispy coating on it, and it lends super well. The interesting thing, though— Yeah? God, this is good.

It's making my salivary glands go to overdrive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, me too. But McDonald's recently-ish introduced spicy nuggets. Have you had them? I haven't had the McDonald's. Yes, we actually ate them together, didn't we? Like a year ago? They don't taste right to me.

The spicy nuggets? You're right. The Wendy's spicy nuggets are great, though. Because Wendy's I associate with spicy nuggets. But McDonald's. You don't want ketchup? Which one is this? Do you want ketchup?

I don't want ketchup. Okay. This is Jack in the Box. Give me a Jack Nugget. Looking at this, it's a dry breadcrumb coating. Smell it. Super, super fine breadcrumb. Smell it.

What does it smell like? It smells like chicken soup. This smells like chicken soup. I'm trying to figure out what the spice is on there. Is it just paprika? Not too bad. Mm-hmm. I think I might...

I can't believe I'm saying this. I think I might prefer the coating of Jack in the Box a little bit more. Yeah, I do like it. The Jack in the Box ones are much saltier. Which I like. They have a dry breadcrumb coating. To me, it's probably absorbed a little bit more oil. Mm-hmm.

The meat is saltier. The meat is also springier. Interesting thing about McDonald's nuggets, right? Mm-hmm. During, was it, God, would it have been post-Super Size Me or pre? I love Super Size Me. It's one of my favorite documentaries. Super Size Me is, it doesn't pass any sort of scientific muster.

It's entertaining. It's very entertaining. It's so entertaining. It's an incredibly entertaining doc. But Super Size Me, for people who don't know, Morgan Sparlock, what, God, 2003 maybe? Yeah, 2003. what a moment in time he ate

McDonald's for every single meal of the day for an entire month yeah and if they ever ask do you want to supersize it for the millennials watching

you used to go to McDonald's McDonald's makes the highest margins on their drinks and their fries sure for a while every time you got a $1 McDouble they actually lost money

wow really it was only through the drinks and the fries they're making money so if you pay any It was only through the drinks and the fries. They're making money. So if you pay any amount of upcharge for any amount of sizing difference, they're still winning. That's how cheap soda water and syrup is. That's how cheap potatoes are. You know what my favorite part of that whole documentary was?

When they had the panel of kids and they showed the kids, like, pictures of Albert Einstein. And they're all like, I don't know. And then when they saw pictures of Ronald McDonald, they were like, ah, Ronald McDonald. What does that prove? Why should kids know Einstein art?

I don't know. Something like that. I'm not sure if it was like this. When do you teach the general theory of relativity to a child? When you're seven. God.

Yes, I don't know. Okay, well, let me tell you something about these Jack in the Box ones. Like you said, there's less MSG so they taste less chickeny. They're less chickeny tasting than

the McDonald's ones. More salt, a little bit more spice, less comforting. I was talking about Super Sesame. Oh, sorry. So, McDonald's went through a crisis after that. It was a huge PR crisis because he gained a ton of weight and his liver started failing. I think he also struggled with alcoholism for a while. Did he work out? No, didn't work out at all.

And basically, at the end, his sex drive went down. I remember that. When it was like sex drive, it went brrrr. There's a fantastic episode of a podcast called High Maintenance, or sorry, Maintenance Face. Yeah, you love Maintenance Face. That y'all should listen to about that documentary. It's really fascinating.

It goes through all of the confounding variables that would have happened. But it still had a massive effect on McDonald's. Sure. And so they went all white meat on their chicken. Yeah. I was like, hey, healthier. But you know what's so funny? Actually, when I was reheating these, Link told me, he's like, did you know that they used to do dark meat every now and then?

I'm like, oh, I had no idea that it was dark meat in the chicken. I guess he's like, no, they changed it. So Link actually spread some knowledge on me. It's literally lighter in color. You can see how light McDonald's is. But if you know anything about white meat chicken, there's like no fat in color. You can see how light McDonald's is. But if you know anything about if you know anything about white meat chicken

there's like no fat in it. So if you try and grind it into like a sausage because this is nuggets are filled with sausage. Yeah. Nuggets are sausage.

This is sausages. This ain't what real chicken meat tastes like. That's why it's so snappy. It's so snappy. Yeah. But white meat doesn't have any fat to it.

So what they do is they just blend the skin right in there. Oh really? Smart isn't it? It's kind of delicious. I know. I love nuggets.

I've always been a nugget girl. Where do you rank between Jack in the Box and McDonald's? McDonald's before Jack in the Box. Yeah, same, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Moving on to Wendy's? Sure. Now, Wendy's is known for their spicy nugs.

Here you go. I grew up probably going to Wendy's more than any other fast food restaurant, except for Taco Bell. Really? I never went to Wendy's. Still don't. It's right by my home. I'm so sorry for all the eating noises.

You're going to have to deal with it. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. There was a Wendy's right by my home, and you can see the visible specks of black pepper in there. And their dollar menu. It's not doing nothing. It's not doing nothing.

Their dollar menu was the best. You get a cup of chili and a junior Caesar salad that had bacon bits on it, and a baked potato and a cheeseburger for $4. Four for four. It's a whole meal chili and a junior Caesar salad that had bacon bits on it and a baked potato and a cheeseburger for $4. Four for four. It's a whole meal. Was that the four for four? But you could also get eight for eight or one for one because it was just a dollar at the time. But then they introduced the four for four. Oh, did you ever put the chili on

the baked potato? All the time. This is excellent. You don't like this Wendy's nugget? I hate this Wendy's nugget. Why do you hate the Wendy's nugget? I don't love it. It's sumptuous. It's spiced.

It's sumptuous. It's the opposite of sumptuous. Can I have the Jack in the Box one? I want to compare. It's hard, and it's unenjoyable, and it's weak. The nugget is weak, Josh. The nugget is weak. How do I say the wugget is neek?

Wendy's looks pretty white meat too. I wonder if they created an arms race after McDonald's went all white. To where now other places needed to use that as like a buzzword, which it does not change the overall health of the nugget whatsoever. You like this more than Jack in the Box? Hold on. I don't like this more than Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box?

I think Wendy's has more either water or fat emulsified into their meat. But Jack in the Box has more seasoning. I agree with that. Makes for a more pleasant eating. Do you need that much seasoning on your nuggy? Yeah.

All right. But so Josh, we can disagree and still be friends. I need to constantly, every few episodes I need to remind you. What should we move on to next?

Nuggets also used to be an entree. What do you mean? They used to be an entree. You would get nuggets and fries, and that was a meal, and you'd drink a Coke with it. You can still do that. Who doesn't do that? You can still do that, but they started adding nuggets as a side. Well, pros and cons. So the four for four deal.

I think that's what it is. I think Americans are at, we got bigger as a species, humans. Yeah. You know, Napoleon, tiny little man, even though he wasn't really that tiny, he was like 5'8 or whatever, but. Napoleon was 5'8? I believe Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon, can you Google, I think Napoleon was 5'3. No, I swear, Napoleon was like not that small, especially compared to the time.

Napoleon was 5'3. And it I swear. Napoleon was not that small, especially compared to the time. Napoleon is 5'3". It kind of became a weird little inside joke. Dude, Napoleon, bone apart, height, weight, vertical jump, broad jump, three cone drill. I want all of Napoleon's NFL combat sets. He was between 5'2 and 5'7". What does that mean? Between 5'2 and 5'7"? I think he's probably 5'4", then.

They say based on those calculations, Napoleon is 5'6 based on those calculations. Okay, he was a short king. He was a short king. He was a short king. No, Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. What? Jamie, can you Google average height from, like, early 1800s? Oh, God. It's right here.

This is important to me. Yeah, it says the average for a Frenchman in the early 18th century is slightly over 5'5". Yeah, and you know why? Because they weren't eating nuggets with their burgers. They were tiny people. Average height for an American, what? Five foot nine, five foot ten? I couldn't tell you.

Five foot nine. We've grown three inches because we started eating chicken nuggets as a side to our hamburgers. How tall do you think I am? Oh, this is the most sexist thing about me. What? I can't estimate the height of women. Oh, but come on. You've known me for five years.

Every guy. Ask me, anybody in the office, how tall they are. How tall is Colby? Colby is 5'9". How tall is Jordan Blazik? Jordan Blazik is 5'11". How tall is Christian Rodriguez? Christian Rodriguez is 5'7".

How tall is Brian Flanagan? Brian Flanagan is 6 feet, exactly. See, I can do that. Ask me any woman. How tall is... Who works here? Name a woman, Nicole Name a woman

Jamie Pitchinger How tall is Hitch? No idea How tall is Nicole Beatty? I don't remember How tall is Lily? No, I have no idea how tall you are Lily's what, like 5'3"?

5'2"? How tall am I? 5'5"! no idea how tall you are. Lily's what, like 5'3", 5'2"? How tall am I? 5'5". I'm 5'3 1⁄2". That's like basically 5'5". I don't know what to tell you. But no, chicken nuggets are sides now, which I think is great. I like that.

It's better than french fries, no? You got some protein in there. It's good for you. I guess so. I don't know. It depends on what your goals are. You know, I only eat to satisfy my two and a half hour workouts in the gym in the morning. That's wild.

To be clear, an hour of that is mostly stretching and me just writhing around on the ground trying to like stretch different areas of my pelvis differently. What are you talking about? All my back issues are because of my pelvis. Is it really? Yeah. What's wrong with your pelvis? It's all muffed up.

As the doctor said, your pelvis is all muffed up. There's no way. You got a muffed up pelvis. There's no way a doctor said your pelvis is muffed up. No, it's all like, no, they're like, oh, you have overreactive anterior pelvic tilt or something. Oh, I also have a pelvic tilt. You know what you have to do? You got to tilt it the other way.

That's what I've been doing. That's what I do for like an hour a day. And so I need nuggets. So you do this. Hold on. Sorry, Jamie. For those what I do for like an hour a day. And so I need nuggets. So you do this. Hold on. Sorry, Jamie. For those on audio only, Nicole is... Do this.

Do this. Nicole, what's the verb that you're doing right now? I'm tucking my pelvis. Nicole's tucking her pelvis in the middle of the podcast. I also have a pelvic tilt. And now we're just talking about... I'm sorry. Burger King.

This podcast got a little crazy. I haven't had a chicken nugget in months. Are you like a child who just had a bunch of Red Dye 40? Yeah. Why do I like the crappy ones so much? I don't know why. It was good in the beginning. Now it's bad.

Bergen got the most black pepper. They always have, God dang it. I don't like this one. I'm getting a deeply roasty flavor from this. Me too. In a way that almost distracts from the chicken. I don't think it's roasty. I think it's dirty fryer oil.

Yeah, that's what it is. Yeah, that's what you're tasting. We do occasionally have confounding variables on this podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, shoot. We forgot the KFC. We just glazed over the KFC. I want to go back to that.

Okay. Burger King nuggets, to me, have always been very, very heavily flavored. Burger King, they got a giant chicken nugget sandwich that I really love. Is that the Chick King? The original BK chicken sandwich, not the Chick King. Oh, the long one, the long boy. Long chicken. Long boy.

Right? They've made the chicken into the shape of a chancla, and they've deep fried it, and they've put it on a hoagie roll with lettuce and mayonnaise. And last time— The hottest lettuce on the block. Last time, the time they must have the fryer must have

been cold or the chicken extra frozen and sat in there for a long time and they put that straight out of the fryer onto the bun

I could see the fry oil seeping through the lettuce into the bun that's actually nasty Nicole it was so I could have used a squeeze of fresh lemon but it was good

and I should have gone to like the iced tea bar or whatever and just grabbed a lemon wedge but it was such a good sandwich it was good just And I should have gone to like the iced tea bar or whatever and just grabbed a lemon wedge. But it was such a good sandwich. It was good? Just grease log. Their chicken is like really well spiced at Burger King.

I didn't like this though. These nuggets? Do you think you could actually tell the difference between Wendy's, BK, and Jack? Sorry, I ate that one. That's gross. Wendy's, BK, and Jack. Do you think you could actually tell the difference between them? Because they're very similar.

They have very similar methodologies. Very similar spicing, slightly different salt levels. Can we play a game of three nugget Monty? I don't know how to play card games. That's not, no. What's the thing where you put the balls in the cup? Isn't that called three cup Monty? Is that what it's called? Jamie, look at three cup Monty.

You know, like Street Hustlers, Awkwafina, and the beginning of Ocean's 8. Do you want me to close my eyes? Do you want me to close my eyes? You know, she's beginning of Oceans 8. Do you want me to close my eyes? Do you want me to close my eyes? She's speaking with an upsetting accent. Do you want me to close my eyes? Close your eyes. Okay. Alright, Nicole, coming in.

Are you feeding me? Are you feeding me? I'm so sorry, I gotta reach around the mics. Which one do you think that was? This bear. I'm so sorry. I got to reach around the mics. Which one do you think that was? This bear. I think that one. Wait, let me. I have to eat all three of them.

Yeah, correct, correct. We're playing a little game right now to show how similar fast food nuggets are. All right, number two coming in. I'm scared. Just don't bite too far in. Okay, sorry. It's on your laptop. The nugget fell out of Nicole's mouth because I was trying to be ginger and respectful.

Do you have any idea which one that might be? No. I'm waiting. Did it taste different from the first? Yes. Are you sure? Yeah, the texture is so different. Okay, number three coming in.

I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Open it. Just open. You don't have to eat it. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I don't think I'm forcing you. I don't.

Okay. Nugget number three is in there. The baby took. It latched. Nicole latched to the nugget. God, this is so weird. They're going to make memes about me. I don't think so.

Don't flatter yourself. When I said that, not like don't flatter yourself based on how you. Can I open my eyes now? I mean, don't flatter yourself. We don't have that many fans. Like we do and we love you. But like it's not, you know. Can I open my eyes now? I mean, don't flatter yourself. We don't have that many fans. Like, we do, and we love you. But, like, it's not, you know... Can I open my eyes now?

Yes! You could have always opened your eyes! Okay, okay. So, the first one I ate was Burger King. The second one I ate was Jack in the Box. The third one was Wendy's. You switched Jack in the Box and Wendy's, but you did get Burger King,

and you did immediately go, it's bad, it's bad. It's bad. Yeah, that was my natural response. Oh, my God. This is the one I've been waiting for. I've never had one before. You've never had a Carl's Jr. Chicken Star? No, but let me tell you, one time I saw a video on TikTok of a lady feeding her dog one of these and said,

you can only have a bite if you just bite the corner. And the dog went like this. Really? It bit the corner? Oh, my God. These are so good. You think these are good? Oh, my God. These are so good.

Why? It's hot. Yeah. A lot of the other ones are cold. This, to me, is just like drastically under-seasoned. These are meant for children, though. This is on the kids' menu. Okay.

Maybe that's why I like it. What's your problem? These are fried very blonde. Yeah, they're so good. They remind me of frozen chicken nuggets from like, these remind me of dino nuggets. Do you think the star shape makes a better product? Yes. Why? Defend your position. Because it makes

me feel like a young spring child. And you can latch onto this. Well, I... I'm so good. I get dino nuggies right Dino nuggies are fun But they're all Basically the same shape They're like

They're all still lumpy though No no There's three There's a stegosaurus And there's a t-rex And then there's I don't know Probably some other one

I don't remember The one with the long neck The long neck I feel like we used to call them Brontosauri And now they're people I hear allosaurus More consistently The Nancy Reagan Do you get it? The The Yeah I feel like we used to call them brontosauri, and now they're people. I hear allosaurus more consistently.

The Nancy Reagan. Do you get it? The, yeah. The goat of throat. I think the star shape actively detracts from the nugget experience. You think it detracts? Where did this come from? Too much breading.

Too much breading. Not enough sumptuous meat product in there. Let me see if I can suck out some meat juices to it. You're tripping. You're tripping. Oh, you know what's messed up? What? If you sort of latch your teeth and just try and suck out the juices with it, you can do it.

It's good for latching. I literally made that point. Do you even hear? Can I ask you a real question? Oh. Do you hear me when I speak? Yes, Maggie. So, we're going to...

Oh, man. We're shooting two podcasts back to back. And sometimes when that happens, we get a little unhinged enumerados. I think we're hinged, man. I'm hinged. Oh, my God. It's time for KFC. Are these nuggets or are these like chicken?

You know what I mean? Yes, Maggie, this is chicken. No, like is this like chicken breast or is this like nugget form? Bite into it. Because it feels like it's chicken, like a piece of chicken. These are the nuggets from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Oh, my God, it's so good. But that's because it's just a piece of chicken.

It's not ground. It's not ground. So talking about different chicken restaurants having beef, ha, with each other. KFC, they're coming for Chick-fil-A's neck. Chick-fil-A has nuggets, which are just little fried pieces of chicken breast. That's why I didn't get it because I thought, my brain was like, oh, these are chicken bites, which is what they're called on the menu. And I'm like, oh, that's not a chicken nugget.

Wait, at KFC, they're called nuggets, though. Look, look at the box. Yeah, it says on the box. These are violently salty. I like it. It's good. It's just violently salty. I feel like it's been injected with, like, salty liquid.

I think it has in, like, salt water, in fact. I mean, it's delicious. You get the 11 herbs and spices. In fact, I mean, it's delicious. You get the 11 herbs and spices. KFC, the seasoning on their chicken is much like Nancy Reagan goaded, right? Yeah. Like, it's tough to beat.

Yeah, it is. It's like, it's so aromatic. It has its own distinct smell. You can smell a KFC from a mile away. It's like smelling Subway's bread except KFC actually makes you want to eat it. But these aren't nuggets, right? A nugget, there's no strict definition of what a nugget is. No, these, unfortunately, we need to DQ them. I think we have to DQ the KFC nuggets, unfortunately. But I didn't want to talk about these because for the longest time, KFC has had popcorn chicken. Oh, that's right. That's right. But I guess they're just rebranding, huh? Their

popcorn chicken was a little bit smaller than these nuggets. I love their popcorn chicken. I do too. And I feel like the popcorn chicken was better than the nuggets, right? I don't, it's been so long since I've tasted them. I can't even remember what the popcorn chicken tastes like. Oh, I just bit into a part of the chicken nugget. That was like a gusher of fry oil. Oh, it exploded in my mouth and it was good. Well, you like the taste of oil, soft food sometimes. No, what are you gonna do? So they had to rebrand their popcorn chicken, making it a little bit bigger and, to me, worse, serving it in a worse package to try and compete with Chick-fil-A, who already, to me, is not making nuggets. They were making popcorn chicken all along, but they call it nuggets. Well, no, Chick-fil-A calls it chicken bites.

I told you he doesn't listen to me when I speak. It's very frustrating. Also, why do we eat like heathens? We eat like... You did not get me a plate. Are there any other fast food nuggets that you think can compete with these? We just ordered the closest ones to us, to be honest. Sonic.

No, I had a nugget from Sonic. If I'm going to Sonic, I'm getting a chili cheese dog. We went to Sonic one time. Did we have a nice time? Not really. Did I do anything to actively det dog. We went to Sonic one time. Did we have a nice time? Not really. Did I do anything to actively detract from our time at Sonic? No, I just wasn't feeling it. Well, did you get a nerd slush?

Yeah, we got a grape nerd slush. You don't remember anything. Everything I tell you just goes. It's fine. We do too many things. Let me tell you. I learned you just goes. It's fine. We do too many things. I, I, I, let me tell you, I learned a lot today. Number one being I love McDonald's for this true unadulterated nugget flavor because I think chicken nuggets taste different than chicken. You know what I mean?

I agree. It's like the way a bratwurst tastes different than a hamburger. Sure. Right. I agree. It's like the way a bratwurst tastes different than a hamburger. Sure. Absolutely. I agree with that. But I will say the chicken stars are a perfect kid's food. What makes a perfect kid's food? It's shaped like a star. Number one, it's shaped cool.

Number two, it's breaded perfectly. Number three, it's not too toasted. It's not too oil-logged. It's breaded and it's simple and it's delicious too toasted, it's not too oil-logged, it's breaded, and it's simple, and it's delicious, and it serves its purpose. You feed your kids some stars, they shut up in the backseat, and you call it a day. All these other ones, you know, they're good for people, but the stars are for the kids, and it brings out the inner kid. You know what I used to do? After dance class every week, my mom would take me to McDonald's and I would get the chicken nuggets and I was a happy kid.

But now, I don't need them anymore. I want to eat the stars because they make me feel like a kid again and that feels nice. Jack in the Box put the most salt into theirs. I like that. They were like, is this salty enough? And they said, nah. Jack in the Box is

very salty, but it's not MSG. McDonald's has the most MSG and is the most familiar tasting. Wendy's, too much black pepper. Burger King, literally oil-sogged, like the oil was old. And the Chicken Stars are just flat-out perfect. And that's how I feel about this whole ranking and tasting and testing today. I ate too many nuggets. I don't feel good.

Nicole, do you feel that we can make an accurate ranking right now of all these? I just did. Well, no, we got to put it in order officially. Okay, fine. Okay, so we're going. Let's move. First of all, pick up all the nuggets and put them in the Wendy's box. I'm putting in the nugget shards.

I'm putting the nugget shards in the box. I'm sorry. A lot of those shards are me. You know what I would say? Rather a shard than a shart. So we had to drink a cocktail before this to taste test it, and I think it's hitting Josh. I'm about to get thrown out of this bar, man. You think you can stop me over there?

Okay, let's rank them. Can you close that box, please? Yes. Why are we closing the can stop me over there? Okay, let's rank them. Can you close that box, please? Yes. Why are we closing the box? Okay. To make it equal. Thank you.

I'm just covered in grease and what feels like sand. Rub it on your shirt. I'm like, if I... Rub it on your shirt. I don't want to. I don't know how to get

stains out of clothes. Once they're stained, I throw them away. Jamie threw a wad of paper towels at your foot. Thank you, Jamie. No problem. This is a veryad of paper towels at your foot. Thank you, Jamie. No problem.

This is a very professional podcast, and people love it. Josh, we were talking about the Contra affair, but unfortunately it's just chicken nuggets. It's true. I'm sorry, Josh. There's so many crumbs. Okay, let's rank them. McDonald's, number one.

Bang, bang, flavor gang, as they say. Nicole, what you got, number two? Bring me those stars. You putting stars in number two? I love the stars. I'm a star! Name the movie. Superstar, Molly Shannon.

All right, number... No! No! Waterworld, Kevin Costner. Oh, sorry, Dances with Wolves. No! Pearl World. Kevin Costner. Oh, sorry. Dances with Wolves. No! Pearl. Pearl.

But I'm a star! That's a movie? Yeah. Dude, have you... Do you know anything about nouveau horror in the modern age? Oh, is Pearl the one by that one director who puts... Ty West. Ty West.

Goth Baby in it. Mia Goth. Is it Mia Goth? Goth Baby? Yeah, Mia Goth. Who's Goth Baby? I don't it. Mia Goth. Is it Mia Goth? Goth baby? Yeah, Mia Goth. Who's Goth baby? I don't know. Mia Goth was,

she shined in that role. Baby Goth? Josh, Mia Goth. Her name is, Mia Goth is, she has a baby. Is that her real name? Yes.

Is there anybody named Goth baby? That's someone Trevor went out with many years ago. Wait, really? Yes. No, that's different. No, not a goth baby. These are just babies dressed up like Wednesday Addams or like Pete Wentz.

Baby goth. Baby goth. Baby goth. Baby grok. Yeah, baby goth is like a person. What do they do? Josh, who is this suicide girl's like goth girl, alt girl?

This podcast sucks. Let's start from the beginning. Number two, we got chicken stars. I'll honor it, Nicole. I'm not mad about it. You know why? Because I'm a star.

That's from a movie called Pearl featuring Baby Goth. Burger King, end of the line. Which do you like more, Wendy's or Jack in the Box? I would Wendy's or Jack in the Box

I would like to honor Jack in the Box's audacious salinity levels and I would like to put Jack in the Box in the three spot there you have it between

wait Burger King's dead last for you obviously what do you mean what do you mean obviously there's no room for debate here it tastes that was the food debate podcast

it is I don't know is it I thought it was just for us to hang out yeah basically these are one on one That was the food debate podcast. It is? I don't know. Is it? I thought it was just for us to hang out. Yeah, basically. These are our one-on-ones. Burger King, because it tasted like burnt fryer oil, Josh.

What are you talking about? That's not endemic to Burger King. That's the Burger King that we went to. It's not endemic to Burger King? It's the Burger King that we went to at burnt fryer oil. But to me, it's such a lateral move between Wendy's and Burger King. No way. No way. I would say Wendy's gets the nod. If we're talking about my own personal rankings here.

Okay, no one cares about that. We're together. You can't put your person... Listen, your viewpoint is very American. You're only thinking about your own selfish point of view. Have you ever thought about maybe thinking about the collective for the greater good? Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains all right nicole i've heard what you and i have to say now it's time to find out what other wacky

opinions are rattling out there in the universe opinions are like casseroles But Nicole, before we get to everyone's favorite segment, Opinions are like Casseroles, we have everyone's fourth favorite segment, which is Review and Review. That's right. There's only three segments. I think the intro, I think the several ad breaks where we're talking about like Whole Foods fresh fish offerings, I think those are people's third favorites. I really do love their fish

counter. That's not a paid ad. Not sponsored. Love me some Whole Foods fish. They do good work. This is from Hammock Girl Studio. I'm trying to read. It's hard. Five stars. I want them as my best friends. I've listened to the podcast. We're laughing because we're not good friends.

I've listened to the podcast from the very beginning. Lol. I've discovered my favorite time to listen is when I'm just laying out and soaking up the sun rays. Yeah, yeah, skin cancer son. I was a lobster child every summer of my youth. The damage has already been done. Let me absorb my vitamin D in peace. LOL. During the winter, I listen usually when my stupid ADHD

brain wakes up at 4 a.m. with some song playing so loud in my head I can't get back to sleep. It's funny, it's informative, and you get weirdly invested in Josh and Nicole's lives. Give it a shot. I heart this podcast. Nicole, tell Hammock Girl Studio your worst tendencies as a friend. My worst tendencies as a friend? Yeah.

God. Are you talking about post-marriage or pre-marriage? Well, you're currently post-marriage, so if Hammock Girl wants us as their best friends, this is you now. God, God. I'm just really reclusive. Yeah. Just really to myself. I am so to myself.

I don't know anything about anybody's life. Yeah. It's pretty tragic, but it's just the truth. Sometimes when you get older, it happens. Yeah. I get that, man. Yeah. I have no idea what Deep's up to right now.

It sucks. Go ahead, Gage. I'm really excited about that. Muzzle. That's beautiful. Yeah, I'm just never going to text. I'm never going to text you back. Josh has a texting problem.

Well, you'll have to do it. Because most of my friends, we're all on the same page. That's beautiful. And we're copacetic about it. And we'll see each other a couple times a year. They live in different areas. It's adult life. It's adult life.

Nothing wrong with shooting a text, though, if you're feeling lonely, if you miss a friend. I'll just call people sometimes. It's really nice. I don't need to do that with you, though, because I see you every day at work. I see you more than everybody in my life. More than my fiancée, Julia, in fact. What my friends have taken to doing, which I really

appreciate, is that especially the ones that are more aggressive, like, hey, let's hang out on my weekend at UCSB. Let's plan. But I don't text them back. They text Julia now. It isn't fair to put her as my schedule coordinator. It's okay. It happens. I'm also, not really, but kind of David's schedule coordinator.

People just send me, like, e-vites and paperless posts to me because they know David won't look at his email. Is this why there's a male loneliness epidemic? Maybe. Maybe. Are you? Can we change?

Nah. I give this review five out of five because I learned so much about you. Yeah. You reviewed yourself, Hammock Girls Studio, and I learned a lot about you. I feel like we could be friends. You seem weird. You should wear sunscreen, though. What the heck? I don't lot about you. I feel like we could be friends. You seem weird. You should wear sunscreen, though. What the heck?

I don't like normal friends. What do you mean? None of my friends are particularly normal. And I struggle to hang out with normal people. But see, I don't qualify as your friend, right? No. You're weird as hell. You're so weird.

No, I'm not. Aren't you the weird one of your friend group? Yeah. Well, I don't think I'm weird. I just think I'm unique. Yeah. I mean, someone thesaurus.com unique and like weird comes up. Oh, man.

I think it's good. It's a good quality in a person. Do you really think we're not friends? No, we are friends. You said we're not. Even if either of us leave this job, we'll still maintain friendships. We became friends because we work together. Yeah, which I think that's a real friendship.

Do you? Yeah. I'm not blinking hard. My physical tick is not showing, right? You're doing really good. Ah, God, I had to blink. Let's get to that first opinion. First opinion.

Josh and Nicole aren't real friends. Hi, Josh and Nicole. My name's Guido. And first off, too much food and hot Hi, Josh and Nicole. My name's Guido. And first off, team Wet Food and Hot Mayo Josh. My take is that ketchup, while it is great, it gets progressively worse as you age.

I always expected it to be amazing, but it's never as good of an economy as I expected it to be. I'm also a student at the Institute of Culinary Education. If the Mythical Kitchen is ever looking for another kitchener You know who to call Aw, cute

Anyway, love the pod Ranch doesn't belong on pizza Whoa, you son of a bitch You snuck it in at the end How, as I hold a Heinz tomato ketchup packet in my hand Clutching it tight as though it were the heart of a lion. I love ketchup. He said that ketchup doesn't taste as good as you age, right?

I haven't aged in like 10 years. But you have. Yeah, like the— I am emotionally— What are those? They're like the ends of your neurons that fray and they make you die. Telomeres? The telomeres are fraying.

Villi. What's a telomeres? Can I throw this at you? Yeah, go for it. Perfect. So, no, there's a reason that ketchup tastes better when you're a child, and it's because children are more genetically predisposed to enjoy sweet things. And also not like sour, sour things, but like acid and sugar tastes really good to children.

Yeah, that makes sense. And that's because sugar is good for development. Also, like when I was a kid, like I never liked mustard, and then I grew up, and now I like mustard. In part because your taste buds are getting less sensitive as you age. And they're maturing. And so things like, shout out Ariel Johnson, things like those sulfuric volatiles, mustard has a ton of that. Those sort of mellow out and become more pleasant. Also, your palate gets more educated.

Absolutely. Right? And so when people say like ketchup is a children's condiment, it's like. Also, your palate gets more educated. Absolutely. Right? And so when people say, like, ketchup is a children's condiment, it's like, well, I still love it as an adult. But you're right. It's quite sweet. It's a little bit acidic. I think I'd rather dip my fries in spiced mayonnaise instead of a ketchup. I still love ketchup, though.

I love ketchup, too. I eat it a lot. But I would say, like, spiced mayonnaise. Shout out to Institute of Culinary Education. We got two ICE alums on the squad right now. Yeah, we love culinary school kids. They're great. Pretty good at cooking, man.

You guys are teaching good stuff. Ranch probably doesn't belong on pizza, but I like it. I love Ranch on Pizza! Hey, my name's Nick. I live in Oregon, but I'm originally from Wisconsin. People here don't seem to understand when I talk about cheese curds being squeaky. Do you guys know what squeaky cheese curds are? And if so, yeah, just talk about

them, I guess. I like cheese curds. You know what he's talking about, right? Yeah, cheese curds. But like the squeaky, the ones that have this sort of rubbery quality to them. Yeah, those are the ones that I know and love. Yeah, but I feel like I don't know squeaky cheese curds as endemically. I said endemic too many times today. I don't know cheese curds as intimately or squeakily as like a Quebecois person, right? We didn't grow up with squeaky cheese curds.

Yeah, exactly. We didn't grow up with it. But you have and it's good. Sure. But like the way an Italian could eat a noodle and be like, that's al dente. The way a Taiwanese person could eat a noodle and go like, that's QQ. You know what I mean? Like they have that in their DNA because they grew up eating that kind of stuff.

And they are probably very discerning about it. Ditto with Canadians and squeaky cheese curds because if you ever get poutine that does not have squeaky cheese on it, they get all mad. They're like, You know? Quell horror. Quell horror, as Nicole would say.

And so I know what you're talking about, but it's not something that a majority of Americans do. Maybe Wisconsin, they're also very attuned to it. But I don't think squeaky – I associate squeaky cheese curds with Montreal rather than Wisconsin. I agree. I haven't had too much squeaky cheese, but it is a very pleasant eating experience when you eat squeaky cheese. I love a mouthfeel, man. I love a good mouthfeel.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. It's a fun food to eat because you're like, cheese shouldn't squeak like that, but it does, and it's good, and it's cool. It's cool how cheese can do that. Cheese is a really

hot take here. Here's my hot take. What is it? Cheese is pretty cool. Oh, my God. Pretty cool that we did that. Pretty cool that we did that as humans.

I am a big cheese fan. It's the one food I don't think I could live without. That is, why do, do you feel that cheese is more of a It's like is more of a women's game? It's like a drug.

I know so many like self-identifying cheese B words. They call themselves that. It makes the neurons in my brain that you were talking about unfray. It makes them come together. It makes me feel good. Wow. The Benjamin buttoning of cheese. It makes me feel, I love eating cheese.

Pretty cool that we just rotted milk and mashed it together and made a weird little art to it. Yeah. We made a whole thing, put it in caves. Love it. And then like the differences between them, right? A cottage cheese versus like a halloumi. Yeah. It's crazy that those are still the same food.

I love cheese. Oh, halloumi is pretty squeaky. That's why that was making me think of squeaky cheese. Halloumi is pretty squeaky. Pretty squeaky. Paneer, not as squeaky. Nice. Nice, but not squeaky cheese. Loomis is pretty squeaky. Pretty squeaky. Paneer, not as squeaky. Nice. Nice, but not squeaky.

Yeah. Hi, my name is Hannah. Are you driving? I would like to petition for Sloppy Sunday to be raised to the same level and global phenomenon as Taco Tuesday. Every Sunday, my boyfriend and I make different versions of Sloppy Joes. So we start with regular Sloppy Joes. We've got Southwest Sloppy Joes, Pizza Sloppy Joes, Barbecue Sloppy Joes.

You can really do anything with it. You want a Mooshu Pork Sloppy Joe, you can have a Mooshu Pork Sloppy Joe, Greek Sloppy Joes. Honestly, a Sloppy Joe is what you say it is. Any country. I would like to petition and get sloppy sundae to be official food of Sundays. Thank you so much. As a side note, loose meat sandwiches, Iowa, really just get out of here. They're not on the same level as sloppy joes. Thanks so much.

What do you want to say about this? I don't know if we can officially say this, but this is the best opinion that's ever been shared in the history of opinions at like castles, right? This is the best idea. I feel passionately about Sloppy Sundays. Send us your address. I'd love to send you like a medal or something

because this is the greatest idea I've ever heard. Okay. Aside from this podcast. Giving people medals? Yeah, I think they deserve it because that's a great idea. I think it's a great idea. Is it medal worthy?

When's the last time you ate a sloppy joe? Have you ever eaten a sloppy joe recreationally not on the show? Never, never, never. Okay, you keep inviting me over for Shabbat

and I never accept. I'm going to start inviting you over to my new weekly religious tradition which is Sloppy Sunday. Okay, cool. And we're going to pick, because we've, do you remember the internationally inspired Sloppy Joe that we made on the television show that we do?

Yes, the miso one. It was like a miso, ground pork, tonkotsu, scallion, soft-boiled egg. It was really good. It was really damn good. It was really damn good. And we could be doing that every Sunday. Instead, I'm over here. Sunday scaries?

Yeah, I got a little Sunday scare, but I'm roasting chicken on a bed of fennel and potato. I could have made sloppy joes. Oh my gosh. I want to eat a sloppy joe right now. What's your dream sloppy joe right now? I don't have, I don't, I don't know. I was going to say a quote from True Detective and say, I don't sleep, I just dream,

but that does not apply here. My favorite quote from True Detective is stop saying weird s***. Shout out Woody Harrelson. God, yeah, I am very excited by this idea. What do I want in a sloppy joe? I don't know, but do you remember whenever I first started working here, I didn't know that a manwich didn't involve ground beef?

Yeah, you thought the can of manwich. Uneducated swine. Surely they could be putting the ground beef in the can. I think, well, if they can do that with Hormel chili. Yeah, I mean, Hormel chili is very similar. Like, I really want to make something to the equivalent of, like, birria braising liquid. You know, some sort of chili puree. Just hack up ground meat with some onions.

Oh, that sounds so good. I mean, it's basically giving it the flavors of chili, but hack all that flavor in there to where it's kind of a mass of ground meat that you can slop into a bun. I'm into it. Have we done Will It Sloppy Joe? There's like habanero pickled onions, a little bit of a vacadu on there. Have we done Will It Sloppy Joe on mystical? Do you remember like the escabeche onions, you know what I mean?

With the like, God, that sounds great, man. I mean, it's basically the bell beaver from Taco Bell but yeah sloppy Sundays adjourned sloppy Sundays I decree that it is now

every Sunday will be sloppy Sunday and I'm gonna say I'm gonna do that and I'm gonna forget and I'm gonna like unreliable make a nice salad

on Sunday Sunday's a good salad day for me cause you know you get a little scared about the week you're like what can set me's a good salad day for me. Because, you know, you get a little scared about the week. You're like, what can set me right?

A little salad. Well, on that note. Do you want me to extrapolate on that? I'm sorry. Thank you so much for stopping by Hot Dog and Sandwich.

We got new episodes every Monday, every Wednesday, every Sunday. We have a good video. I'm, hold on. I'm slacking Matt Carney so we can do

Will It Sloppy Joe one day. Have we not done Will It Sloppy Joe? Apparently, apparently not. Apparently. Apparently. If you, if you want to call us and leave opinions, call us at 833-DOG-POD-1. The number again is 833-DOG-POD-1.

Gotta do some pelvic tilts, buddy. I'm trying. I'm over here trying. You ever just like, like grab your rib cage? No. My rib cage has never really been visible because I have a layer of fat on my stomach. You got like a big ol' rib

cage, man. I don't have a big rib cage. Like when people say big bone, I feel like I have bigger bones. I can feel my ribs, but there's clearly a layer of chubbiness on it. See? Look. Gladiators intentionally kept a layer of fat

so a scythe could not slice through to the vital organs. I'm like a gladiator. And if you want to hear us talk and do more things, check out the Mythical Kitchen YouTube channel. Nicole, tell them about all the shows right there. Oh, hey. So we have a show called Last Meals. I would like to... Oh, called Last Meals I would like to

Oh my phone fell I would like to consider Last Meals to be the best show on the internet We also have a great show called Scrappy Meals We got Scrappy Meals Where I teach you how to make meals out of food scraps No We got Nighttime Eats

Nighttime Eats the one that we shoot at midnight Do you have another YouTube channel? I thought you knew You mean to tell me you have another YouTube channel? I'm just friends with the other YouTube channel. Who's your other culinary producer?