For the next 8 weeks The Citrus College Clarion will be hosting a tournament to see which fast food chain has the best chicken sandwich.
Two chains will compete against each other every week until one advances in the bracket three times to be crowned the best!
Sandwiches will compete in a head to head comparison with the grand master of chicken sandwiches (staff reporter Robert Davis) deciding on a victor and a loser based on our rigorous scoring criteria. The victor will continue to the next round in the grand chicken sandwich bracket, until a fast food chicken sandwich king is crowned.
Before we get to the main event, we have to lay down some ground rules and scoring criteria so each of our competitors get a fair shot and consistent judging.
All sandwiches will be judged in their original form. That means no Deluxe versions, no spicy versions and no modifications. Additionally, each sandwich will be judged alone, meaning no combo meals will be considered in the scoring criteria.
Sandwiches will be judged on five individual ingredient categories, with each category receiving a score from 1-10. Those categories being quality of buns, sauce, toppings, breading and of course, chicken.
Sandwiches can also earn extra credit points when the judge (me) desires. The size, price, presentation and chicken-bun ratio will be taken into consideration when extra credit points are awarded. All points will factor into an overall flavor score that will determine the winner.
With that out of the way, let’s dig in.
For our first matchup, we are comparing the McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich and The Cluck Sandwich from Jack-In-The-Box.
There is some immediate controversy in this matchup that needs to be addressed and that is the executive decision made by the grand master of chicken sandwiches to order the Crispy Chicken sandwich from McDonald’s instead of the classic McChicken. That decision was made because the McChicken, although being the original, will not be a fair matchup against some of the later competition in this bracket such as the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich or the Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich. Since the Crispy Chicken sandwich is not a deluxe version of the McChicken, It qualifies as its own competitor in this competition and gives McDonald’s a fair shot in the tournament.
With that being said the McDonald’s Crispy Chicken sandwich did not fare, well in this matchup
In the individual elements, The Cluck almost unanimously takes the cake, or the sandwich, in this comparison.
Both competitors’ buns were almost identically delicious, both receiving an 8/10. The flavor of the Crispy Chicken’s bun was slightly more pronounced but was also slightly burnt, bringing the score down from a 9 to an 8. The Cluck’s bun was soft, evenly toasted and well constructed giving it a solid 8 for a tie in this category.
As for the sauce, the McDonald’s sandwich provided a mayonnaise sauce, which honestly tasted like absolutely nothing, for a score of 4/10. The Cluck’s sandwich came with a “Mystery” sauce that tasted smoky, sweet and spicy. It gave everything one could want in a fast food mystery sauce, earning a 9/10.
In terms of toppings, both sandwiches’ only toppings were pickles, which tasted identical. Both earned a 5/10.
For the main category, the chicken patty, The Cluck really shined. The breading on The Clucks’ chicken served its purpose. It was thin, crispy and evenly coated, earning it a 8/10. The McDonald’s breading was flavorful but a bit too thick, earning a 7/10.
As for the chicken itself, the Clucks’ chicken was thick, juicy, evenly cooked and flavorful, earning a 9/10 for vastly exceeding my expectations. Unfortunately for the Crispy Chicken sandwich, the chicken was dry and overcooked, earning it a 6/10. A possible reason for this was the thinness of the Crispy Chicken’s patty, being almost half as thick as The Cluck’s chicken patty.
Now for extra credit points, The Cluck deserves a chicken-to-bun ratio point as the bun was the exact size of the chicken patty, and the thickness of that chicken patty really allowed for the juiciness of the chicken to shine. The Cluck earns 2 extra credit points for size and chicken-to-bun ratio.
It’s worth noting that the McDonald’s Crispy Chicken sandwich came out to $4.83 while the Cluck Sandwich came out to $6.59, so I’m awarding the Crispy Chicken 2 points for being nearly $2 cheaper.
This brings us to our time for a decision.
The McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich earns an overall flavor score of 32 flavor points, While the Jack-In-The-Box Cluck Sandwich earns an overall flavor score of 41 flavor points! Meaning that the Cluck sandwich passes to the next round with flying colors! And the McDonald’s Crispy Chicken sandwich is banished into the dark world of inferior fast food fried chicken sandwiches.
Be sure to catch our next battle where we will go head to head in another barnburner of a matchup between two longtime rivals! Louisiana vs Kentucky! Popeyes vs KFC!
