Talk about a blowout! The latest battle between the Wendy’s Classic Chicken Sandwich and the Raising’ Cane’s Chicken Finger Sandwich left no questions to be answered. With the fourth matchup finished, the first round of the Chicken Dinner Wars has been battered, fired and devoured!
If you didn’t catch last week’s match-up, scroll down to the bottom of the page for a refresher on the rules!
Starting with the individual elements scores, both Cane’s and Wendy’s got off to a rocky start. The bun on the Wendy’s sandwich was barely toasted and only toasted on one side. It was also thin, a horrible combination considering the amount of toppings and sauce the bun had to encapsulate. This left the sandwich without any structural integrity and all over the floor of the car it was examined in, earning a 6.
The bun on the Cane’s sandwich performed slightly better but still left something to be desired. The inclusion of sesame seeds on the bun is something I appreciate as it gives the sandwich a classic feel absent from most fast food buns. However, the seeds did not add anything to the actual flavor of the bun, which was bland and insufficiently toasted, earning a 7.
The sauce category was less competitive. The sauce on the Wendy’s sandwich was a remarkably bland mayonnaise. It wasn’t a bad sauce but it gave me little to judge as it tasted of basically nothing. Its biggest contribution to the sandwich was in soaking the bun, causing the sandwich to fall apart, earning a 4.
The Cane’s sauce was a completely different story. My biggest problem with this sauce was that I wanted five more containers of it to dip the sandwich in. The sauce was a sweet blend of garlic, pepper, mayonnaise and ketchup. It was absolutely phenomenal, earning a 9.
Wendy’s made up some ground in the toppings category. Wendy’s, along with The Habit, is the only sandwich in the Chicken Dinner Wars to include more than just one topping, which is a huge advantage in this category. Wendy’s included tomato, pickles and lettuce as opposed to the standard of solely pickles. Each of the toppings tasted fresh and brough the value of the sandwich up significantly, earning a 9.
The same cannot be said about Cane’s toppings, which consisted of just one piece of lettuce. This lettuce disintegrated after being soaked in the oil from the chicken, adding no value to the sandwich. The lettuce was barely noticeable in the sandwich, and when it was noticeable, it was a negative influence on the entire experience, earning a 3.
Like past battles, this round was decided by the most important part of a chicken sandwich, the chicken.
Cane’s chicken was easily the highest quality chicken tasted in this competition so far. The choice to use three chicken fingers in place of the usual chicken breast patty was a risk that paid off. The chicken was exceptionally juicy, tender and flavorful, earning a 10.
The Wendy’s chicken was not remotely comparable to the Cane’s chicken as the Wendy’s rib meat was dry and mostly tasteless. Although it was tender, it earned a 5.
The breading on the Cane’s chicken fingers was everything a good chicken finger needs. It was a thick, flaky, well-seasoned coating around what was already delicious chicken, earning an 8.
The breading on the Wendy’s sandwich was some of the worst tested in the competition so far. Its biggest problem was its lack of crispness. The breading was incredibly soggy, to the point where questions were raised as to if the sandwich had been prepared properly. It was surprisingly flavorful but that was not enough to save it from earning a 4.
Since the prices of both sandwiches are close, Cane’s being priced at $5.39 and Wendy’s being priced at $5.09, no price points will be awarded in this matchup.
Wendy’s earns one extra point for a fast service in a busy drive through.
This brings the final scores to 29 flavor points for the Wendy’s classic chicken sandwich and 37 for the Cane’s Chicken Finger Sandwich. This makes Cane’s the final round 1 winner, set to face off with The Habit in round 2!
Be sure to catch our next battle between round 1 winners, Jack in the Box and Popeyes!
