The KFB Festive Tower Burger

For many years we at KFB have had a dream. A dream so beautiful and so potentially delicious that we've been afraid to put plans into motion to make that dream a reality. Well my chicken-loving readers, the time has come.

We for many years have felt that KFC are missing a huge trick by not offering a festive-themed burger over the Christmas season. In fact, we went as far as to share the idea for the burger you are about to witness with the head of product development during our famous HQ visit a couple of years ago (has it really been that long already?). Sadly, and some might say foolishly, they just weren't willing to listen. KFB believes the only man who would have been willing to take note of such a radical and genius idea would have been our Lord Sanders himself.

The idea is simple: take all the core elements that make a traditional Christmas dinner so fantastic, remove the bland items such as dry turkey or soggy sprouts and combine with all that makes KFC so wondrous. Our ingredients list was as follows:

• Chicken fillet pieces
• Stuffing
• Roast potato
• Gravy
• Cranberry sauce
• Spinach
• Buns

And now the construction could begin in earnest. Our first job was to prep the potatoes which were to function as a hash brown replacement. These were cut into 8mm thick slices, covered in oil and seasoned before being roasted in a hot oven. To accompany them in their fiery furnace was stuffing and of course, the chicken. Top tip: be sure to use chicken fillet pieces rather than the far inferior reconstituted pieces that are so prevalent in our supermarkets and often coated in a deceptively tempting sounding 'southern fried coating'.

Next up came the all important assembly - an exercise that has turned so many otherwise delicious Zinger Towers into a sticky, uneven mess. We started by spreading cranberry sauce on the top bun half and carefully laying spinach leaves on the bottom. This was followed by the chicken, roast potato slice, stuffing patty and a generous helping of gravy. Disclaimer: We did in fact use the Colonel's own wonder-liquid in our burger, if only because we have never tasted a home-made gravy that could match the consistency or taste.

All that was left to do now was to place the top bun upon our mound of lip-smackingly succulent sustenance. Et voila!

And so onto the tasting. The most immediate problem we faced who how on earth to eat the thing - our mouths sadly only being the size of an average human's rather than some kind of huge monster's. Once we'd overcome this issue with some gentle squashing, we took our first bite. A rush of festive flavours immediately brought to mind Christmas trees, snowy scenes and glowing stars in the night sky (though this was perhaps something to do with the Christmas music in the background). It was highly enjoyable, the stuffing providing a nice texture contrast with the crispy potato and the saltiness of the chicken being balanced by the sharp, sweet cranberry. 

Not everything was A1 though - the chicken was of course nowhere near the standards we've come to expect from the Colonel and though certainly yummy, the stuffing was slightly bland and sloppy. Had we had more time, creating our own chicken coating and sausagemeat-based stuffing would have alleviated such concerns.

The verdict: 7/10

But could have very easily nudged its way up to a supreme 9 with home-made chicken coating, sausagemeat stuffing and perhaps even a little bacon.

For other home-recreations be sure to view our Toasted Twister, Double Down and Zinger Tower recreations.

Double Whammy, Griddled Chicken & Blazin' Mini Fillets

Where better to launch your latest and greatest gut busting product than in Western Europe's most obese nation. Although these products have already appeared on the continent and been undergoing limited trials in the North East, griddled chicken has been rolled out across Scotland in the form of the Brazer. When KFB got word of this we thought we'd combine a trip to the UKs most Northerly branch, Inverness with an appraisal of this revolutionary foodstuff.

On arrival not only did we find the Griddled chicken we'd expected but a further much talked about innovation that KFB has always hoped to see, the Zinger Mini Fillet and to top it off, a breakfast trial was taking place in Glasgow's Argyle Street branch.

We'll begin with the main event......The Brazer

On offer was:

The Brazer burger, griddled chicken on a bun with sauce essentially

The Brazer Max, In imitation of our favourite, this sees the addition of a delicious hash brown

The Brazer Twister, eschewing bread in favour of wrap.

The Smokin' iTwist

Marinated is herbs and without the signature coating the introduction of the Brazer represents a seismic shift. KFB tried the Brazer Maxx, twister and the griddled chicken iTwist. The pictures below speak for themselves, but what they can't show is the taste.

The chicken remained moist but also firm and full textured and.........tasty. Whilst it's not the same satisfying taste sensation contained within the secret recipe it is a good solid foray into a new and exciting market.

The Blazin Boneless Banquet was also on offer sporting new Zinger mini fillets and bringing this great pure chicken product some fresh attention and a fresh reason to order it. A great addition to the range, lets just hope it gets a nationwide roll out soon.

Kentucky Jack: The Review

We all know the drill by now. The Colonel releases a new 'Time Limited Offer' (TLO) every six weeks in an attempt to spruce up the menu at your local KFC. And if you're anything like us here at KFB HQ, you've probably become a little tired of the whole exercise. Time after time we've been 'treate

d' to rehashed versions of existing products, simply tweaked with new sauces or the addition of a different salad type. Imagine our excitement then when the Kentucky Jack was first announced. Finally, something slightly different and not a wrap in site.

Allow us to break the product down for you:  2 mini breast fillets encased in a 'rustic ciabatta style bun' with honey bbq relish and monterey jack cheese. Our initial reactions were somewhat quashed by the mention of BBQ - a sauce that we can only assume the Colonel got some kind of masive discount on sometime last year, given the amount of TLOs it has been appearing in. However, we try to be as objective as possible, so it was on to the tasting.  

The first thing that strikes you is the box - far classier than any previous menu items:

Construction was reasonable, with one exception - the BBQ sauce was situated solely within the very middle of the bun - leading us to ponder its very existance in the first couple of bites. 

As it turns out, the sauce was unsurprisingly one of the weak spots anyhow, meaning we shouldn't complain too much (yes yes, we know there are some BBQ fans out there). A couple of elements stood out - the mini breast fillets, whilst perfectly at home in the Mini Fillet burger itself, just weren't big and juicy enough to step up to full sized burger status, overpowered as they were by the doughy ciabatta. 

The cheese however was excellent.   Now perhaps we're not being totally fair on the blighter - one of our other testers was actually a big fan of the Kentucky Jack. It's just that recently, the bonesless banquet for one has become irresistable - so much chicken, so much purity of taste with none of the bread to distract (a similar story for the Double Down we'd imagine).  So, a valiant effort then, marred slightly by bread, sauce and chicken portion size.  5/10 

iTwist Hits the UK

19/07/10

In the greatest shake up to the Chickenspere in recent memory KFC has introduced the iTwist to the UK. Although somewhat behind our continental brethren, the addition of the iTwist bridges the gap between snack items such as the Streetwise menu's Rollers as a sort of Premium snack product.

There are currently 2 flavours on offer, the Sunny and the Sweet. In the UK this is not offered as a meal option but as an individual product retailing for 1.49 each.

KFC asks us to 'Follow the Adventure' promising more exciting flavours to follow: so lets look at the two we already have:


The Sunny is a strong product blending the Chicken we all know and love with a spicy Mexican style sauce. Verdict: a good solid product.

The Sweet: however with its curious choice of ingredients is excellent but I fear may only find favour amonst more discerning diners. The ingredients in question would not seem out of place in a upper class eatery and KFC has been brave enough to bring this to the masses, offering a delicious mini fillet with caremalised onion relish and Goats Cheese. The relish was sweet, tasty and busrting with flavour but the sweetness was well tempered by the goats cheese which provided a dry, rich and satisfying aftertaste.

Although not offered as a meal like our recent report on the Icelandic version each iTwist makes a very satisfying side order to a meal. KFB looks forward to enjoying the range.

Secrets of the I Twist revealed

On this blog, back in May we revealed that an ops shakedown had been sighted in Wales and that a new product may be on the prowl. KFB received this tip off too late late to try it in wales during its secret testing phase, however as you knew we would KFB endeavoured to get its mouth on one of these iTwists so that we could let you know what it was all about prior to its expected UK launch.

It wasn't easy, and my journey took me here:

No, it's is not a secret KFC testing facility somewhere in the Kentucky dessert, although it does look like one. This is KFC Keflavik nestled on the Reykjanes peninsula in South West Iceland. Inside its sleek box like but harshly beautiful exterior, there lurks a minimalist restaurant incorporating a Bila Luga, (drive Thru) a kids play area, (complete with two storey slide similar to that seen in Munich) beautifully colourful faux leather covered seats, a large gleaming stainless steel counter and of course as you'd expect......lots and lots and lots of happy people.

This was a KFC of such uncommon quality that it had even managed to grace the hallowed pages of that doyen of independent travellers, the Lonely Planet. Readers of which will know, that to see any kind of fast food outlet recommended is a rare thing indeed.

So, what is the iTwist?

Well, it's a full meal costing 899IKK, or roughly the price of a UK meal, but with a twist.........

What's the twist?

As well as the standard drink and chips you get the iTwist, comprising not 1, but 2 separate 1/2 size wraps, both incorporating a mini fillet but each with its own unique flavour named the Sunny and the Yummy

Tell us about them?

The Yummy in a bright red wrapper was good, a succulent mini breast ensconced within a fresh wrap, salad, cheese and an undisclosed but tangy, spicy, tomatoey and altogether quite agreeable sauce.

Having polished that off I headed for the Sunny side of life and discovered that this will be a 'Marmite' product. Whether it will be taken to the hearts of the British public remains to be seen. It followed the same format of the yummy but this time the mini fillet languished in a yellowy sauce with a taste very similar to the always controversial pickle as found on a McDonalds hamburger......something I enjoy but that I'm all too aware that millions don't.

Whether the British version will follow the model of its foreign counterparts is unclear. It may take the name and packaging, remodelling the contents to fit in with the expectations and desires of a chicken loving nation. However rest assured that KFB will be the first to let you know of this and all innovations to grace the UK Chicken stage.

Finally........What's in a name, why the i?

Who can say? maybe it's just a cynical attempt to jump on the 'on trend' bandwagon of giving everything the i prefix which variously counjours up such modern ideas as 'internet' 'Innovative', 'interactive' and of course is the virtual talisman of the now ubiquitous Apple products. A product whose users are so desperate to let you know of their communication tool of preference; that they allow all their intimations to be hijacked and vandalised by the addition of an automated sign off to all correspondence, bearing no relevance to the communication they're sending which proclaims 'Sent from my iphone' which I have come to interpret as 'Sent by a twat'

Anyway, rant over ......I'll a fully loaded please!