My McDonalds Chicken McNugget Experiment

February 25, 2013 · by

My McDonald's Chicken McNugget experiment - where did the chicken go?

Recently, I came across this article on the Huffington Post titled ‘Fast Food Workers Tell You What Not to Eat’.  In it, one particular story concerning McDonalds Chicken McNuggets caught my attention.  Although it’s a rare occasion, on a busy day – I have been known to go through the drive-thru for a few happy meals for the kiddos.  (I know, I know…)  So, this one made me wonder.

‘”When I worked at McDonald’s, I accidentally left a whole bag of about 100 chicken nuggets out on a counter for way too long. They melted. Into a pool of liquid. I never understood why. But they were completely indiscernible as being the nuggets i once knew.”‘

Did you get that?

Melted.  Into a pool of liquid.

YUCK.

So, I wanted to see this for myself.  However, since I didn’t have access to a whole bag of frozen McNuggets, I did the next best thing.  I went through the drive-thru.

I bought a 4-piece McNugget and brought it home.  Checked it out, they looked like chicken nuggets.

My McNugget Experiement - the chicken evaporated!

So, I put them into my fridge and left them there for 10 days.

When the 10 days were up, I pulled them out to examine them.

My McNugget Experiment - my chicken evaporated!

Looked dry, but otherwise ok.

I decided to check the inside by breaking it in half.  Breaking it in half was not an easy feat.  I pressed in with my thumb to find my finger collapsed into a crusty nothingness.

My McNugget Experiment - where did the chicken go?

Where did the chicken go? My McNugget Experiment

It was hollow.  And nasty.

I grabbed a sharp knife, and cut open a second one to get a better look.  However, there was really nothing to look at as this one was hollow as well.  All four of the chicken nuggets were hollow.

My question is – where did the chicken go?

It went POOF.

My Mcdonalds Chicken McNugget Experiment - where did the chicken go?

As in disappeared.  It was like magic… really, really gross magic. As to why – I dunno.  But I am pretty grossed out by the whole evaporation factor here.

I think I’ll be sticking to homemade chicken nuggets.

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Filed Under: Health & Beauty, Healthy Eating, Household, Make Your Own ·
  • http://www.facebook.com/dianeroger.bowman Diane N Roger Bowman

    Wow, how weird, gross and disgusting !

  • Heather

    oh yuck. i pretty much steer away from McD’s anyway but this as REALLY got me avoiding fast food places now!

  • suzyhomemaker

    Wow, that is weird. Must have been a lot of water and it just became dehydrated. Water is the second ingredient in the chicken part. Maybe there is a small bit of dehydrated chicken you just missed?

  • Lauren Monsey Nagel

    Don’t like them. Got to get my grandkids off these things. Sharing with my kids.

  • http://www.facebook.com/brian.laking Brian Laking

    Those “nuggets“ are the result of the T-1000 chicken-nug project, the goal was for McDonalds to create food with no nutritional value that they could infinitely resell. The evaporated chicken recollects itself into pools of a sentient ooze like being which returns to the McDonalds chicken nugget flavoring and re-breading facility… and eventually your children`s stomachs!

  • shelia @sweetsouthernblue.com

    Wow, what a great article. Thanks so much for sharing. I would love to know how many other fast food items would fall into this “fake food” category.

    • Cookiemom

      exactly what I was thinking Shelia.

  • Billie Bee

    Yuck is right, but I bet it will still stick to you thighs…..grin.

  • mikejafo1

    IMHO nugs are full of fat and when cooked they puff up, when they cool off over a long period of time they deflate to 10 % of what they use to be? Don’t like them? don’t eat them? pretty simple!

    • Lauren

      I believe the actual point behind this post is not that “she doesn’t like McDonald’s chicken,” it’s that McDonald’s is marketing that they’re selling actual chicken to their consumers… and they’re not… because real chicken wouldn’t do that crap.

  • Jahnez

    why didn’t you do it as soon as you got them?

  • hsmominmo

    I think I’ll be trying homemade chicken nuggets very soon!

  • Ian

    I could so go for some Mcnuggets right now it’s not even funny.

  • Bonnie

    Last summer (we are in AZ) I picked up some McDonald’s (begrudgingly as we have been avoiding going there for some time) for my kids as a quick lunch before we left on a camping trip (in Northern AZ). The nuggets are always what my youngest orders. A few nuggets were left over and forgotten (in the bag) on the floor of the car. When we got back home from camping (5 days later) I was cleaning out the car and found the bag with the nuggets. Normally one would have smelled those things long before the end of the camping trip (hello – rotting chicken – ew), not so. They were hard as rocks and not a bit of smell. Never eating there again

  • Stephanie T

    There’s actually no way they could have metled to water. I work at McDonald’s and have left McNuggets sitting out and they’ve never ‘melted’ to water. That’s a load of crap. Just saying. And whoever said they left a whole BAG of 100 nuggets out was a liar because there is only 24 nuggets in each bag. Check your resources people.

    • Jen L

      Years ago, they weren’t in bags of 24. They were in huge bags and you just dropped what you needed to and put the rest back. I worked at McD’s in 1994 and that’s how they were then…

      • http://www.facebook.com/jennifer.delaney.90 Jennifer Delaney

        That’s true. We had huge bags, and you would drop however many you needed. You had to be careful not to let the edge of the plastic bag touch the hot wire edge of the fry basket (oops, plastic nuggets anyone?) I worked at McD’s in 1988 and in 1991.

  • http://twitter.com/PinkRecipeBox Nicky

    That’s so bizarre! Really interesting read with my coffee on Monday morning :)

  • Terry

    http://youtu.be/o48391M72Yc

    This is a time lapse video of fast food chicken nuggets as seen over a two day period at room temperature. Most of the chicken melted, disappeared or evaporated leaving primarily its hardened exterior.
    I heard frozen nuggets melt. I couldn’t get them frozen, so I purchased them fresh from a fast food chain and began the experiment.

    http://youtu.be/o48391M72Yc

  • Lauren

    It’s that “pink goop” crap. Look it up. I’m convinced there are no real meat dishes at any fast food establishment anymore. Frickin’ gross is all I can say about it.

    • Kristin

      I don’t think you’re too far off from the truth. My husband contracted e-coli 5 years ago. After recovering who couldn’t eat any kind of beef. Hamburger, steak….it didn’t matter it would give him terrible stomachaches. However, he was able to eat McDonald’s burgers and it never gave him a problem. We concluded it must not be beef! ha!

  • Jeri

    Ew. And now there’s “chicken” vapor in your fridge.

  • Aly Mashrah

    Oh my goodness, this is so gross! I cannot believe I gave my son nuggets one day on my way home from school. I am never, ever getting anything from there again. So gross!!

  • Tricia

    HOW Strange. I found a bag of McDonalds tht had nuggets in them from over a month ago. NOt only was their chicken still in there but they weren’t moldy either. I really find this hard to believe. Had you done a video it may have been more believable.

    • Tricia

      found it in the car in the back seat under the seat. Just a little info to clarify. :)

    • http://MrsHappyHomemaker.com/ Crystal

      Did you open up the nugget and look inside? I may end up doing a video at some point. This is the only post I’ve ever done like this, I usually only post recipes & other home related things. But, I certainly didn’t make anything up. I did this as a homeschool experiment, wasn’t even planning on posting it until I was encouraged by friends to do so. If anything, I just hope it helps others be a little bit more cautious about foods we are eating – no matter what food that may be. :)

  • Spritey

    Yes, McDonald’s spends more money trying to scientifically engineer non-food substance because that is so much cheaper than actually just serving you actual chicken.