Week 5 - Deploy

This week we focused heavily on specific ingredient amounts, batter formulation and viscosity, reconstitution methods, and Consumer Sensory Evaluations. We measured the exact amount of ingredients used in one batch of batter to get an exact formulation. These weights were used in comparison the the retail prices of the ingredients to find the cost per batch, cost per piece, and cost per box of the Chick-O-Pop. We also measured the percent pickup of batter on the chicken which came out to over 50% pickup. This saves on the product cost and allows us to bring the product to the consumer for a cheaper price than our competitors even though our product of Gluten Free. Our batter viscosity is very thick and made from mainly potato starch resulting in the batter needing to be slow flowed over the product instead of fast. This can slow down line speeds or have inconsistent coverage if not performed correctly on a mass production line.

For reconstitution, we chose several methods including a conventional oven and air fryer. Air fryers have become a popular trend and make for quicker reconstitution by using a fryer basket in a mini forced air oven to circulate air getting every side of a product cooked evenly without putting off excessive heat inside the kitchen. This is a method we chose to include on the box since it is a growing trend.

We also spent time perfecting our package design making note to include labels specifying that our product is raw and not fully cooked even though it may look as if it is. We developed our nutrition label and did our final round of consumer panels getting 4 and 5 out of 5 on each category. For our final competition we will be serving the Chick-O-Pops with maple syrup and a special formulated sauce.