Week Two Blog

During week two of product development, the group focused on creating the two products previously discussed in week one. The trends originally proposed in our week one were bacon is back and use of alternative ingredients (i.e. gluten- free breading). The first product tested was a cajun- flavored chicken breast with bacon and cheese and two variations were created. The first was a latticed bacon wrapped chicken breast stuffed with cheese and oven- baked and the second was a bacon and cheese stuffed chicken breast that was first par fried and then oven- baked to completion. The second product tested was a cajun- flavored chicken corn dog. The first variation made was fully cooked, dipped into corn meal batter, and fried until golden brown. The second was dipped in the batter raw and then fried until golden brown. After deliberation, the group decided to combine the best parts of the two products into one. Ultimately, the resulting product will be a bacon and cheese stuffed chicken corn dog with children as the target market. During product creation, some of the problems encountered were dryness of the fully cooked and then battered chicken corn dog, sogginess of the raw-battered chicken corn dog, and general lack of flavor in all products. To combat these issues moving forward, the chicken will be partially cooked to avoid dryness but also injection marinated using a blend of spices with salt and phosphate to increase the water retention during cooking. Though a gluten- free option would have been very unique as it is one of the IFT trends of 2019, the group felt that a chicken corn dog product offers more marketing power since currently there are no chicken- based corn dogs available on the market.