Psst, hey, Smarty Pants, after the success of the pizza party that I threw for all my Who Smarted guests in our stress episode...
Who wants meat cake pizza?
I've now been tasked with planning a birthday party for my favorite niece, Gia.
Instead of pizza, I'm going with a chicken theme because Gia loves chickens.
I've got a local farmer coming to set up a chicken coop so everyone can feed and pet live chickens.
I've got a chicken pinata stuffed with peeps.
And now I'm headed to the supermarket to grab some food.
Okay, any suggestions, Smarty Pants?
Did anyone say chicken?
Good idea, Smarty Pants.
At first, I was thinking fried chicken.
Then I thought chicken wings.
And now, I'm thinking it'd be easier to have delicious bite -sized chicken with no bones.
What do you call that again, Smarty Pants?
Ha ha ha! Yep, I heard some of you say chicken nuggets, some of you said chicken fingers, and a few of you said chicken tenders.
They're all great choices, and since they're all pretty much the same thing, it doesn't matter what I get.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, I say!
Hold on there, trusty narrator.
Did you just say what I think you said?
Um, smarty pants, this might sound hard to believe, but a giant, six foot tall, sparkly, talking chicken just appeared in front of me in the frozen food aisle.
Then again, this is Who Smarted, so it's totally believable.
Sorry, I didn't catch your name.
The name is Sir Chix -A -Lot.
Baby got fat. And I'm here to lay some nuggets of truth on you.
Oh, wow. Oh, wow is right.
I can't have you telling the Smarty Pants that chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, and chicken tenders are all the same thing.
Because they're not.
Really? I did not know that.
To be honest, I'm more of a pizza eater.
But I always thought chicken nuggets, fingers, and tenders were pretty much interchangeable.
Didn't you, Smarty Pants?
Yeah, yeah, you're not the only one.
But don't worry, I, Sir Chicks -a -Lot, am more than happy to clutch truth to power.
Especially when it comes to chicken.
Right. There's just one problem.
Trusty's got to get back.
Baby got fat! I've got a party starting soon.
Say, why don't I just grab some yummy chicken nuggets, tasty tenders, and fabulous fingers?
And then you, Sir Chicks -a -Lot, can join me.
I'm pretty sure Gia and her friends will just love you at their chicken -themed party.
Sounds finger -lickin' good.
Great! And along the way, you can help explain what the difference is between chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, and chicken tenders, how they're made, and when they were first invented.
It's time for another delicious whiff of science and history on...
Who Smarted? Who Smarted?
Who Smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science?
Or history? Hey guys, Trustee here.
You know, one of my favorite things about summer, backyard hangs, hanging out with friends, having burgers, playing Frisbee.
It's the best. And that's when our outdoor space becomes the main event.
So this year I finally upgraded my setup.
Thank you, Wayfair.
I got this awesome outdoor dining table that seats eight.
Eight! It came fast. It looked perfect right out of the box.
And now it's where we eat, play games, and, you know, just hang out.
I also grabbed a set of string lights and a giant umbrella.
So now it feels like my own little vacation spot without leaving the yard. And you know how much I love not leaving the yard. Wayfair seriously has everything.
Grills, games, planters, even trampolines.
and the shipping free always free even on the big stuff so i got that table in under a week and i didn't pay a dime for the shipping so if your summer plans involve kicking back out back head to wayfair .com to shop outdoor furniture grills long games and way more for way less that's wayfair .com w -a -y -f -a -i -r .com wayfair every style every home Okay, Smarty Pants, I'm here with my new friend, Sir Chicks -A -Lot, who has just informed me that everything I thought I knew about chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, and chicken tenders was wrong.
That is correct. So what is it, Smarty Pants?
Do you know? Well, let's think about it.
First off, Smarty Pants, have you actually had a chicken nugget, a chicken tender, and a chicken finger?
I assumed I had, but since I thought they were all pretty much the same, maybe I haven't.
I know chicken nuggets are small, roundish pieces of breaded chicken.
And chicken fingers are long, thin, boneless fried strips, kind of like a finger.
And chicken tenders are wider strips of boneless chicken that are also breaded.
Aha! Is that the difference?
The shape? Well, they do have different shapes, but there's a more important difference.
Hmm, Smarty Pants, can you help me solve this poultry problem?
Is the main difference A, the breading, B, the part of the chicken that the meat comes from, or C, the dipping sauce?
The answer is B, the part of the chicken the meat comes from.
Nice job if you got that, Smarty Pants.
But hold on. Are you saying that chicken fingers are actually a chicken's fingers?
No, I'm not. First of all, chickens have wings, not hands.
So despite the name, chicken fingers are not actually fingers from a chicken.
However, chicken tenders are named after a part of the chicken.
They are? What part of the chicken is the tender?
Smarty Pants, is it the tender wing, the tender thigh, the tender foot, or the tenderloin?
The answer is the tenderloin.
The tenderloin? The tenderloin?
What's a tenderloin?
The tenderloin, also known as the pectoralis minor, is a long, thick muscle under a chicken's breast or chest, resting against its sternum.
I see. So chicken tenders are always entirely made from a very specific part of the chicken known as the tenderloin.
Exactly. Huh. Who knew?
But wait. What are chicken fingers and chicken nuggets made of?
Smarty Pants, do you know?
While chicken nuggets and chicken fingers may have some chicken breast in them, they're not entirely made from the tenderloin, so they can't be called chicken tenders.
Chicken fingers tend to be long strips of chicken breast or chicken breast muscle, while some chicken nuggets are made from something known as mechanically separated chickens.
Um, Smarty Pants, do you know what mechanically separated means?
Yeah, me neither. I will say, it sounds like it has to do with some kind of a machine.
Is that what you're thinking too, Smarty Pants?
You're definitely in the ballpark.
When a chicken is mechanically separated, machines mash up different parts from different chickens and push them through a strainer to take the bones out.
Then workers at chicken processing plants sort chicken pieces.
Some of the chicken that was mechanically separated is used to make nuggets.
I see. That doesn't sound especially pleasant.
Ha, you're telling me I'm a chicken.
But the reality is there are chickens that are bred specifically to be food.
Also, not all chicken nuggets are made from mechanically separated chicken.
Some are made from only white meat, which comes from the chicken breast, wings, and back, unlike dark meat, which comes from the chicken's legs and thighs.
Interesting. Well, no matter what part of the chicken they use, it's all pretty delicious.
No offense, sir chicks a lot.
What else is in a chicken nugget besides the meat?
Chicken nuggets usually have corn and other ingredients like sugar and salt added to them.
The breading usually has flour, which is made of wheat.
In fact, for chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, and chicken tenders, the main ingredients are almost always chicken and breading.
If I remember correctly, it feels like chicken nuggets were first introduced to the public at fast food restaurants.
When and where were chicken nuggets invented?
Let's see if the Smarty Pants can guess which country invented the chicken nugget.
Was it the USA, the UK, or South Korea?
The answer is the United States.
And unlike pizza or hamburgers or macaroni and cheese, which can be traced back a number of years, chicken nuggets are a relatively new food invented at Cornell University in 1959.
Ooh, let's go there.
We can use my time machine app.
Jeez, I'm a giant magical chicken.
Just hold my wing. Here we are in the lab where it all began.
That man is Dr. Robert Baker.
He's a food scientist. Oh, hello.
Hi, I'm the trusty narrator from Who Smarted?
I see you're working on something.
Why, yes. I was looking for more ways to use chicken in order to help farmers make more money.
So I came up with this new food invention I'm calling the Chicken Crispy.
Ooh. I've taken small pieces of chicken meat, battered them, and then fried them up.
Care to try one? Sure.
Mmm, this looks and tastes just like a chicken nugget.
Chicken nuggets? Nuggets.
Hey, I like the sound of that.
Maybe I should use that name when I publish my work.
Sure, feel free. You should know future generations will love eating your chicken krispies, I mean nuggets.
Some of the world's most popular chicken nuggets are the McNuggets from McDonald's.
Smarty Pants, can you guess when McDonald's first started selling McNuggets?
Was it A, 1959, B, 1965, or C, 1980?
If you said C, 1980, you're right.
Introducing Chicken McNuggets.
McNuggets were a big hit, and soon other fast food chains started mass producing their own chicken nuggets.
Today, you can find lots of chicken nugget options at the supermarket, some fresh, some frozen.
Sir Chicksalot, do you know just how popular chicken nuggets are?
Sure. Sure. It's estimated over one billion chicken nuggets are produced and sold every year.
That's a lot. I don't think I'll need that many for this party.
Ooh, they've got dinosaur -shaped chicken nuggets.
Fun fact, chickens actually descended from dinosaurs.
So a dino -shaped chicken nugget is not only fun to eat, but a fun piece of animal genealogy.
Trusty's got facts.
Baby got facts! And just like some dinosaurs were herbivores, if any smarty pants listening are vegetarian, there are delicious plant -based versions of chicken nuggets, fingers, and tenders, as well as alternatives made from beans, cauliflower, falafel, and more.
There's also organic, gluten -free nuggets as well.
Good thinking. I'll pick up some veggie and gluten -free options too.
I should grab some chicken fingers too.
Say, Sir Chicks -a -Lot, when did people start eating those?
The answer is... Coming up right after this quick beak.
I mean, break. Hey, Smarty Pants.
Trusty here. What if your watch could call your parents, text your friends, play games, and still help you ace the school day?
Say hi to Pinwheel, the smartwatch that's built just for kids.
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And when it's time to focus, your watch knows, thanks to custom schedules that your parents set.
Right now, you can get awesome deals on watches for back -to -school, Plus free shipping and returns.
Check it out at pinwheel .com slash smarted.
That's P -I -N -W -H -E -E -L dot com slash smarted and gear up with the coolest watch made just for you.
Who Smarted is brought to you by Squarespace.
Now you know I'm good about creating new adventures and episodes of Who Smarted, but you don't know that I procrastinate on other stuff, like a website for one of our new projects.
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Smarty parents, trusty here.
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Now back to Who Smarted.
I'm with my new friend, Sir Chicks -a -Lot, and we're talking chicken, nuggets, fingers, and tenders.
Hey, trusty, see if you can guess how much the world's largest chicken nugget weighed.
Was it A, 31 pounds, B, 41 pounds, or C, 51 pounds?
Smartypants, what do you think?
I'll say B, 41 pounds.
Actually, the answer is C, 51 pounds.
This chicken nugget was 3 1⁄4 feet long and 2 feet wide.
It was created by Empire Kosher And unveiled in Secaucus, New Jersey in 2013 Where did they put the dipping sauce?
In a kiddie pool? Good one, trusty Thanks So, we learned about chicken nuggets and tenders But what's the deal with chicken fingers?
Like their cousin, the chicken nugget Chicken fingers are a relatively new addition to the menu Guthrie's was one of the first restaurants to sell chicken fingers in 1978 After the chicken finger was introduced to their menu They proved so popular that a second restaurant, Guthrie's Golden Fried Chicken Fingers, was opened in 1982.
But they served other things besides chicken fingers, right?
Nope. Their chicken fingers were so popular, that's all they served.
Ant fries. Wow, people sure love chicken fingers, too.
Yep. It's a good thing there are over 50 billion chickens on Earth, the largest population of any feathered species.
Smarty Pants, how many pounds of chicken do Americans eat every hour of every day?
Is it A, 4 million, B, 5 million, or C, 6 million?
If you said C, 6 million, you're right.
Americans eat about 6 million pounds of chicken every hour of every day.
Whoa. And a lot of that comes in the form of nuggets, fingers, and tenders.
Speaking of, I better buy these chicken nuggets, fingers, and tenders, and get back in time for the party.
Hey, Uncle Trustee.
Thanks so much for throwing me this awesome chicken party.
I love it. Especially that guy in the giant chicken suit.
Yeah, that's not a costume.
Anyway, I'm glad you're having fun.
Tell me, which do you like best?
Chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, or chicken tenders?
Um, I don't know. They're all pretty much the same, right?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Have a seat.
I've got some serious truth to lay on you.
Trusty's got facts.
Baby got facts. A brainy bedtime shout -out to Emma in Corning, New York.
We hear you love listening to Who Smarted every night before bed, and it helps you learn lots of new things.
That's great. Pretty soon, you'll be smarting in your sleep.
Thanks, Emma. This episode, Chicken Nuggets, Fingers, and Tenders, was written by Sarah Eleven Spices Sweetick and Adam Pex Davis and voiced by Chris Original Recipe Okawa, Adam Beaks Davis, Gia Deep Fried Davis, and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hot Wings Han.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Cornfed Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Saucy Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced Produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
