I remember that when I first started out in poultry science, tenders were almost the cheapest part of the bird. No one knew where they really came from, and no one really did much with them. In the 1980’s and 90’s is when we really started seeing an uptick in consumption of fried chicken tenders. They became more popular than chicken nuggets because there is more meat and less breading to eat. Today, chicken tenders are extremely popular, and there is even a huge shortage, especially with the smaller fast food size tenders.

The pectoralis minor (or chicken tender) is a single muscle located under the pectoralis major (or chicken breast). It is usually very tender and is usually eaten fried with a dipping sauce. In order to keep up with chicken tender demand, there are some terms which you may see in the market place other than "chicken tender." Chicken strips are produced from boneless, skinless usually marinated chicken meat (either white or dark meat). Split tenders are also becoming more popular today since bird size has increased. This is when the tenders from larger birds are split in half (vertically) or slittered, cut horizontally. These variations are critically important since the majority of the birds on the market are larger than the fast-food size bird. These larger birds have much larger tenders and they would not cook quickly in fast-food restaurants, which could be a food safety issue. In addition, fast-food restaurants buy tenders by the pound, but sell them by the piece so these larger tenders could decrease profitability.

One common complaint with chicken tenders is fraying or development of a rough edge, which can cause the tender meat to come apart. Fraying can create some quality issues. No consumer wants to see tenders that are misshapen. What causes fraying? Deboning, especially with automatic deboners that may not make the exact cuts on the front halves due to natural variation in bird size, can cause some of this fraying. Even hand deboners that are not well-trained can disrupt the facia or connective tissue covering of the tender. This disruption allows the tender to fray as it travels down the conveyor belt and is handled prior to boxing. In addition, splitting or slittering larger tenders can create some of this fraying as well. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen in smaller birds; it does. Tenders are literally very tender and have to be treated as such.

With automation, we tend to have more quality issues with tenders. One potential mitigation may be to chill the birds quickly and keep them cold after processing to ensure that the meat is more compact and held within the fascia. This may not solve the problem, but it can mitigate some potential quality issues. Another possible solution is to consider restructured tenders. With new equipment technology, it can be difficult to determine that they are really restructured versus whole muscle, and the quality will be much improved.

I hope I provided some insight and gave everyone something to think about. Tenders are delicious. I love them fried and I love to dip them into honey mustard, my go-to sauce. Whatever way you like to eat them, remember that a lot goes into ensuring the quality of these tenders. Enjoy!

Tender insights

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