|
Post by OldMan on Jan 22, 2021 15:22:21 GMT -6
Part 10 and final video on deconstructing KFC chicken
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jan 25, 2021 8:19:07 GMT -6
Too long, did not watch. Over the years, I have seen a couple reports where KFC chicken is scientifically tested.
The conclusion: No 11 herbs and spices. The recipe is flour, salt, pepper and MSG. No additional herbs, spices or ingredients were found.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 8:44:47 GMT -6
I worked at a KFC in high school. We made the mixes (one for ORIGINAL RECIPE and one for CRISPY) from seasoning packets. The ingredients were not listed on the packet. The original was far more complex... you could just tell by sight and smell. The crispy was salt and I believe powdered buttermilk that you mixed with water. There were very specific instructions you needed to follow to bread the chicken because they were looking for consistency. I'm sure there is a word or phrase for this but having worked there for that amount of time, I have never had the urge to eat that stuff again. Ever. I don't believe I have EVER had KFC since leaving there 35+ years ago. I have great memories of working there but I have no desire to eat anything there. Also, it's so unbelievably slippery in the kitchen... glossy tile floor, the occasional spilled water plus all of that grease. It was like a freaking hockey game every single night. When I walked out of there I was positively hazmat.
|
|
|
Post by jimdkc on Jan 25, 2021 8:55:45 GMT -6
Still not sure why anybody wants to replicate mediocre fried chicken...
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 9:45:19 GMT -6
Still not sure why anybody wants to replicate mediocre fried chicken... When people hear "secret recipe", they want to get to the bottom of it. Honestly, the whole secret recipe thing was not really registering with me anyway... it was a job. If I told anyone I worked at KFC they would almost always ask "OOH! Do you know the secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices?". What?
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jan 25, 2021 9:53:04 GMT -6
I worked at a KFC in high school. We made the mixes (one for ORIGINAL RECIPE and one for CRISPY) from seasoning packets. The ingredients were not listed on the packet. The original was far more complex... you could just tell by sight and smell. The crispy was salt and I believe powdered buttermilk that you mixed with water. There were very specific instructions you needed to follow to bread the chicken because they were looking for consistency. I'm sure there is a word or phrase for this but having worked there for that amount of time, I have never had the urge to eat that stuff again. Ever. I don't believe I have EVER had KFC since leaving there 35+ years ago. I have great memories of working there but I have no desire to eat anything there. Also, it's so unbelievably slippery in the kitchen... glossy tile floor, the occasional spilled water plus all of that grease. It was like a freaking hockey game every single night. When I walked out of there I was positively hazmat. Ken, here is a flashback to your glory days of cooking for Colonel Chicken
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 10:04:13 GMT -6
When I first started one of the managers handed out KFC baseball caps that employees could wear instead of the dreaded paper hat. I refused to wear the paper hat. Refused. So I would wear the baseball cap and every manager was cool with it. Eventually I was the only one that had the cap and new guys would be hired and look at the baseball cap like "Hey man, where did you get THAT?!". Yes I was the envy of all chicken cookers. Btw, that video is nothing like the real deal. The real pressure cooker was about the size of a minivan. You breaded the chicken and put it on a rack. Then you took FIVE racks and inserted them into a cage and that cage then got inserted into a slot in the cooker lid. Then you lowered the lid into the shortening and it went for 13 minutes, I believe. At the end it would automatically raise up and you would take the chicken out. All cooked closed under pressure... that was the original. The extra crispy was cooked in open fryers and was the most dangerous because you would plop the pieces into that hot oil and always get a splash on your hand or arm. I was covered with red burns all up my arms. Good times!
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jan 25, 2021 10:29:35 GMT -6
KFC sold their franchises to some big corporation. Colonel Sanders did not understand the idea of getting paid in stock options. Against advice, Colonel Sanders took a check instead. His secretary was also offered cash or stock option, she took stocks. A few years down the road, the Colonel's secretary was worth more than the Colonel.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 10:47:32 GMT -6
The concept of taking something that someone thinks is REALLY good and then adapting it to a mass-produced thing that will feed millions... is foreign to me. It almost always results in a deterioration of quality. I have no doubt that at some time this guy Harland Sanders made some great chicken and thought it should be made and sold worldwide but none of that interested me. I was a fast food cook in a greasy store.
|
|
|
Post by Leftympfrmde on Jan 25, 2021 11:00:15 GMT -6
the last time I ate KFC was in Louisville, KY in 2011. I was traveling for work, and was literary staying in a RV park a couple miles down the road from the Jim Beam Distillery. KFC buffets were all around. Decided to gorge myself; it was tasty, but locked myself into the bathroom for three days afterword; but not because of food poisoning; but decided to finish a bourbon tour with said buffet.
was it worth it? yes. but haven't had KFC since.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 11:16:08 GMT -6
When I worked there an employee could help themselves to whatever they wanted. I don't know if that was a company policy but that's how it worked in our store. If you had some downtime, grab a piece of chicken and giddy up. Go up front to the soda fountain and get a soda. There were desserts there too... parfaits. They were quite good. Biscuits. Fries. Whatever you wanted. One night I got there around 4pm and we started cooking. A snowstorm started and we had pretty much NO BUSINESS. We made all this food and it was just sitting there so we ate and talked. Eventually it got close to closing so we cleaned up and divided all the food up among the team that night. I came home with BUCKETS of chicken. My parents eyes bugged out of their head.
|
|
|
Post by jimdkc on Jan 25, 2021 11:53:15 GMT -6
KFC's real secret was not so much the recipe as it was pressure frying...
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 12:08:37 GMT -6
KFC's real secret was not so much the recipe as it was pressure frying... That's probably true although I always concluded that the Original recipe was softer and mushier than the crispy (that sounds like a DUH! moment). 9 times out of 10 if I were to reach for a piece of chicken it would be crispy. Here's another thing I just remembered. Most places cut a chicken up in 8 pieces: Two breasts, two wings, two thighs and two legs. KFC used chicken that was cut into nine pieces and the 9th was called a "keel". A keel was between the two breasts and just had a soft piece of cartilage running down the middle. To make that piece, the breast pieces were naturally smaller because some part of the breast was used to make the keel. Once cooked, you could take a pair of tongs and easily pull out that piece of cartilage and basically have a big, white meat fillet. In fact I believe they came out with a chicken sandwich at some point and the order taker would ask "original or extra crispy?" and they would find a keel, pull out that piece and make the sandwich that way.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jan 25, 2021 12:10:56 GMT -6
Here's another piece of history: The chicken KFC used came from a place in the Chicago Burbs called Rosebud Farms. The truck would pull up in back and we would load the crates into the walk-in cooler. Years later I actually got Rosebud Farms as a customer doing their IT work. I worked with them for years until (I think) KFC gave their chicken contract to someone else and a lot of Rosebud's business was gone at that point.
|
|
|
Post by OldMan on Jan 25, 2021 14:25:31 GMT -6
Too long, did not watch. Over the years, I have seen a couple reports where KFC chicken is scientifically tested. The conclusion: No 11 herbs and spices. The recipe is flour, salt, pepper and MSG. No additional herbs, spices or ingredients were found. 340g Fine Salt 28g Fine Ground Black Pepper 28g Coarse Ground Black Pepper 28g Cracked Black Pepper 28g Fine Ground White Pepper 3.5g Allspice / or / Summer Savoury 7g Ground Coriander 7g Ground Ginger 2g MSG 1.8g Rubbed Thyme 7g Ground Sage 1.8g Rubbed Marjoram 1Mix together 18g spice to 100g flour. Prepare an egg wash of 1 egg to 1 cup of milk. Dip chicken in egg wash, then dredge in flour spice mix. Deep-fry until golden brown and cooked through.
|
|