Post by Deleted on May 30, 2022 4:20:22 GMT 1
I first tried the KFC recipe published by the Chicago Tribune. It was acquired from Joe Ledington, a descendant of the late Colonel Harland Sanders. This recipe was overloaded with white pepper and tasted nothing like Australian KFC. While I don’t question its origin, the inconsistencies between the Ledington recipe and other credible sources of information gave me enough cause to doubt it is the recipe for KFC Original Chicken.
"That is the original 11 herbs and spices that were supposed to be so secretive," he (Joe Ledington) says with conviction.
In a subsequent phone interview with a Tribune editor, Ledington dialled back his certainty and expressed reluctance about sharing a recipe that — if it's legit — ranks among corporate America's most closely guarded secrets. "It could be; I don't know for sure," he said. Chicago Tribune Aug 20, 2016
My online research took me in several directions when I first started experimenting with copycat KFC recipes.
• Colonel Sanders initially cooked fried chicken using Sextons Poultry Seasoning that contained Sage, Coriander, Allspice, Ginger, Thyme, Marjoram, Black Pepper and Savory.
He said Savoury was an ingredient in a 1967 TV ad and stated most people would have the 11 secret herbs and spices in their kitchen during another TV appearance
His former secretary said his mother had taught him to cook fried chicken using Sage and Savoury during a later interview.
• 1952 KFC allegedly contained Bay leaves, Black and White Pepper, Cardamom, Chilli Flakes, Cloves, Coriander, Ginger, MSG, Sage, Savoury and Vanilla Bean.
• Marion Kay Chicken Seasoning formula 99X is a well-known substitute for KFC seasoning that was once linked to Colonel Sanders. The 99X product label lists Black and White pepper, Coriander (seeds), Sage, Salt plus other herbs and spices as ingredients.
• The KFC ingredient guide contain a lot of obscure information about colourings, enhancers, flavours and ingredients; Chicken Flavour, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Garlic Powder, MSG, Onion Powder and Salt. Annatto, Citrus, Paprika and Turmeric extractives. Citrus, Rice flour and Sesame are base ingredients in Lemon pepper that also contains 36% Black Pepper.
I don’t think the 1952 to 1971 version of the recipe is authentic. Colonel Sanders sold the KFC franchise and formula in 1964. KFC franchisees were bound by a contract to directly purchase the pre-packaged secret seasoning directly from KFC. It is not plausible even a disgruntled Colonel Sanders or the new owners of KFC would erode the franchise’s commercial value by giving the franchisees the exact ingredients and quantities, period.
KFC’s new owners also took successful legal action to prevent Marion Kay from selling chicken seasoning to rogue KFC franchisees. I am led to believe they also forced Marion Kay to change their formula, and the rogue franchisees to honour their contract by only purchasing the pre-packaged secret seasoning directly from KFC.
The interesting part of all this legal action for me is the rogue franchisees were able to pass off Marion Kays chicken seasoning as KFC.
How I developed this recipe for fried chicken is by trial and error, solving one issue at a time as more information became available.
• If the four pieces of information I found were more reliable than the Ledington recipe they formed a pathway and timeline from Colonel Sanders to corporate KFC.
• Cardamom was competing with Sage and so I removed it.
• Cloves weren’t needed if Allspice was used and reduced the chance of some customers having an allergic reaction to cloves.
• Ground celery seed would have competed with the ground coriander seed. Sextons Poultry Seasoning, the 1952 recipe and Marion Kay all used Coriander seed, so it won out.
• Vanilla bean could be substituted with less expensive sugar.
Corporate KFC also used a number of colouring agents, flavour enhancers and extractives, some of which I couldn’t buy online or at my local supermarket. I was forced to compromise and use what I could actually purchase, such as Annatto mixed with cornflour, Lemon Peel (Citrus), Smoked Paprika, and Turmeric.
MSG and E635 I+G flavour enhancer were purchased on eBay. Oxo Chicken Stock Cubes contained several of the ingredients listed in the corporate KFC product information.
The next issue to solve was how to brine the chicken so it was flavoursome throughout the entire meat. I solved this by injecting some concentrated brine formula into the chicken meat before adding the three extra cups of water to make the marinade. This approach greatly improved the internal flavour of the fried chicken.
There were snippets of information and some great ideas in online cooking articles, forums and video clips about how to create breaded chicken, and fry it correctly. This was all a big learning curve for someone with absolutely no professional culinary training; I am definitely not a Chef and knew very little about herbs or spices at the outset.
Where I’ve ended up is creating fried chicken to the best of my ability that leaves a lingering pleasant aftertaste and isn’t overly juicy inside.
Imperial and Metric
Americans cook with Imperial volumes. Australians and Europeans use Metric volumes.
Converting dry ingredients from Imperial cups to metric (grams) and vice versa can get tricky unless changing from ounces to grams.
• Herbs and spices weigh different amounts per Cup, Tablespoon or teaspoon.
• Imperial Tablespoons are 15 ml whereas a Metric Tablespoon is 20 ml.
• Teaspoons are 5 ml in both systems.
This may explain why American recipes never quite taste the same in Australia or Europe when the ingredients are measured in Tablespoons.
My recipe uses Imperial volumes
1 Cup = 240 ml
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) = 15 ml
1 Teaspoon (Tsp) = 5 ml
Marinating the chicken pieces as described negates the need for a pressure oil fryer.
Ingredient Quantity
1) Water 3 Cups
2) Salt 2 tsp
3) Oxo Chicken Stock Cube 1 cube
4) Caster Sugar 1½ tsp
5) Seasoning 1 Tbsp
• Remove the entire container from the fridge 3 hours before starting to bread the chicken. This will give the chicken time to return closer to room temperature.
• Don’t rinse the chicken pieces when they come out of the marinade.
• Cover the chicken pieces on a plate with paper towels on top and bottom to remove any excess marinade. Thoroughly dry off the chicken pieces before breading. This might seem counterproductive because the chicken pieces will be quickly dipped in some of the marinate during the breading process.
• Steam escaping from inside the chicken during frying is what causes the breading to separate and fall off. The idea here is the surface of the chicken needs to be wet for the breading to stick to the chicken, but what we don’t want is too much excess moisture boiling inside the chicken and creating steam.
Ingredient Quantity Grams Source
1) Bakers Flour ¾ Cup
5) Baking Powder 1 tsp
6) Caster Sugar 1½ tsp
What I found is using a cup of flour was just a waste because it made too much and the powdered egg doesn’t keep well once it is mixed with the other ingredients.
Finely grind all the Herbs and Spices into a powder with an electric spice grinder. Salt does not need to be added to the herb and spice mix because the marinade contains salt.
a) Coriander seed (grind first) ¾ KFC, 99X
b) Marjoram 1¼ My guess
c) Sage ¾ 99X, Secretary
d) Summer Savoury 1¼ Col. Sanders, Secretary
e) Garlic Powder 2½ KFC
f) Onion Powder 1¾ KFC
h) Cayenne Pepper ¼ My guess
i) Ginger 1 99X, Sexton (?)
j) Black Pepper 2½ 99X
k) Allspice ½ KFC (1952)
l) Smoked Paprika 2 KFC (extract)
m) White Pepper 1 99X
p) Turmeric 1 KFC (extract)
q) MSG (E621) 1½ KFC, 99X
r) I+G Flavour Enhancer (E635) ½ KFC
Allow the chicken pieces to return to room temperature before starting the breading process.
Thoroughly mix the remaining ground herbs and spices into the flour, powdered eggs and milk. The cleanest way to do this is to place the lot into a Ziploc bag and shake the contents around several times until they are well-blended. Sift the seasoned flour twice. This seasoned flour mix is more than enough to double coat 9 to 12 chicken pieces.
Bowl A contains 1 Cup of the brine solution with 2 teaspoons of cooking oil whisked into it.
• Dip the chicken pieces one at a time into Bowl A.
• Shake off any excess liquid
• Place the chicken piece into Bowl B then fold and press it into the flour 7 times
• Shake and tap off any excess seasoned flour.
• Wait for 5 to 10 minutes for the first coat of breading to become wet before folding and pressing it in the seasoned flour again 7 times
• Shake and tap off any excess seasoned flour.
• Let the chicken breading set for about 5 to 10 minutes before frying.
The spicy flour mix must be pressed onto the chicken to make sure it sticks during frying.
Just before frying, roll the chicken pieces in the spicy flour mix again. Shake and tap off any excess.
A trainer in an old KFC training video first fries the chicken in an open pressure oil fryer to obtain the correct colour. KFC cook their chicken at 320 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (160 to 176 C). The lid is then closed once the chicken reaches the correct colour and pressure cooked. When the chicken is removed from the pressure oil fryer it is ‘rested’ in an oven set at 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60C) for 20 minutes to complete the cooking process.
Most people don’t own a pressure oil fryer like KFC uses to cook fried chicken. Frying chicken at home using an Airfryer, Deep Fryer or Oven are safe alternatives to using household pressure cookers that aren’t designed to deep-fry with oil. Most domestic pressure fryers only heat to a maximum temperature of 250 F (121 C) which is too low to fry the chicken so it is safe to eat.
• Cooked chicken has an internal temperature of 165 F or 75 C
• Domestic deep fryers lose the oil temperature faster than commercial fryers
• Frying 3 or 4 pieces of chicken at a time is recommended to help maintain the oil temperature. The chicken pieces must be at room temperature going into the fryer to ensure even cooking times.
• Preheat the oil before attempting to fry chicken pieces and test the temperature. The oil temperature should be between 330 F and 350 F (165 to 175 C)
• Oil temperature is a critical success factor.
• If the oil temperature is too high the breading burns and the seasoning loses its flavour before the chicken is cooked inside.
• If the oil temperature is too low the chicken dries out inside because it takes longer to fry. The chicken also absorbs more oil and tastes greasier.
• The chicken breast pieces will begin to float in the hot oil when they are cooked.
• Test the internal temperature of the chicken pieces at 5 minutes to estimate the remaining frying time. I am finding 3 pieces take about 7 minutes to reach 165 F.
All the ingredients contained in this document should be first carefully reviewed before trying this recipe.
• Being aware of the presence of any substance that may cause an adverse reaction or another undesirable health effect in some consumers.
• Ensuring the chicken or any other perishable goods used when cooking this fried chicken recipe haven’t gone off and are safe to consume.
• Ensuring the fried chicken created using this recipe is properly cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F or 74o C with a cooking thermometer.
• Indemnifying the original author from any legal action whatsoever taken by anyone who cooks or consumes the product of this recipe.
"That is the original 11 herbs and spices that were supposed to be so secretive," he (Joe Ledington) says with conviction.
In a subsequent phone interview with a Tribune editor, Ledington dialled back his certainty and expressed reluctance about sharing a recipe that — if it's legit — ranks among corporate America's most closely guarded secrets. "It could be; I don't know for sure," he said. Chicago Tribune Aug 20, 2016
My online research took me in several directions when I first started experimenting with copycat KFC recipes.
• Colonel Sanders initially cooked fried chicken using Sextons Poultry Seasoning that contained Sage, Coriander, Allspice, Ginger, Thyme, Marjoram, Black Pepper and Savory.
He said Savoury was an ingredient in a 1967 TV ad and stated most people would have the 11 secret herbs and spices in their kitchen during another TV appearance
His former secretary said his mother had taught him to cook fried chicken using Sage and Savoury during a later interview.
• 1952 KFC allegedly contained Bay leaves, Black and White Pepper, Cardamom, Chilli Flakes, Cloves, Coriander, Ginger, MSG, Sage, Savoury and Vanilla Bean.
• Marion Kay Chicken Seasoning formula 99X is a well-known substitute for KFC seasoning that was once linked to Colonel Sanders. The 99X product label lists Black and White pepper, Coriander (seeds), Sage, Salt plus other herbs and spices as ingredients.
• The KFC ingredient guide contain a lot of obscure information about colourings, enhancers, flavours and ingredients; Chicken Flavour, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Garlic Powder, MSG, Onion Powder and Salt. Annatto, Citrus, Paprika and Turmeric extractives. Citrus, Rice flour and Sesame are base ingredients in Lemon pepper that also contains 36% Black Pepper.
I don’t think the 1952 to 1971 version of the recipe is authentic. Colonel Sanders sold the KFC franchise and formula in 1964. KFC franchisees were bound by a contract to directly purchase the pre-packaged secret seasoning directly from KFC. It is not plausible even a disgruntled Colonel Sanders or the new owners of KFC would erode the franchise’s commercial value by giving the franchisees the exact ingredients and quantities, period.
KFC’s new owners also took successful legal action to prevent Marion Kay from selling chicken seasoning to rogue KFC franchisees. I am led to believe they also forced Marion Kay to change their formula, and the rogue franchisees to honour their contract by only purchasing the pre-packaged secret seasoning directly from KFC.
The interesting part of all this legal action for me is the rogue franchisees were able to pass off Marion Kays chicken seasoning as KFC.
How I developed this recipe for fried chicken is by trial and error, solving one issue at a time as more information became available.
• If the four pieces of information I found were more reliable than the Ledington recipe they formed a pathway and timeline from Colonel Sanders to corporate KFC.
• Cardamom was competing with Sage and so I removed it.
• Cloves weren’t needed if Allspice was used and reduced the chance of some customers having an allergic reaction to cloves.
• Ground celery seed would have competed with the ground coriander seed. Sextons Poultry Seasoning, the 1952 recipe and Marion Kay all used Coriander seed, so it won out.
• Vanilla bean could be substituted with less expensive sugar.
Corporate KFC also used a number of colouring agents, flavour enhancers and extractives, some of which I couldn’t buy online or at my local supermarket. I was forced to compromise and use what I could actually purchase, such as Annatto mixed with cornflour, Lemon Peel (Citrus), Smoked Paprika, and Turmeric.
MSG and E635 I+G flavour enhancer were purchased on eBay. Oxo Chicken Stock Cubes contained several of the ingredients listed in the corporate KFC product information.
The next issue to solve was how to brine the chicken so it was flavoursome throughout the entire meat. I solved this by injecting some concentrated brine formula into the chicken meat before adding the three extra cups of water to make the marinade. This approach greatly improved the internal flavour of the fried chicken.
There were snippets of information and some great ideas in online cooking articles, forums and video clips about how to create breaded chicken, and fry it correctly. This was all a big learning curve for someone with absolutely no professional culinary training; I am definitely not a Chef and knew very little about herbs or spices at the outset.
Where I’ve ended up is creating fried chicken to the best of my ability that leaves a lingering pleasant aftertaste and isn’t overly juicy inside.
Imperial and Metric
Americans cook with Imperial volumes. Australians and Europeans use Metric volumes.
Converting dry ingredients from Imperial cups to metric (grams) and vice versa can get tricky unless changing from ounces to grams.
• Herbs and spices weigh different amounts per Cup, Tablespoon or teaspoon.
• Imperial Tablespoons are 15 ml whereas a Metric Tablespoon is 20 ml.
• Teaspoons are 5 ml in both systems.
This may explain why American recipes never quite taste the same in Australia or Europe when the ingredients are measured in Tablespoons.
My recipe uses Imperial volumes
1 Cup = 240 ml
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) = 15 ml
1 Teaspoon (Tsp) = 5 ml
Part A Marinade
Ingredient Quantity
1) Water 3 Cups
2) Salt 2 tsp
3) Oxo Chicken Stock Cube 1 cube
4) Caster Sugar 1½ tsp
5) Seasoning 1 Tbsp
Dissolve the salt, stock cube, and sugar in 1 cup of warm water and add 1 Tablespoon of the seasoning. Mix well.
Inject a small amount of this concentrated brine into each of the chicken pieces with a Marinating syringe. These cost $20 on eBay and are a great investment. The idea is to put a bit of the concentrated brine solution into the centre of the chicken meat without going overboard. Then add the remaining 2 cups of water to the concentrated brine solution to create the marinade.
Marinate the chicken pieces in a container or Ziploc bag for 6 to 12 hours in the fridge.
• Don’t rinse the chicken pieces when they come out of the marinade.
• Cover the chicken pieces on a plate with paper towels on top and bottom to remove any excess marinade. Thoroughly dry off the chicken pieces before breading. This might seem counterproductive because the chicken pieces will be quickly dipped in some of the marinate during the breading process.
• Steam escaping from inside the chicken during frying is what causes the breading to separate and fall off. The idea here is the surface of the chicken needs to be wet for the breading to stick to the chicken, but what we don’t want is too much excess moisture boiling inside the chicken and creating steam.
Part B Flour Mix
1) Bakers Flour ¾ Cup
2) Corn Flour 2 Tbsp
3) Powdered Egg 1½ Tbsp
4) Powdered Milk ½ Tbsp 5) Baking Powder 1 tsp
6) Caster Sugar 1½ tsp
I prefer white meat which is higher in protein so don’t really cook any drumsticks or thighs.
The quantity of herbs and spices to flour mix is approximately 31.8% This amount of flour mix is more than enough to double coat 3 to 4 large skinless chicken breasts each cut into 4 pieces. What I found is using a cup of flour was just a waste because it made too much and the powdered egg doesn’t keep well once it is mixed with the other ingredients.
Part C Seasoning
Ingredient Teaspoons Source
a) Coriander seed (grind first) ¾ KFC, 99X
b) Marjoram 1¼ My guess
c) Sage ¾ 99X, Secretary
d) Summer Savoury 1¼ Col. Sanders, Secretary
e) Garlic Powder 2½ KFC
f) Onion Powder 1¾ KFC
h) Cayenne Pepper ¼ My guess
i) Ginger 1 99X, Sexton (?)
j) Black Pepper 2½ 99X
k) Allspice ½ KFC (1952)
l) Smoked Paprika 2 KFC (extract)
m) White Pepper 1 99X
Additives/ extractives
n) Annatto and Cornflour mix ½ KFC (colouring)
o) Citrus (lemon peel) ¼ KFCp) Turmeric 1 KFC (extract)
q) MSG (E621) 1½ KFC, 99X
r) I+G Flavour Enhancer (E635) ½ KFC
Breading process
Thoroughly mix the remaining ground herbs and spices into the flour, powdered eggs and milk. The cleanest way to do this is to place the lot into a Ziploc bag and shake the contents around several times until they are well-blended. Sift the seasoned flour twice. This seasoned flour mix is more than enough to double coat 9 to 12 chicken pieces.
Method
Bowl B contains seasoned flour.
• Shake off any excess liquid
• Place the chicken piece into Bowl B then fold and press it into the flour 7 times
• Shake and tap off any excess seasoned flour.
• Wait for 5 to 10 minutes for the first coat of breading to become wet before folding and pressing it in the seasoned flour again 7 times
• Shake and tap off any excess seasoned flour.
• Let the chicken breading set for about 5 to 10 minutes before frying.
The spicy flour mix must be pressed onto the chicken to make sure it sticks during frying.
Crispy Chicken
KFC Cooking Process
Most people don’t own a pressure oil fryer like KFC uses to cook fried chicken. Frying chicken at home using an Airfryer, Deep Fryer or Oven are safe alternatives to using household pressure cookers that aren’t designed to deep-fry with oil. Most domestic pressure fryers only heat to a maximum temperature of 250 F (121 C) which is too low to fry the chicken so it is safe to eat.
My Deep Frying Process
Chicken breast, drumsticks, and thin strips (tenders) have different frying times. White meat (chicken breast) and tenders (smaller and thin strips) fry quicker than brown meat such as drumsticks and thighs.
• Domestic deep fryers lose the oil temperature faster than commercial fryers
• Frying 3 or 4 pieces of chicken at a time is recommended to help maintain the oil temperature. The chicken pieces must be at room temperature going into the fryer to ensure even cooking times.
• Preheat the oil before attempting to fry chicken pieces and test the temperature. The oil temperature should be between 330 F and 350 F (165 to 175 C)
• Oil temperature is a critical success factor.
• If the oil temperature is too high the breading burns and the seasoning loses its flavour before the chicken is cooked inside.
• If the oil temperature is too low the chicken dries out inside because it takes longer to fry. The chicken also absorbs more oil and tastes greasier.
• The chicken breast pieces will begin to float in the hot oil when they are cooked.
• Test the internal temperature of the chicken pieces at 5 minutes to estimate the remaining frying time. I am finding 3 pieces take about 7 minutes to reach 165 F.
The breading needs time to adhere to the chicken as it is frying, so the less it is handled during the frying process, the better the chance it will stick to the chicken. Turn the chicken over halfway into the frying time, but then leave it alone until it has cooked.
When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the deep fryer, drain off any excess oil and place it on a couple of paper towels for a minute or two. Then check the internal temperature before putting the chicken pieces into a preheated Airfryer or oven set at 140 F (60 C) for 5 to finish off the cooking process. Test the internal temperature again to make sure it is around 165 F (75C) to ensure the chicken is properly cooked.
Korean Style Double Fried Chicken
Fry the chicken for half of the cooking time before removing it from the oil. Let the chicken pieces cool down for 30 minutes before putting them back into the deep fryer to finish cooking. This method should create crispy Korean double-fried chicken.
Disclaimer
Anybody using this fried chicken recipe bears full responsibility for
• Ensuring the chicken or any other perishable goods used when cooking this fried chicken recipe haven’t gone off and are safe to consume.
• Ensuring the fried chicken created using this recipe is properly cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F or 74o C with a cooking thermometer.
• Indemnifying the original author from any legal action whatsoever taken by anyone who cooks or consumes the product of this recipe.
I have no formal training in the culinary arts and am not a Chef. This recipe was created in good faith, to the best of my ability, using information freely available online and tested before being published in the public domain.
