Smallgree's musings

Sometimes, my mind races ahead as I mix new blends without pausing long enough to properly evaluate a recent mix. Even now I'm preparing to mix another recipe from pre-mixes.

But that last recipe I cooked, with breast tenders, has stood the test of time. So much so that I have hit the brakes. I went to buy livers today and will cook some up tonight (but not during the Celtic game) for a double check of this previous recipe. With good, small, skinned chicken, and a pressure fryer, this could prove to be a great recipe. It fits the vials, the seasoning bags (for the most part), Shelton's scale, and it has 6 herbs and 5 spices (counting root vegetables as vegetable herbs).

You, and most others, miss the point. MSG was discovered in some manner. The boat trip was not documented, did not need to follow federal or state laws, and was served by an unincorporated private business. My proposition, and my new recipe displays this, is that mixes were used (tomato soup, Good Seasons, Sexton's, etc.) and the chicken became so delicious that, as the business grew, and faced legal scrutiny, the mixes had to be deconstructed to discover the inert ingredients that created the "note". This explains the many variations in attempts to create a working recipe.

I've indicated this before. CHS did not appear to be creating a recipe from scratch. How would he have known when to stop with a taste he had never experienced before. He seemed to have a goal in mind, and worked diligently until he reached that goal. What goal? The great flavor that he obtained with the pre-mixes that he was trying to replicate. This is what makes sense to me.

Amid the criticism I've dealt out, I think that DFN has given valuable information that Ken's forum is blinded to. Which is the use of ingredients that were not within the "11". Garlic, onion, and celery must be in the recipe, but not in the vials. If you put them there, the recipe becomes lackluster. There has to be a reason that, due to subterfuge, court suits, cost cutting, multi-faceted recipes, and social health pressures, that the KFC recipe changed. I don't believe that there ever was just one recipe, and the one that I believe was the first one (melding now) was too large, too expensive, and too legally burdened to survive at the Corporate level.

The 1950s KFC was not like the 1970s KFC, but both were delicious. After all this time, this is the only TRUTH I have found that is uncontroverted.

Dead silence. Does that mean that Grace's has taken hold? I've used those ingredients for over 30 years. I won't share my new recipes in competition with Grace's. What says DFN? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

I've been thinking about how the OR was mixed. These are the observations.

CHS originally mixed herbs and spices on a slick garage floor (assuming it was a garage). You wouldn't mix a small amount in this manner.

CHS hired spice companies to mix his ingredients and deliver them in 100 gallon barrels (with msg in separate barrels) then used to fill 26 oz bags. It can be said that large mixes were easier to distribute, but it would have been just as expedient to buy separate ingredients in bulk, then fill the 26 oz bags.

The recipe given to Shelton was for 100g, and not for a single cook.

Instead of sending seasoning for 5 lbs of flour, KFC sent larger bags used for larger amounts of flour, 10 to 25 lbs.

CHS carried a larger container of Hs&Ss when traveling and then dipped out what he needed at each stop, rather than carrying individual containers for single cooks.

I don't believe I've ever seen any information indicating that CHS, or anybody else mixed a recipe for just one cook. Except for Ledington's.

Is it possible that CHS threw together sufficient quantities of ingredients to create the "note" and then determined that so much was needed to maintain the "essence" in individual bags that were delivered to franchisees? 26 oz could have just been an arbitrary number. Throw in what is necessary, then separate out what is needed for franchisees. The way we do it, causes decisions about how much of this to use for so much flour, and if calculations don't check out we either alter the amounts we use, or eliminate some of the ingredients.

Here is the question. Is there a threshold at which a certain amount of an ingredient loses it's "essence" if used in an amount too small? For example. if mustard is relevant to a recipe, does it lose it's effect if used at just 1/8 of a tsp? If a larger recipe is mixed with a cup of mustard, does the increased amount meld into the larger mix more efficiently, even if a single cook amount would still only contain 1/8 tsp?

I guess what I'm getting at is that most folks make mixes using very small amounts of many ingredients. On the old TCK forum, many were using 1/16 and 1/32 tsp measurements. If melding is a thing, and many are now repudiating this, then shouldn't you use enough of an element to "bleed" into the other ingredients?

I think I'm going to start making larger batches to test this theory. Throw in what I think is needed; let it meld; then measure out what makes good fried chicken. This is how I do my chili seasoning. I don't make single amounts. I make enough to fit into a quart mason jar, then use 3 TBS per pound of meat. My chili has everything included with only tomato sauce and a little water, or chicken broth needed.