11 secret herbs and spices revealed!

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I can't remember the last time

I ate at KFC........but if I can be honest, I think I remember it being pretty good. Maybe I just got lucky. I hardly ever eat out. I know I always LOVED their cole slaw.
 
I haven't had KFC in probably about 12 yrs, but I used to really love the original recipe breasts, they were very moist and flavorful. But their corn, 2 thumbs down, ditto the mashed potatoes and gravy. The biscuits, cole slaw and fries were always pretty good. Anyone remember that when it was Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken they served yeast rolls instead of baking powder biscuits?

Many yrs ago, when a teenager still living at homeI tried to make fried chicken in a 6 qt. Wearever PC using the recipe that was in the Wearever cookbook that came with it. Ach, mein got in Himmel, was it ever terrible! The bones actually got almost soft enough to bend, it tasted nasty and greasy. I always made pretty good fried chicken before that and after, the old fashioned way in a frying pan. My maternal Grandma was from Kansas, she always heavily salted the cut up chicken and covered it with cold water and let it soak for a few hours or overnight. When I asked her why she did this, she said it would draw the poison out of it. These was long before brining became popular. Of course she would then dredge it in lightly seasoned flour and then fry it. I've done it this way and it comes out so tender and juicy. The women in my family were all from the Mid West and they could all get a good scald on the chicken. And no one could make milk gravy like my Mom, I come close, but hers was heavenly.
Eddie
[this post was last edited: 8/30/2016-00:10]
 
When I grill a whole chicken I always soak it in cold water for a hour or two, as my mother taught me.  Then I rub it with olive oil and season it heavily inside and out with salt and Mrs. Dash.  Let it sit overnight in the fridge then onto the grill the next day.   Always has great flavor, and am often asked how I get my chicken to taste so good.

 

My mother used to fry chicken, recall as a little kid she made a massive amount for a neighbor's daughter's graduation party, never saw so much home fried chicken.
 
Reason why so many purchase Kosher chicken

Even if not observant Jews is that it has already been put through the brining process. Tried a pack or two several months ago and found the chicken too salty tasting for my preferences.

However yes, brining before cooking most poultry will give excellent results. Same as marinating pork and some other meats before cooking.

Thing about pressure frying (besides safety of the device being used) is that you need a powerful heat source to keep oil/fat in the proper range for large amounts of chicken being done at one time.

Frying chicken in a pan you can spread things out, move them about and take out individually when done. A pressure fryer like deep frying suffers from immersing many pieces of chicken at once; this will cause the oil to rapidly drop and must then recover. The key to successful frying of any food is to keep the fat/oil within a certain range. This is what makes the difference between crispy and delicious results versus a grease laden and soggy hot mess.

Commercial broaster/pressure fryers work at about 15psi and can be heated by gas or electric. Either source requires more power/fuel than can be supplied by standard domestic service I shouldn't wonder.

Other thing about domestic pressure cookers is that the vintage ones have long gone out of production, so finding new gaskets may prove difficult if not impossible. Because of time and use the gaskets take a beating and should be replaced as needed. Even a NOS Wearever Chicken Bucket that has been sitting on a shelf for twenty or more years may need a new gasket as the original is dried out and cracked. [this post was last edited: 8/31/2016-18:49]
 
So it is said one cannot use a small pressure cooker ...

Oil under pressure and high heat has different properties than water. Frying under pressure in a vessel not designed for such a procedure can cause serious harm.

Wearever rethought the pressure cooker for their "chicken bucket" in that only a small amount of oil is used, and at temp of only 350F. The gasket is of a material designed to withstand repeated contact with hot oil, and pressure is kept to low level.

Cooking under pressure is usually done at either 15psi or around 5-9psi. Most domestic pressure cookers only have one setting, 15psi (high). Others have both a high and low setting which can be reached by adjusting/changing settings/weights. My Magefessa stainless steel set has both a "high" and "low" setting but the weight/control is built in.

http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-psi-faq-the-stuff-you-didnt-think-to-ask/

While commercial pressure fryers can and often are rated for 15psi (high), Wearever and others use lower (around 9psi) for safety reasons. Attempting to put even just several ounces of fat or oil heated to 400F under 15psi for a domestic pressure cooker is asking for trouble.

Because commercial broasters reach a much higher PSI they can do larger batches of food quickly. OTOH the Wearever Chicken Bucket only allows for a few pieces at one time. This is one of the reasons didnt' really bother much with the thing after a few uses. Could fry more chicken faster and with less bother in a cast iron skillet.

Suppose if you were only doing enough chicken for one or two people the thing might be ok. But when I fry chicken it is maybe one, two or more whole birds (depending upon how many being served, and of course everyone loves leftover fried chicken the next day....). So doing about three pieces at a time is just not going to fly.
 
Back on topic

Those "secret" "eleven herbs and spices" are pretty much generic to what most persons season chicken with IMHO. Use Bell's poultry seasoning which has most of the things listed. A bit of Lawry's seasoned salt and some other "tricks" then you are good to go.

For some really great flavored roasted or grilled chicken try putting some crushed basil leaves mashed together with a bit of butter under the skin before cooking.
 
I have always liked KFC chicken, and I still do, as long as it comes from a properly-staffed location.  I also like their slaw, but we don’t buy any other sides.  The potatoes in particular are revolting.

 

I’m kind of proud of myself for coming up with almost everything on that list from my own effort to copy the recipe.  I never guessed dried basil, but I got all the rest and came up with a pretty good mix.  The one flavor that I knew was in there but that I couldn’t quite measure correctly was the dried ginger.  I always ended up with too much or too little.  Now I can’t wait to try the proportions given here.

 

Full disclosure: I would have known without ever tasting the chicken that most of those ingredients would be included.  They are classic fried-chicken ingredients, especially in recipes from the 1950s, when the colonel got started.  But from tasting, I also knew there was ginger in there, but no one believed me till they tasted my recipe.

 

Brining has a funny history for me.  My great-aunt, like a lot of people of her generation, always dropped the chicken into salt water for several hours or overnight.  She said it was to draw out the blood, and it did do a bit of that.  I never thought of it as affecting the flavor, other than getting the salt into the meat and not just on the surface.  But as it turns out, brining was the real secret to her success.  Now we all know why grandma’s chicken was the best!!
 
I soak my chicken

In buttermilk...As for pressure frying, the Colonel started out with a model 40 Presto..then went to Mirro Matics, the one I have is a standard 16 quart model, the only difference is the weight on top..it has a screw in the middle so you can let off the pressure quickly.
 
Dumb question here:

When pressure frying, not that I would try it because I'm chicken, do you bring the oil up to temp then put the chicken in and seal the cooker?   How much oil is used?  I would assume the chicken is immersed. 

 

My Grandma used to fry her chicken after soaking in buttermilk overnight.  then she would steam it for about 15 minutes, then put it back I the grease and crisp it up. 

 

I can't ever get this to work, if I try steaming, I end up with the breading falling off.  I just fry it and then finish in the oven. 
 
KFC is okay

I don't know if maybe they use a different oil to fry with now...but I don't recall it being so greasy back in the day as now. I like KFC, I can eat a small piece and I'm good..more than that and I've got indigestion for 24 hours. With the exception of KFC slaw, the side items are plain garbage. I think one could hang wallpaper with thier mashed potatoes and I'd be scared to find out what chemicials are in the brown gravey ..I hate to admitt this...but..I love their chicken livers. Can't do a lot of them anymore because of the gut and not to mention the amount of salt they dump on them..but sweet jesus...they are so good. Not all KFC's have livers.. but usually there's one or two in town that carry them.

I've tried pressure frying once..ummmm...the chicken was soggy and stickey. I'm going to try the herb mix but I think I'll just fry the tradional way
 
" you bring the oil up to temp then put the chicken in a

All pressure cookers have a minimum level of water that is required to bring up pressure. Doing pressure frying is no different. On the Wearever there is a line mark on outside of pot indicting the maximum oil line.

Cannot speak for other types of contraptions, but with the Wearever you bring oil up to temp (350F), brown a few pieces of chicken for a few minutes (turning occasionally), then put on and secure lid. Once the pressure is reached you adjust by monitoring how the weight is "dancing". Chicken is allowed to "fry" for number of indicated minutes then heat is turned off, and pressure released using "quick" method.

Once pressure is release you remove lid and take out chicken. If you are doing another batch lather, rinse, and repeat.....

One of the main problems with stove top pressure frying is you have no real way to know oil temp once lid is on. If it goes to high and remains there you'll open the lid to burnt chicken and rancid oil.
 
A few years back the local KFC was undercooking their chicken. I returned it. Later they fixed their act and it got better, but it's still kind of gross.

 

I used to buy their 10 pc buckets when they went on sale with coupons in the local paper for $10/8pc dark. Now the price has jumped to $14/8pc, and at that point I figure it's better just to go to Costco and get one of their rotisserie chickens for $5. It works out to be about the same as the 8 pc dark, in terms of meat. And it's probably healthier as well.

 

For years I believed a story that the "11 secret herbs and spices" was really just salt and pepper. Well, now we know it's more than just that, but it sounds like it's mostly salt anyway.

 

As for pressure frying/pan frying/etc. It's almost always better to slow cook any meat. After the initial searing/browning, turn the heat way down and let the meat absorb the heat slowly. Will almost always come out more tender without being overcooked. When I pan fry a steak, I just sear it on both sides, cook it for a couple of minutes under low heat on each side, turn off the heat (gas) then cover the pan and let it rest on the unlit burner for 5-10 minutes. The steak comes out (usually) medium rare and very tender. I do something similar with the outdoor grill, except transfer the steak to a new dish and cover with another dish, and then let it rest 5-10.

 

For whole chickens at home, I use the rotisserie attachment on the BBQ grill. Works great. For pieces like thighs, use the same Lodge cast iron grill griddle I use for steaks. The combination of grilling and baking (covered BBQ) means they get nice and golden crisp on outside but tender juicy inside. Same thing about heat... after initial searing/crisping, turn the heat way down and let time do its magic.

 
 
That goes for most

of any grandamothers cooking, no? Their cupcakes were moist and tasy, their meatballs spicy and delicious, the most tender pastas and gnocci, sweetest all day sauce, breaded cauliflower, chicken, roast beef, home made sausage, breads, apple sauce cake, Christmas cookies, and that was just from one of mine.
 
8-Piece Original Recipe, Cole Slaw, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy!

One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Six-Years-Ago, the man who would make fried chicken a fast-food commodity was born!

Happy Birthday, Harlan Sanders...

 

 

-- Dave

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More on DaveAMKrayoGuy's Colonel Buffet:

Think there was one time that me, my sister and a friend drove by our nearby KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN and our friend (who was driving us) said: "Oooh, look! There's the Colonel! He's getting out of his limo!" And sure enough I do remember seeing Colonel Sanders, himself, coming out of a Cadillac limosene with someone having an umbrella over him--it was a rather gray day out... There was a story in the paper of him with a picture of him blowing out Ninety Candles on a giant birthday cake with a hairdryer, just before learning of him dying a month or so, afterwards... -- Dave

[this post was last edited: 9/9/2016-23:38]
 

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