MANNYS FORAY INTO THE COLONELS GREAT SECRET
I am a professional chef and I have been following these KFC message boards for some time. After a year and a half of researching and trial-and-error I have formulated a
recipe that finally breaks the secret. I cannot say it is THE recipe because I may be off by a fraction of a percent of an ounce here or there, but I am confident that it is 99.98% accurate.
I will reveal this recipe on June 24th so that people on other KFC message forums will have time to find my posts and come to this message board. Tomorrow evening (June 22) I will post some info on my background, some theories, and findings I encountered along the way of breaking this secret recipe. And on Thursday I'll post a "necessary equipment" list.
I'll let you all know now that I have even gone through KFC garbage bins at 3AM to find clues! My wife said I was obsessed - well I HAD to be if I really wanted to crack the code! You gotta be in it to win it, right?
My mission to find the recipe:
Ive been cooking professionally since 1993. I started out as a prep cook at a country club and eventually moved through different positions throughout other restaurants. In 1997 I left L.A. to attend the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, worked more restaurants, moved back to L.A. and eventually put in a couple years as a sous chef under Wolfgang Puck. For the past two and a half years Ive been running my own catering company and this is where I was finally able to scrape up the time to try to crack the Colonels code.
Throughout the internet all the KFC clone recipes fall under three categories:
The Wrong from the Start types These include all those recipes calling for a packet of tomato soup powder or Italian dressing mix etc. Come on folks, were talking KFC, Colonel Sanders 11 & spices not The Betty Crocker Easy Meals Cookbook.
The Spirited Attempt types - These are all those recipes where a genuine attempt was made to come upon the recipe. People turned their pantries upside down to try and find what ingredients will produce that darn flavor were in search of. These recipes were the springboard for my research.
The Conspiracy Theory types - Weve all seen these but refused to let them disillusion us. These are the hopeless souls that tell us the blend is nothing more than salt, pepper and MSG. All because of some dumb ass urban legend about so-and-so who got their hands on some breading flour and asked their buddy (who happens to work at a lab) to analyze it
*sigh*
Give me a break
My wife worked with a geezer that worked for KFC for like twenty years. I began by picking his brain for anything he could offer procedures, ratios, measurements, anything! I concocted a preliminary blend, tested it, changed it and tested it again. For every different ingredient tried I would come up with a logical explanation as to why it may be a possible candidate. In this way I was able to avoid wasting my time by testing unlikely flavorings like cardamom or fenugreek (KFC U.S.A. not KFC
Bombay!)
After a few weeks and a
lot of chickens I was onto something close. So I started going through the KFC garbage bins at the wee hours to find further clues. (Beware of the KFC trash bin at the Whittier Blvd. location, there is an unfriendly Doberman that shows up from the neighborhoods and he doesnt share!) Eventually I found a fairly dry sample of used breading flour and an empty seasoning packet with residue!
I sniffed my spice blend then I sniffed the residue in the packet. Something was missing. Back to the drawing board. I tweaked the blend. Then, I sniffed my spice blend then I sniffed the residue in the packet
Some necessary items:
*A new spice/coffee grinder be a big shot and buy a new one. This will insure that you get a proper grind and no off flavors
*A pressure cooker or a good heavy bottomed 4 quart pot for those of us that dont have a pressure cooker, I devised a way to get by with a pot.
*Candy/oil thermometer You should be able to find one of these at the supermarket. If not, you ought to find it at Smart n Final.
*An ounce scale that will accommodate at least 3 pounds - Your best
bet is at Smart n Final or any . While youre at it you may as well get your thermometer there too.
*Aluminum foil
*Unbleached AP flour
*Cake flour (not self-rising) Any market should have this. If not, where in the hell do you live?? The more popular brand is Swans Down
*Wondra The one and only
*Table salt -
as opposed to kosher salt.
*MSG Good ol Accent. Or if you live near an Asian market you can find big sacks of MSG for less than a buck.
*Liquid creamy shortening This stuff is key. I dont recall seeing this at the supermarket, but then again I never specifically looked for it there. Places like Smart n Final (once again!) or Costco or any place that sells to restaurants will have it. The only thing though is it comes in big containers of like 4 gallons. You can use two parts vegetable oil to one part Crisco shortening and get similar results; similar but just not quite the same.
Happy shopping.
The Breading Flour:
During my search and many visits to KFC I would look straight back into the kitchen for any telltale clues. What clues are gonna rat themselves out today? Id think.
Can I help you?" It was the girl at the counter. I gave my order to [be] rid of this pest standing between me and my mission.
Oh
uh, yeah, a two piece meal
thighs please. I noticed several paper sacks on a stainless steel rack in the kitchen. They appeared to be flour sacks but I just wanted to be sure. Straining my eyes I made out KFC BREADING FLOUR.
Aha! I thought,
theres more to this than just the secret spice mix. My head by this time was crooked over the counter.
Heres your order. The girl handed me the bag.
Thanks. I walked out
What a creep. She probably thought to herself,
I bet he was looking at my ass. Which I did notice by the way, but I was on a different mission. And Im married already.
That day led to another late night trash dig to find the breading sacks I had overlooked on past scavenge hunts. I found none, but I did come across two white envelopes which looked like the sacred seasoning pouches.
More spice residue. I smiled shoving them into my backpack.
Maybe Ill have more luck at the Santa Fe Springs KFC
sh*t!! The dogs coming!!
I drove to the Santa Fe Springs location and found the breading bags there! You know that feeling? The one when youre on to something, doing something that you maybe shouldnt
but youre on to something! Your heart jumps with that big rush of adrenaline, then you gotta pee. It always happens like that. I grabbed the bags and walked straight to the street lamp. KFC Breading Flour. It read, Ingredients: Wheat Flour.
Aw hell! I went home.
Mix the following:
1 cup unbleached AP flour
1 cup cake flour this makes the breading more tender because it has a lower gluten level.
¾ cup Wondra Although not comprised totally of wheat, it gives the overall breading mixture a slight coarseness
actually just the right amount.
I found out later that although the KFC Breading Flour was nothing more than wheat flour, it is specially milled for them and it isnt quite as fine as our standard AP flour. So my romp through the garbage bins that night wasn't in total vain.
Eleven Herbs and Spices (count em!)
1. 1 Tblsp + 1/2 Tsp Black Peppercorns
2. 2 Tsp White Peppercorns
3. 1&1/2 Tsp Dried Onions
4. 1/4 Tsp Ground Allspice
5. 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg freshly grated. Dont pack it. Just spoon it up.
6. 3/4 Tsp Caraway Seeds
7. 1/4 Tsp Celery Seeds
8. 1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme (not powdered)
9. 1/2 Tsp Dried Sage (rubbed sage, not powdered. Dont pack it)
10. 1/2 of a Bay Leaf Use Turkish bay leaves not Californian. Take a large leaf and break it off around the edges of a quarter thats the perfect size.
11. 1&1/2 Tsp Paprika Sweet Hungarian
Measure out the black peppercorns first into their own separate dish or cup
what have you. Now measure all the rest of the spices except the paprika into the grinder. Grind until pretty well pulverized. Add ½ tsp of the black peppercorns into the grinder with your pulverized spices and continue grinding until youve got a powder. Measure in the paprika and give it a quick whirl to mix it in good. Now pour this into a bowl and spank the grinder a bit to make sure you get out very last molecule of spice blend.
Pour the rest of the black peppercorns into the grinder and grind them fine, but just not quite as powdered like the rest of the ingredients. Add the ground pepper to the bowl with the rest of the mix and incorporate it well with a fork.
Add the finished salt mix and incorporate it well into your spice mix.
It should now weigh out to about 4 - 4 ½ ounces. It is ready for use at this point but will do better if closed up in a tight container and left to sit in the cupboard for about three days to a week (give it a little shake every day). This gives the aromas time to meld into one homogenous aroma and mellows out some of the initial assertiveness of freshly ground spices. Since you may be anxious to test this recipe make a second batch for later and store it away.
Salt Mix:
2 oz Table Salt
1 oz MSG (Optional)
Measure the salt and MSG into the grinder and give it about four or five pulses. Dont powder it, do it just enough to break down the salt granules so they will mix well with the flour. Now add this to your spice mix and incorporate.
The Breading Flour recipe should yield about 1 lb. If not add a bit more AP flour and a small spoonful of Wondra till it reaches the 1 lb mark. Now add the entire 4-4 ½ ounces of spice/salt mix to the breading flour. Mix well and sift it a few times to make darn sure it is mixed well.
Now take:
2 X-large Egg Whites
4 oz Milk
Whisk these two items together in a bowl and set aside. You are now ready to start frying. Make sure you didnt forget to buy chicken! Ill follow up with a post on the cooking method.
Cooking Method:
This method will result in an end product that is like the KFC of 15+ years ago. The reason is that KFC now uses powdered milk and powdered egg whites mixed into the breading flour whereas in the past they used fresh milk and egg whites. If you look back at my story about the breading flour you may remember that I had found two white envelopes that I figured must have been seasoning packets. Well, it turns out they were packets containing powdered milk and egg whites with instructions to sift into the breading mix.
I plan to try that method just for the heck of it in the next few days. We all know where to find powdered milk but powdered egg whites may be a toughie for the householder. My best
bet is at a supply store. I know some pastry use powdered egg whites for meringue because its supposed to be a safer alternative to using fresh - with the whole salmonella scare and all. For myself I can easily order it from one of my wholesalers but you may want to call a cake supply store and see if its a product they carry.
Anyway
Fill a four quart pot or pressure cooker just under halfway with the creamy shortening. Never fill past halfway because itll result in a big mess and maybe even a fire. Heat the oil to 365 degrees for a pressure cooker and 275 degrees for pot-frying.
Meanwhile swish about 6 pieces of chicken parts in the milk & egg mixture until well coated. Check the temperature of your oil. When the oil is within five degrees of the wanted temperature remove the chicken from the egg wash and dredge into the flour mix. Pull out two pieces at a time and lightly tap the two pieces together to shake off the excess breading then place them on a plate. Continue with the rest.
When the respective temperatures are reached in the pots, drop in 5-6 pieces of bird.
Pressure cookers: Turn the fire down now to a simmer. Fasten the lid and cook for 12 minutes. Set a timer.
Pot fryers: Turn the flame off until the oil drops to 240 degrees. Then turn on the flame to a bare simmer. Try to keep the temperature in the realm of 240 degrees but never higher than 250! Your chicken will take about 22 minutes to cook thoroughly. Set a timer when the bird parts go into the oil because after about 15 minutes youre gonna raise the flame to medium. Use a slotted spoon to occasionally move the parts around in the pot so they cook evenly. In the last 7 or so minutes the chicken will really start taking on that characteristic golden brown color.
When your timer buzzes, whether 12 or 22 minutes, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and place onto a plate lined with paper towels. Cover with aluminum foil and let sit in a warm place for ten minutes.
Now
eat it.
Have fun!
- Manny
:lol:.
