from the store-with-Mrs.-Field's-cookie-recipe dept.
The Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain, now a division of Yum! Brands and rebranded KFC, has long used the proprietary nature of its seasoning blend, purportedly containing "eleven herbs and spices," as a selling point.
A Chicago Tribune travel reporter was assigned to visit and write about the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum. A member of the family of the founder of the chain showed the reporter a deceased aunt's photo album and her will, on the back of which the following recipe had been written:
11 Spices – Mix With 2 Cups White Fl.
1) 2/3 Ts Salt
2) 1/2 Ts Thyme
3) 1/2 Ts Basil
4) 1/3 Ts Origino (sic) [sic]
5) 1 Ts Celery Salt
6) 1 Ts Black Pepper
7) 1 Ts Dried Mustard
8) 4 Ts Paprika
9) 2 Ts Garlic Salt
10) 1 Ts Ground Ginger
11) 3 Ts White Pepper
Reporters prepared some chicken using breading made with the recipe. However, the flavour differed from that of the chicken served at KFC. When MSG was sprinkled on the chicken, the flavour became similar to KFC's chicken. A KFC spokesperson confirmed to the Tribune that the company uses MSG.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Sunday August 28 2016, @12:08PM
Hooray for open source food!
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 28 2016, @12:11PM
KFC is not "the best". KFC is damned good, but it isn't "the best". I've eaten chicken prepared by a lot of people around the country, and I've often eaten chicken that is better than KFC.
Is there a "secret ingredient"? Well, the article suggests MSG. I know from experience that MSG makes almost everything taste better - but MSG is supposedly worse than table salt for your body. Long ago, I used and abused MSG because it makes things so tasty, but when I learned that it's bad for you, I stopped using it.
But, with or without MSG, housewives across the country make chicken as good as, or better than, KFC.
That doesn't stop me craving Kentucky Fried. That original recipe crispy fried chicken keeps drawing me back. MSG or not, sometimes I've just gotta have it. Unless some concerned lady steps forward and offers me something better, I'm off to KFC.
I may just go today. Mmmm - mmmm, finger licking good!
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Sunday August 28 2016, @12:20PM
Citation needed.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/ [fivethirtyeight.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @12:43PM
> KFC is damned good
(Score: 1) by drgibbon on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:29PM
I did have laugh at that one :D
Certified Soylent Fresh!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:22PM
> MSG is supposedly worse than table salt for your body
Table salt isn't bad for your body. There is no scientific evidence (no, that rat study where they eat ungodly quantities doesn't mean shit).
> KFC is good
Found the American.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:45PM
Table salt isn't bad for your body. There is no scientific evidence
For a science experiment try to find evidence. Its hard! I ended up at the American Heart Association where all they have is rhetoric specifically appeals to authority. Its almost as bad as the decades of anti-fat high-carb being profoundly devout and authoritarian but mostly being wrong and highly successful at plumping people up. So the PR campaign following the techniques of a known lie doesn't prove that sodium-heart-disease is a lie, but its suspicious looking.
There is a side issue that in processed food industry, low salt = high carb, replace salt with (profitable) sugar or corn syrup. So low-sodium is going to inherently plump people up pretty effectively and fat people have heart problems so this is going to mess with the results.
The best I can find from the opposition that is vaguely scientific is:
http://www.livescience.com/51689-salt-high-blood-pressure.html [livescience.com]
Two parallel problems exist. What dieticians call "normal" sodium intake is only about 4% of the population. So when the industry refers to "high intake" that's actually normal. Furthermore like "many" diet issues there's a bathtub curve where minimum death rate isn't at zero intake, but per the article the lowest rate of death corresponds to 3 to 6 grams of salt per day.
I guess what I'm getting at is there's nothing wrong with the curve can be a mix of a linear ramp up to 2 g and then U shaped from 2 to 10 g where its simultaneously true that going from ultra low 1g to extremely low 1.5 g results in an increase in illness, while its also true that global minimum death rate far below either 1g or 1.5g exists between 3 and 6 grams.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @04:16PM
Can't remember the reference, but I read about one study that showed that high salt was bad for about 10% of the population - so bad that those 10% were enough to skew the average result of salt studies to "salt is really bad for you."
In reality high salt is really bad for that 10%. The rest of the people just piss out excess salt with no problems.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday August 28 2016, @08:19PM
The rest of the people just piss out excess salt with no problems.
Yes AC, if it helps remembering, it was something to do with people with failing kidneys but not (yet) failed enough for dialysis, if they can't pee out the salt like most of us can, water will accumulate in their blood to keep the salinity constant (or attempt to make more constant, anyway) and higher total volume of blood has a fairly predictable effect on systemic pressure.
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/what-is-renal-hypertension [webmd.com]
Its really quite unfortunate, because one organ that doesn't tolerate high blood pressure very well is the kidneys. So it can rapidly turn into a spiraling failure mode where high pressure results in kidney damage that results in higher pressure that results in more kidney damage and its either gonna stabilize or they're gonna die.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday August 28 2016, @11:19PM
These days, people with chronic/gradual renal failure are put on blood pressure pills as soon as their kidneys start to jack the pressure up in order to disrupt the damage spiral. Dialysis isn't performed until the end-stage, I believe.
That said, if my case is anything to go by, CRF patients can sink relatively far into failure without having problems handling salt and with the high BP as the only clear symptom. (You know you're a geek when you discover that the end stage of your likely-terminal condition causes headaches, and your first thought is a snarky "I don't want to go to heaven with a headache, I'd be all cross and wouldn't enjoy it!")
(Score: 1) by Francis on Sunday August 28 2016, @06:06PM
The original recommendation to limit sodium intake was based upon a report of 8 hypertension patients in France that also had high sodium levels. For most people, there's no reason to cut down on their sodium levels and several reasons to increase them. It's been rather hot here lately, in the '80s and '90s and most folks around here don't have airconditioning because it's not hot like this for very long typically and we tend to discourage wasting energy.
It's also rather dry around here, the humidity today is up to 50%, but the day before yesterday when it was much hotter, it was 33% humdity. As a result people tend to sweat a lot and if they're already on one of those ill-conceived of low sodium diets, it's relatively easy to wash and sweat the last bits of sodium out of the body and wind up un-pickling the brain.
If a person has high sodium levels and hypertension, then it's worth considering a reduction in sodium intake, but it's reckless and irresponsible to recommend that all people keep to a low-sodium diet when there's absolutely no evidence to back the assertion.
Because we're no longer allowed to conduct extreme research to really nail the causation and mechanism, we have to use inductive reasoning on things like this. Consequently, you can't typically say for sure whether or not the cause of the problem is such and such, you can only rate the likelihood of causation. Hence in cases like fat, sodium and cholesterol a blanket recommendation of something other than moderation is reckelss, irresponsible and potentially fatal for many people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @03:09PM
Table salt is required to live. Both sodium ions and chlorine ions are required for your body to function. Too much salt increases your sodium ion levels which is supposed to increase your blood pressure, so if you've already got high BP you're advised to watch your sodium intake, not just salt. You can't live without salt.
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Wednesday August 31 2016, @07:00PM
One out of one M-113 creatures agree!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @05:48AM
>Found the American
Man, I can't even eat KFC here in the States anymore. 'S awful, might as well go to Popeyes.
KFC in Trinidad though, now that's good. Not amazing, but decent.
AFAIK, they change the recipe for each region of the world they sell in.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:39PM
KFC is ok, but do you have an opinion on Lee's Famous Recipe?
Personally I tend to go for the latter over the former.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by art guerrilla on Sunday August 28 2016, @02:15PM
KFC is 'okay', original recipe or extra crunchy...
BUT, i gotta say, i LOVE that chicken from popeyes...
the spicy version, might be crack cocaine they put on it, i don't know, but whatever it is, i loves it...
of all the chain type places, that is what i like best...
but as another poster noted, your grandma is just as likely to make a great fried chicken...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @03:18PM
KFC is not "the best". KFC is damned good, but it isn't "the best".
Huh? Even Colonel Sanders didn't think KFC was good:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19780320&id=cBEiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-nMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1445,3036550&hl=en [google.com]
And I doubt it has got better since those days.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Sunday August 28 2016, @03:39PM
Actually, he said the crispy recipe was a "damnfried doughball stuck on some chicken" and also that the gravy tasted like wallpaper paste.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @03:45PM
Guess he was a more than a little disappointed by KFC's version.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Sunday August 28 2016, @06:13PM
It's funny, because wikipedia says (with citations) that he was specifically talking about a certain recipe at a certain restaurant and then that restaurant sued him for defamation.
Yet the court's judgment says he was referring to KFC in general and not to any particular restaurant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @06:28AM
If I were the judge, I'd get some independent food tasters and if his original recipe was really much better I'd let him off as it being an accurate and fair comment, and not defamation. Someone used to high standards might understandably say lower grade stuff is "wallpaper paste".
[1] He's no mild mannered chap (having lost his job before due to brawling, he's also been involved in a shootout).
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Tuesday August 30 2016, @12:26PM
That is the opposite of the way it should be. If you eat at a place and you believe it tasted like shit, and you write I thought it tasted like shit, that's not libel. This same thing was on Judge Judy awhile ago. She told the plaintiff to take a hike.
Now if you were to say all KFC's taste like shit, and you didn't eat there, that could be libelous. Bass ackwards shit going on there.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cubancigar11 on Tuesday August 30 2016, @12:51PM
Yes but Mr. Sanders held different position that us. He was the brand ambassador and was given the job to talk about all-of-KFC. In that case, saying that one restaurant is different from the franchise could very well be breach of contract. I am thinking the owners thought a lot and chose to err on his side, and the restaurant was forced to sue him personally.
(Score: 2) by n1 on Sunday August 28 2016, @03:35PM
I don't know what gender, employment or marital status has to do with the ability to season and cook chicken.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @04:51PM
Xenosociologist here. These are things that are typically passed from mother to daughter in the incubator/assistant caste. It's how the this species is comfortable functioning and not the only one in the galaxy with a caste system that springs from biological function. See society code 4G4 on Galactica (local mirror [barnard.cs.subspace]).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @05:13PM
Old bigot is bigotted. News at 11.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 28 2016, @05:51PM
Heh - AC answered quite well. Most of the good cooks I know are housewives, homemakers, mothers, or whatever you wish to call them. They learned from their mothers. There ARE good cooks who are not mothers, but most are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @01:46AM
Like all bigots you suck at math. It isn't about the fact that many good cooks are housewives. It is that the overwhelming majority of housewives are average cooks. Being a housewife is not usefully predictive of cooking ability, especially of fried chicken.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Sunday August 28 2016, @07:25PM
This disqualifies your opinion of friend chicken.
KFC is best described as greasy and gross. And their sides are laughable yet palatable compared to Popeye's. Popeye's is somewhat better chicken wise but their sides are unholy. Seriously, they wouldn't serve those green beans or "macaroni and cheese" in prison. Either way, both give me instant diarrhea. It's my bodies way of saying fuck you for eating that shit. And this from the guy who can eat that shitty excuse for "mexican", taco bell drenched in diablo and fire sauce without any gastrointestinal distress.
Oh. I see. You forgot your medication. Well... never mind then.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by drgibbon on Monday August 29 2016, @12:48AM
I used to eat KFC (and drink Pepsi) nearly every day when I was younger, and I thought it was great. Fast forward 15 years and I think it is quite revolting, and if I eat it I will actually feel a little sick, pretty much straight away. KFC (and similar fast foods) really are garbage for your body, but if someone grows up eating it and never moves on to proper foods, I think it halts the usual maturation of the taste buds (that's what happened to me until I stopped eating it). The body and mind get used to extreme levels of fat, sugar, and salt, and that comes to pass for culinary delight. I only stopped eating those things because I was having health problems (specifically in the gut), and now it's hard to imagine why I would put such strain on my body every day. Apart from the obvious negative implications of massive fat, salt, and sugar intake, there's good evidence that these kinds of foods are destructive to important gut bacteria (which may even play a role in mental health). Anyway, I'm fairly sure I caused gut problems for myself through poor diet.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 29 2016, @12:57PM
You are certainly right about the taste bud training. I like fried chicken. It's bad for you so that means it tastes good. But good friend chicken vs. KFC/Popeye's is night and day. Every time I tried KFC, their batter/breading is this mushy grease soaked disaster that may or may not be crispy despite the advertised crispy attribute. And it is sometimes under or overcooked.
Best friend chicken I ever had? There used to be this pizza-ribs-fried chicken joint next to the Pink Houses (worst projects in NYC) a few minutes from where I lived in south Queens, NYC. Really heavy duty bullet proof glass completely divided the counter and kitchen from the dining area. An offset "tunnel" between the employees and the customers ensured a gun couldn't be pointed at employees. Scary place to visit at night. First time visiting was at night, went with a coworker who was an OG motherfucker. After a long day he asked if I wanted some of the best friend chicken in the city. Sure! As we walked in there was this gang banger looking dude banging on the bullet proof glass yelling "Yo, Where my chicken at!" Everyone was black save for me. After everyone realized we walked in, the whole place quieted down like the movie trope where the scratched record stops the music and the party grinds to a halt. In their minds, a white guy with a big black dude in the ghetto must have had "cops" written all over it.
Long story short, it was the best damn friend chicken I ever had. Didn't care for the biscuits but that chicken. Juicy, fresh, plump thighs and drum sticks. And the breading was thin yet really crispy. You had this satisfying spicy crunch as you bit in and they juicy chicken flavor followed. Went there a few more times on my own, during the day, and the food was always just as good. Unfortunately it closed down a while ago and is now a small shopping center.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 30 2016, @04:08AM
The other option is it could really have got worse in 15 years ;).
For example I know McD's chicken burger got worse in my country - the patty went from resembling real chicken meat to being worse than a larger chicken nugget.
And KFC got a bit worse too- they are using lower grade chicken or not washing them properly (so they have a certain smell).
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Sunday August 28 2016, @07:45PM
Before I got OCD medication (when I was untreated) I noticed that MSG had a positive effect on my OCD.
It actually helped my symptoms a bit. That and sunflower seeds, but the MSG did more.
So it might not be great for you, I'm not informed enough to tell you, but I have nothing against MSG myself. It even helped me once upon a time.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Monday August 29 2016, @10:50AM
Long ago, I used and abused MSG
Hey, me too. First it was a little MSG, maybe some recreational EDTA on the weekend and a little E628 to pick me up after work. Then I got into the heavy stuff, snorting WONFs and mainlining HFCS until one day I woke up in a sleazy hotel room wearing a rubber lizard tail with a reel-to-reel recorder taped to my chest. Since then I've gone into rehab. So kids, remember, if a creepy guy in a chefs hat offers you some food additives, just say no.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 29 2016, @11:04AM
You are nucking phutts! +20 for funny!
(Score: 1) by r_a_trip on Monday August 29 2016, @01:14PM
Glutamate is a neurotransmitter and is a natural part of the human nervous system. I highly doubt that the sodium salt form of this neurotransmitter is more deadly than the neurotransmitter itself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 30 2016, @04:17AM
And:
1) Hydrochloric acid is a natural part of the digestive system
2) Hydrogen peroxide is a natural part of the human immune system
It's the dose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity [wikipedia.org]
http://www.jpands.org/hacienda/article27.html [jpands.org]
Defenders of MSG and aspartame use, usually say: How could a substance that is used normally by the brain cause harm? This is because, glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, exists in the extracellular fluid only in very, very small concentrations --- no more than 8 to 12uM. When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this level, the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the cells undergo this specialized process of delayed cell death, excitotoxicity. That is, they are excited to death.
It should also be appreciated that the effects of excitotoxin food additives generally are not dramatic. Some individuals may be especially sensitive and develop severe symptoms and even sudden death from cardiac irritability; but, in most instances, the effects are subtle and develop over a long period of time. While the food additives, MSG and aspartame, are probably not direct causes of the neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), they may well precipitate these disorders and certainly worsen their pathology as we shall see. It may be that many people with a propensity for developing one of these diseases would never develop a full blown disorder had it not been for their exposure to high levels of food borne excitotoxin additives. Some may have had a very mild form of the disease had it not been for the exposure. Likewise, food borne excitotoxins may be harmful to those suffering from strokes, head injury and HIV infection, and certainly should not be used in a hospital setting.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:47PM
KFC is tasty but I think home made fried chicken is better. Pretty much any home fried chicken.
Except mine. I can cook a lot of things, and can fry several things as well. But I have yet to be successful at frying chicken. The oil is either too cool, yielding greasy chicken, or too hot, giving burned crust. Yeah, I use a thermometer. One of the few things I can't cook :(
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Sunday August 28 2016, @06:09PM
I believe that KFC used to be better when it first started. One of the issues that large chains have is obtaining enough ingredients to fill demand. Inevitably, the standards start to slip a bit as there's less top quality ingredients to be had and there's more stores that have to be monitored for quality. It also tends to mean that locations wind up far away from sources of ingredients which can have a negative effect on the quality as well. There's really no substitute for produce that's a few hours from being harvested.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @09:39PM
Seconding. I live in a part of the country where fried chicken is like scripture, but to find anyone who makes it well is treading on shaky ground anymore.
My own attempts (even going full southern and soaking it in buttermilk) has proven to be less consistent than going to Lee's (not great, but one of the betters around these parts).
Even fancy restaurants doing the pan-fried chicken haven't quite got the touch.
I'd like to tour some of the better chicken establishments around the country and work out an amalgamation of the One True Fried Chicken.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @04:13AM
Some ingredients that recipes tell you to add to the mixes causes the crust to blacken. I know paprika is one. Not sure if its a variety issues or what.
My parents when through a phase of experimenting with a wide variety of ingredients, techniques and recipes. Early on we owned a takeaway that served chicken and many people preferred our "dry coating" version to the greasy KFC one. (a pure flour mix without the double coating) They also thought the flavor was identical to KFC.
The truth is that most of the ingredients are bullshit and do VERY little to the flavor. At best some effect color and a small amount of texture. There IS a difference, but it is so subtle as to be irrelevant.
The main flavor ingredients are: Pepper, Salt and MSG.
People will disagree but I will call bullshit as we have done the experiments. There is a lot of emotional mythos around this stuff.
The "secret" ingredient in KFC is the pressure fryer they use to really bake in that oil. (Experiment: take some KFC batter in your fingers and squeeze hard - now try not to feel ill) Its not something easily replicated at home and inadvisable as pressure fryers can be very dangerous. You can get great, less greasy results without it.
Having your oil below 185 will always be a bad thing with this sort of cooking - most noticeably greasiness. A common mistake is to have too little oil with too much chicken which causes the temp to drop too low and never recover. Or not let the chicken reach room temp before breading and frying. You can also use a dutch oven or cast iron skillet to aid with heat loss.
We had a commercial, purpose built deep fryer so it was never a problem.
And if you want really juicy chicken you have to use fresh chicken. :)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @02:38PM
The "secret" recipe has been all over the internet for decades.
This story is just a press hit for KFC. Its intended to get people thinking about KFC and some small number of them will decide "hey, kfc sounds pretty good, I'm gonna get me some for lunch!"
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday August 28 2016, @10:58PM
As I noted in the summary, previous advertising for the restaurant has touted the secrecy of the recipe. Readers of these articles may conclude that the secret is out. That appears to be against the long-term interest of the company. Having a newspaper highlight the restaurant's use of MSG can "unsell" some diners as well, as illustrated by some of the comments here.
You say the recipe was already "all over" the Internet, but you don't provide even a single link. Before submitting this story, I used a search engine with a query similar to
flour salt thyme basil oregano celery "black pepper" mustard paprika garlic ginger "white pepper"
but the results I saw that had the same ingredients acknowledged the Tribune as the source.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @01:42AM
The error you are making is assuming *this* is the official recipe. It didn't come from the KFC "vault," it came from the back of a will. This is no more officially the real thing than any other one. Chances are that even KFC isn't using the "original" recipe; instead, over the years, they've tweaked it themselves to better fit changes in chicken preparation tech. But all of the variations that are on the net share the same basic ingredients, especially MSG.
And your theory about MSG being bad for sales, you'll note that the "revealed" recipe does not contain MSG. They can still claim the real thing doesn't have MSG, after all it isn't in the "recipe."
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday August 29 2016, @04:21AM
The error you are making is assuming *this* is the official recipe. It didn't come from the KFC "vault," it came from the back of a will. This is no more officially the real thing than any other one.
No one used the word "official." It's a recipe from the family of the restaurant's founder, for his signature dish. According to one of the articles, the family member initially said "That is the original 11 herbs and spices that were supposed to be so secretive" but later said he wasn't sure. If something previously released is more authentic, please specify it. I searched the Internet for this recipe. What should I have searched for instead?
Chances are that even KFC isn't using the "original" recipe;
Yes, that likelihood is noted in the headline.
But all of the variations that are on the net share the same basic ingredients, especially MSG.
Certainly there are a variety of recipes for seasoned coatings for chicken, and there have been attempts to replicate this restaurant's. The original poster asserted that
The "secret" recipe has been all over the internet for decades.
There's a company called Marion Kay Spices that worked with the restaurant's founder, and it sells a seasoning mix that is similar, which it wanted to sell to KFC restaurants. However, it hasn't made its recipe public. People have examined that company's seasoning, to find out what it's made from. I don't think they'd be doing that, if an original or official recipe had been public "for decades."
http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a31441/colonel-secret-spices/ [esquire.com]
http://www.rachaelray.com/2010/12/is-the-most-secret-of-all-recipes-to-be-found-in-a-bottle [rachaelray.com]
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232943/http://kfc.forumup.co.uk/about803-kfc.html [archive.org]
https://web.archive.org/web/20150507224036/http://kfc.forumup.co.uk/about390-0-asc-0-kfc.html [archive.org]
And your theory about MSG being bad for sales, you'll note that the "revealed" recipe does not contain MSG. They can still claim the real thing doesn't have MSG, after all it isn't in the "recipe."
One of the articles said that a company spokesperson confirmed the use of MSG. That's rather an odd thing to say, if they're going to later deny use of MSG. Why get people thinking about MSG, when so many dislike it? That would be a stupid way to advertise.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @12:06AM
Actually that is exactly what i intend to do, in about 2 hours :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @05:37PM
Regular folks [nydailynews.com] eat at KFC.
(Score: 2) by number6 on Sunday August 28 2016, @10:45PM
When it comes to deep fried battered foods, if ultimate tastiness is your only goal, then lard (ie. beef fat, beef dripping) is the king of frying oils.
If you talk to old-time fish&chip shop owners from the United Kingdom/Australia, they will tell you the same thing.
If you want to make the ultimate gourmet version of KFC,
your ingredients would be:
- Free range chicken
- Spice mix made from whole fresh spices ground in a coffee blender
- Frying oil = Lard (ie. Beef Fat)
There would be no need for addition of 'MSG' when your ingredients are that good.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday August 28 2016, @11:09PM
Wikipedia says lard is always made from pigs (as I had always heard) whereas tallow may be made from cattle, sheep, or pigs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallow [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by Ugmo on Monday August 29 2016, @12:26AM
Beef and mutton fat is also called suet
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @12:56AM
Tallow is rendered from suet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @01:22AM
Lard is better, that way there's more to eat for those of us who don't give a shit what animal it's from.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday August 29 2016, @01:21AM
Korean Fried Chicken... crispy fried chicken soaked with different flavor sauces. A well made one will retain its crispiness. Think a crossover between a well made fried chicken with buffalo wings...
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday August 29 2016, @04:26AM
The Tribune ran two articles about this story. I omitted the one that is paraphrased in the last paragraph of the summary, viz.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/recipes/ct-kfc-recipe-test-20160818-story.html [chicagotribune.com]
(Score: 2) by steveha on Monday August 29 2016, @04:40AM
The book Big Secrets by William Poundstone tackled the secret of KFC's "11 herbs and spices". I think the book was written before the name change to "KFC" so it was probably "Kentucky Fried Chicken" at the time. Anyway he found someone who got him the official breading mix (I think it was someone who owned a KFC franchise but it might just have been someone who worked in one).
He had the official mix analyzed at a lab. IIRC the lab only was able to identify 4 ingredients: flour, salt, pepper, MSG. That doesn't mean that there are not 11 herbs and spices, but if they are in there, they are in truly small quantities and shouldn't affect the flavor much.
Who knows what the official mix was like in the early days; it may have actually had a different flavor. Lots of things don't taste the way they used to anymore.
P.S. In Japan I had some incredibly delicious yakitori made with exactly three ingredients: chicken, green onions, salt. The chicken was really fresh (the chef has chickens delivered alive from a local farm, and he kills and butchers them himself the same day that he serves them so they are as fresh as you can get), the temperature control was perfect (he uses an electric grill rather than the traditional charcoal, just for improved temperature control), and the flavors were amazing. So in theory, KFC could be incredibly delicious even if the breading mix really only has measurable amounts of four ingredients. If you've eaten KFC recently and it happens to be incredibly delicious, be sure to post something here, but I'm pessimistic.
If you're curious about the yakitori, it was at a place called "Toriki" that Anthony Bourdain showed on his TV show "No Reservations". It's not really famous in Tokyo, but tourists who are Anthony Bourdain fans seek it out. If you eat chicken, are in Tokyo, and have a chance to go... don't miss it. It's not even expensive; it's a 30 minute train ride from the center of Tokyo and it's much less expensive than places in the center.
https://dirtystall.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/toriki/ [wordpress.com]