Toe original, 'Original KFC' recipe

[Winger Ed.]

Hmmmm,,, looks like I didn't proof read the title line very well...


Years ago, Mr. Herter---
yeah, The! Herter's guy went around the country gathering favorite recipes from famous places and people in history.
He published three cookbooks that I know of and have had the pleasure to read--- then I had to give them back to a friend.

Mr. Herter did a lot of other things besides pioneering affordable reloading equipment.
He also sold ingredients is small quantities to make commercial cooking recipes at home so they'd come out right.
Like flour-- You can't make dough nuts like the shops do because you can't buy the flour they use
in less than 100 pound bags. Even then, you have to know how and where to shop for them.
He repackaged and sold it in 5 or 10 pound bags through mail order.

In one book, he wrote of Jefferson Davis. He was graduate of West Point, owned a cotton plantation in Mississippi,
had been the Secretary of War, a Democrat House Representative and later a Senator from Mississippi.

Times change,,,,, and fortunes improve:
What he called 'the saddest day of his life', he resigned from the US Senate when Mississippi left the Union.
He later became the President, and Commander in Chief of the Confederate States of America.

During his life, he had severe dental problems.
Perhaps his favorite food was fried chicken, but his teeth & gums were too sensitive to be able to eat it.
His family cook figured out if she made regular fried chicken, then ran it a few minutes in a pressure cooker-
he could still have and enjoy it.

I think that might have been the idea or inspiration Col. Sanders had to make the fried chicken he became famous for
when he was the cook at a truck stop.
His biography speaks about him loading up his pressure cooker into his old station wagon when it closed.
If Mr. Herter learned of the way Jefferson Davis liked chicken, it couldn't have been much of a secret.

The KFC places use a pressure fryer now, but if we do it the way he first did it in our home pressure cookers,
I think we can more or less duplicate his REAL original recipe using some copy cat recipe for the spices and breading.
-----And get pretty close to Jefferson Davis' favorite meal.

[dverna]

Very interesting post.

I know you are correct about Col. Sanders.

[BLAHUT]

OK; I'll bite - what's the recipe ??

[Reg]

Have all the Herter cookbooks and gave copies to all our kids. Once upon a time they were cheap on fleabay but not too sure about that now. If a person likes to cook I would consider them a must.
As usual for the time George L. Was laughed at and considered a crack pot but time has proven him to be spot on on many things.

[Winger Ed.]

OK; I'll bite - what's the recipe ??

There's several copy cat recipes for the batter mix.
But it's more about the process rather than the batter recipe.

None I've found are exactly like you get at KFC, but a couple are real close.
--the one on the net that calls for spices you never heard of, and the one with powdered milk are gross.

Basically, you make regular fried chicken like always, then zap it in a home pressure cooker for 3-4 minutes.
The KFC places use a pressure cooker fryer. It probably comes out about the same, but the appliance
to do that really isn't practical for having in the house. A small cheap one is about $1,000.

[Winger Ed.]

Have all the Herter cookbooks.

They're the real deal.
Another article/recipe I saw it one was the original 'hush puppies' recipe.
It detailed where it came from, by who, and why it came about.


Another I like is a reprint of the original Fannie Farmer cooking school cookbook from the late 1800s.
It's the one that doesn't oven or stove temps. but tells you what kind of fire to have in the stove.

[MaryB]

IF you have a metal to metal seal(no gasket!) pressure canner/cooker like the All American brand you can pressure fry. It has its dangers and I will not give the instructions. I have done it, it works, but dealing with hot oil under pressure scares the crap out of me!

[BABore]

I have a larger All American pressure cooker. One thing you would have to rig up is a thermocouple in a pressure tight fitting. No way to measure oil temperature otherwise. I'm sure Sanders burnt up a crap ton of chicken getting the flame just right.

[Hogtamer]

Don’t mean to be a party pooper but Col. Sanders fried chicken does grave injustice to that noble bird! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside is the proper way to cook chicken, not greasy throughout. They have a hard time staying in business most places in GA.

[super6]

Nothing like day old KFC out of the fridge, Will cure a hangover.

[Winger Ed.]

dealing with hot oil under pressure scares the crap out of me!

No way. I thought you were fearless!:bigsmyl2:

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I'm with Hogtamer. I think Col. Sanders and Kentucky Fried's day is about over. Almost anywhere else I've eaten fried chicken was better. They still seem to like it overseas, but out west here I've seen several franchises disappear.

DG

[farmbif]

KFC is alive and doing well here in the south, we treat ourselves to a giant bucket of the original every so often. never been to one anywhere around here and didn't have to sit in line.
every time there is a big pot luck get together at the town community building theyre are at least a half dozen kinds of fried chicken and at least that many pots of chicken dumplings its always the KFC that is gone first

[MaryB]

No way. I thought you were fearless!:bigsmyl2:

I draw the line at a pressurized bomb of flaming napalm that could blow up and burn my house down... plus cleaning the pressure cooker after SUCKS

[MT Gianni]

KFC is combined with A&W in many small towns in Montana. You usually see a subway but not many other fast food franchises.

[fatnhappy]

1 frying chicken cut into 8 pieces
8 cups water
1/3 cup salt
1 tablespoon MSG
6 to 10 cups soybean oil (vegetable oil)
9 ounces all-purpose flour (2 cups)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon MSG (monosodium glutamate)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground tellicherry pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground savory
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
4 eggs
2 cups skim milk
1. Dissolve 1/3 cup salt and 1 tablespoon MSG in 8 cups water. Add chicken and marinate for 2 hours. Remove
chicken from brine, rinse with water and blot dry.
2. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 300° F.
3. Make the breading by combining all ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the milk.
5. When the oil is hot, dip each piece of chicken in the egg and milk mixture and then press into the breading. Toss
each chicken piece in the breading until well-coated, let chicken sit for 2 minutes in the breading, shake off the
excess breading and fry 2 to 4 pieces at a time (or whatever your fryer can hold) for 18 to 20 minutes or until the
chicken is golden brown. Drain chicken on a rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe is for deep frying. If pressure frying, cooking time will be shortened to 12 to 14 minutes.
If you want to keep the chicken warm until it's all cooked, place the fried pieces on a rack on a baking sheet and
keep them in your oven set to 200° F.

[Snakeoil]

Had a guy in my fraternity house back in college whose dad owned several KFC places. This was back in the early 70's. He brought several pressure cookers up to school along with a big bag of the secret spices and breading. The pressure cookers looked like the same ones Mom had at home, only newer. And each one had a KFC nameplate on it. So, I imagine they were a tad different. Every so often, Mason would make KFC for dinner that night in the house. The whole house smelled like KFC and stay that way for several days. Nobody complained.

I remember as a kid, you could be eating the bones and not realize it until you were half-way thru the piece.

Unfortunately, KFC is garbage these days.

[Winger Ed.]

Unfortunately, KFC is garbage these days.

They had some places that had both KFC and Taco Bell around here.
The KFC side was so messed up they lost the franchise in most of them.

[Murphy]

Well, I guess it isn't just our local KFC having issues. It's been going down hill for several years now. Sad shame, a once great place (depending on how you like your fried chicken). I'm a member of a group on social media that has a local business page for reviewing all the eateries. It's a rare day anyone has anything good to say about the local KFC.

That fried yard bird, ranks way up there on my list of good eatin'!


Murphy

[jonp]

Hmmmm,,, looks like I didn't proof read the title line very well...


Years ago, Mr. Herter---
yeah, The! Herter's guy went around the country gathering favorite recipes from famous places and people in history.
He published three cookbooks that I know of and have had the pleasure to read--- then I had to give them back to a friend.

Mr. Herter did a lot of other things besides pioneering affordable reloading equipment.
He also sold ingredients is small quantities to make commercial cooking recipes at home so they'd come out right.
Like flour-- You can't make dough nuts like the shops do because you can't buy the flour they use
in less than 100 pound bags. Even then, you have to know how and where to shop for them.
He repackaged and sold it in 5 or 10 pound bags through mail order.

In one book, he wrote of Jefferson Davis. He was graduate of West Point, owned a cotton plantation in Mississippi,
had been the Secretary of War, a Democrat House Representative and later a Senator from Mississippi.

Times change,,,,, and fortunes improve:
What he called 'the saddest day of his life', he resigned from the US Senate when Mississippi left the Union.
He later became the President, and Commander in Chief of the Confederate States of America.

During his life, he had severe dental problems.
Perhaps his favorite food was fried chicken, but his teeth & gums were too sensitive to be able to eat it.
His family cook figured out if she made regular fried chicken, then ran it a few minutes in a pressure cooker-
he could still have and enjoy it.

I think that might have been the idea or inspiration Col. Sanders had to make the fried chicken he became famous for
when he was the cook at a truck stop.
His biography speaks about him loading up his pressure cooker into his old station wagon when it closed.
If Mr. Herter learned of the way Jefferson Davis liked chicken, it couldn't have been much of a secret.

The KFC places use a pressure fryer now, but if we do it the way he first did it in our home pressure cookers,
I think we can more or less duplicate his REAL original recipe using some copy cat recipe for the spices and breading.
-----And get pretty close to Jefferson Davis' favorite meal.

Been there, done that. In fact, we had pressure cooker fried chicken last week using a recipe that came out as close to the KFC as you could imagine

[Hogtamer]

How about this: liberally salt and pepper chicken on both sides. Soak in milk or butter milk with a little hot sauce. Roll chicken in seasoned flour (more salt and pepper). Shake off excess and place in deep fryer @ 325* for 20 minutes or pan fry (cast iron skillet 1/2 full of oil) about same temp for 10-12 minutes per side. Check for doneness to adjust cooking times if necessary. Make good gravy with a little grease left in skillet, add flour to brown, chicken stock to thin. That’s my chicken and I’m sticking to it!

[dverna]

How about this: liberally salt and pepper chicken on both sides. Soak in milk or butter milk with a little hot sauce. Roll chicken in seasoned flour (more salt and pepper). Shake off excess and place in deep fryer @ 325* for 20 minutes or pan fry (cast iron skillet 1/2 full of oil) about same temp for 10-12 minutes per side. Check for doneness to adjust cooking times if necessary. Make good gravy with a little grease left in skillet, add flour to brown, chicken stock to thin. That’s my chicken and I’m sticking to it!

Hal,
I may need to make a trip to GA to look at some equipment. I am coming to your place for chicken dinner.

[GregLaROCHE]

Fried foods used to taste a lot better before, when they were cooked in animal fats, not the seed oils mostly used today. That’s why things taste so much better when fried in bacon grease.

[Winger Ed.]

Fried foods used to taste a lot better before, when they were cooked in animal fats,

Our grocery store has it by the pound. Lard is still out there even in fairly large containers.
I've seen it in tubs that look like about 2 gallons.
Ya just have to look for 'em. Or a restaurant supply place will have 50 pound blocks.

[LIMPINGJ]

If you live where there is a Mexican grocery store that has a large meat counter they usually make chicharrones then fry other items in the lard. They usually sell the lard by the quart and larger quantities. It’s the best for frying not like the processed white stuff.

[MaryB]

Our grocery store has it by the pound. Lard is still out there even in fairly large containers.
I've seen it in tubs that look like about 2 gallons.
Ya just have to look for 'em. Or a restaurant supply place will have 50 pound blocks.

I HATED wrestling those into the deep fryer when I worked fast food for a year... one of my jobs was drain and scrub the fryers the refill them... so much fun moving a tub full of 350 degree oil...

[MT Gianni]

How about this: liberally salt and pepper chicken on both sides. Soak in milk or butter milk with a little hot sauce. Roll chicken in seasoned flour (more salt and pepper). Shake off excess and place in deep fryer @ 325* for 20 minutes or pan fry (cast iron skillet 1/2 full of oil) about same temp for 10-12 minutes per side. Check for doneness to adjust cooking times if necessary. Make good gravy with a little grease left in skillet, add flour to brown, chicken stock to thin. That’s my chicken and I’m sticking to it!

I read these and wonder. I have not seen buttermilk in the stores in about 15 years. Admittedly I don't hit the big chains often but it just isn't something I see so when I see a recipe that calls for it I go "yea right".

[farmbif]

its too bad so many of you live in places where the KFC has gone downhill. I'm not far from Kentucky and all of the KFC's around here serve the real thing and its real good.
the closest one to me has a sign posted that says all chicken served is grown at some farm I dont remember the name of that is not all that far away in North Carolina . it seems the owner and employees of that store take great pride in serving the colonel's recipe the way it was intended and keeping the place clean too I think the last posted health inspector rating was 98. they sell oven baked chicken pot pie too that is pretty darn good on a cold day.
on butter milk. I happened to see some today I just kind of took a glance in the dairy case. by chance we went into an Aldi's foods store. milk was like $3 a half gallon and buttermilk was something like $1.25 half gallon. I better take it easy doctor is probably going to give me cholesterol test this month.

[Winger Ed.]

I read these and wonder. I have not seen buttermilk in the stores in about 15 years. .

Here, there's 2-3 different kinds and brands of it.
I use it a fair amount, and it's the only way to make cornbread.

Drinking it straight still makes me wonder if I like it or not.

I never tried it, but there are recipes around on how to make it yourself.

[Brassmonkey]

Very interesting post.

I know you are correct about Col. Sanders.

There's a few inaccuracies in the post, harland sanders wasn't a cook at a truckstop. He owned the restaurant gas station & Motel he developed the recipe in. He saw the highway coming and knew that his road would no longer get traffic so he sold his business. He took his Social Security check and his recipe and hit the road, He also shot a competing gas station owner when that owner decided to paint over Harland's sign. Ruled self defense.

Cooking came early to him because his mom had to work at the factory and left him at 10 years old with all his brothers and sisters. He brought some bread to the factory and all the ladies squeezed his cheeks and told him what a good boy he was, and he liked the attention from the ladies.

Always the showman and a stickler for quality. A nickel a chicken was the original franchise agreement, Perceived as a mean onry sob if the cooks weren't following his directions, he would cuss the manager/owner in front of the crew either take his pots or bust them up in the parking lot. Wore a lil spoon on a necklace of sorts and it was used to test the gravy during his visits.

As a traveling salesman he came across the pressure cookers and thought I could fry chicken in them real quick, two birds per pot, he'd fry them in seven minutes today it takes 16 for eight birds and a big fryer.


Can't find the original three-part documentary from the history channel for the biography channel but this is a good watch.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=REDU3AfA4P8&t=3741s

Gave 10 years of my life to colonels dream, made a good livin and learned a lot! every year they took more and more and more of the colonel out of KFC.

Here's a clip from the original five minutes versus an hour and a half

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=STbddpUKrlw

[Hogtamer]

Buttermilk is a staple of southern cooking. I doubt there’s a grocery store in most southern states that doesn’t carry buttermilk, Walmart included.

[n9tkf]

Fried foods used to taste a lot better before, when they were cooked in animal fats, not the seed oils mostly used today. That’s why things taste so much better when fried in bacon grease.Everything is good with bacon or cooked in bacon fat.

[super6]

If you have ever had to take a 14 day antibiotic regime, The buttermilk will add all the enzymes back to your bowels. Good stuff, I will drink it straight! Do I like it? with enough salt it is GOOD. And I use it to make a chicken batter.

[trebor44]

When working as a "short order cook" I made KFC fried chicken (oil and pressure cooker). There is nothing special about the pressure cooker but it is the mix of spices in the coating that makes it KFC. Cooling down the hot pressure cooker before opening is a must!

[T-Bird]

Chicken at the "Big Chick" in Talbotton Ga will make you forget that KFC existed.

[Milky Duck]

well its alive n well here in NZ...BUT even though in theory,just like McDonalds and any other large franchise all stores should be the same and the food cooked the same,its always varied from town to town..one is greasy,one is dry,another has it just right.
we use one of the internet recipes with slight alteration to lower onion quantity and use no wheat flour as wife is celiac ... cooked in camp oven/dutch oven
agree with the taste difference between fat on oil... weaner snitzel cooked in lard is devine,cooked in oil its hohum.

[deces]

I wonder if Soy is one of the original 11 herbs & spices?

[warren5421]

I remember the news saying the Colonel had donated the U.S. KFC to the Easter Seals but keep the Canadian Company. While visiting a KFC close to his first store he tasted some gravy and hit the roof as he said it was only flower and milk, no chicken drippings. That was in the 60's or 70's.

[Good Cheer]

Richard Simmon's buttermilk-ginger-cumin-garlic oven chicken is good enough for me.
I've always enjoyed KFC but at home we do oh so much better.

[Wag]

Kent Rollins has a good recipe and instructions: https://youtu.be/FtY0zUI7dKc

--Wag--