Post by ThePieMan on Nov 15, 2020 11:32:14 GMT
A sweet polysaccharide that is a common, "Modernist Cuisine" agent for thickening fats and oils, and making powders and pastes out of them.
Whilst maltodextrin (MD) can be derived from many different starch bases, one of the most commonly available for household kitchen use is, Tapioca Maltodextrin.
I believe that MD was listed on the label of some KFC ingredients bag, somewhere (was it breading flour?) and I've been thinking about it in more depth.
Let me state quite clearly, "it is not there to act as a sweetener."
When MD disperses with liquid fats or oils at room temperature it starts to bond with the oil and change its viscosity, texture, and subsequent mouthfeel.
This is interesting from a KFC O.R. perspective, insofar as if MD is in the breading, under heat and pressure it would interact with the oil that saturates the breading and make it thicker, more viscous. This is apparently a good and desirable thing.
We are all aware that we need to get the chicken out of the oil, after cooking, as quickly as possible so as the breading does not become oily and sodden.
However, add MD to the breading, the nature of the oil in the breading changes and we end up with an unctuous, sticky, pleasantly mouth coating breading that helps keep moisture in... et voila! Finger Likin' Good!
Now, if too much MD is in the breading, some of it will naturally fall into the oil and start to impact and degrade the quality and condition of the frying oil, so reducing the number of batches that can be cooked with any one volume of cooking oil.
This area needs more investigation, as I presently do not think MD is particularly prevalent in today's KFC, however I do believe it was one element at the heart of 1970's KFC for sure. As for 1950's O.R. I don't know and I've not seen any evidence to suggest it was even a consideration. We must bear in mind that frying oil choices changed several times and thais had not just an impact on the final product but also on the taste.
If you have some kind of oil binder that changes the quality and nature of the oil, then it follows that it will also change how the chicken tastes and eats.
Whilst maltodextrin (MD) can be derived from many different starch bases, one of the most commonly available for household kitchen use is, Tapioca Maltodextrin.
I believe that MD was listed on the label of some KFC ingredients bag, somewhere (was it breading flour?) and I've been thinking about it in more depth.
Let me state quite clearly, "it is not there to act as a sweetener."
When MD disperses with liquid fats or oils at room temperature it starts to bond with the oil and change its viscosity, texture, and subsequent mouthfeel.
This is interesting from a KFC O.R. perspective, insofar as if MD is in the breading, under heat and pressure it would interact with the oil that saturates the breading and make it thicker, more viscous. This is apparently a good and desirable thing.
We are all aware that we need to get the chicken out of the oil, after cooking, as quickly as possible so as the breading does not become oily and sodden.
However, add MD to the breading, the nature of the oil in the breading changes and we end up with an unctuous, sticky, pleasantly mouth coating breading that helps keep moisture in... et voila! Finger Likin' Good!
Now, if too much MD is in the breading, some of it will naturally fall into the oil and start to impact and degrade the quality and condition of the frying oil, so reducing the number of batches that can be cooked with any one volume of cooking oil.
This area needs more investigation, as I presently do not think MD is particularly prevalent in today's KFC, however I do believe it was one element at the heart of 1970's KFC for sure. As for 1950's O.R. I don't know and I've not seen any evidence to suggest it was even a consideration. We must bear in mind that frying oil choices changed several times and thais had not just an impact on the final product but also on the taste.
If you have some kind of oil binder that changes the quality and nature of the oil, then it follows that it will also change how the chicken tastes and eats.