There is perhaps little doubt, like every staple food product, the flour producing industry has continued to improve over the years since the Colonels day. So it wouldn't surprise me that we should be able to find something close to the Colonels flour (compound) mix straight off the supermarket shelf, or perhaps by adding a small amount of some, or all, of the following ingredients to it:
Corn starch (known as
Corn Flour in the U.K.)
Potato Starch (similar to Corn Starch, but withstands higher temperatures (er... I think?))
Maltodextrin provides and element of sweetness
Baking Powder (a raising agent that will provide a lighter texture - found in self raising flours)
I have seen 'modified' corn starch, potato starch and maltodextrin mentioned on the KFC ingredient list.
I have heard/seen people talk about very fine winter-wheat cake/sponge low gluten flour.
In the U.S. I have seen this flour used successfully by some researchers:
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In the U.K. I have chosen to use this flour:
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In relation to the one from the U.K. it has a protein level of 9g per 100g (9%) and it does work quite well straight off the shelf. It is an extra fine self raising flour meaning it has baking powder in it already ... my wife thinks it's Baking Powder level would be around 5g per 200g or thereabouts.
Whilst it works fairly well, I still think it would work better with a slightly lower protein level and I plan to experiment further by adding the following things to it:
5g corn flour
5g maltodextrin
5g potato starch
The latter two by the way are available through Amazon in the U.K. and corn flour is obviously widely available in most shops/supermarkets.
I will first see if the three additives (combined together) at the equal levels shown, improve the texture... and I will see what effect things have if I increase them to 10g each.
That's just a beginning of course and hopefully through trial and error it is hoped the texture will improve... albeit I'm reasonably happy with the flour as it stands straight off the shelf. I certainly do not have any issues with the breading coming away from the chicken, post frying.
Some additional things ...
I always remove excess skin (in fact as much skin as possible) and trim any noticeable white fat from my chicken portions. I ensure they are at room temperature before dipping in the egg/milk wash.
The egg/milk wash is also allowed to come to room temperature. I use 'skimmed' fat free milk and just egg white ... I discard the yolk. They are whipped with a fork until slightly frothy and well mixed.
I use an 8 litre magefesa 'bomb' pressure fryer that holds 2 litres of either vegetable or sunflower oil... I heat the oil to 320°F or slightly higher (takes approx. 10 minutes on my electric stove) and I usually cook 4 x 4oz chicken portions at a time.
When my oil reaches a temperature of approx. 230°F, the first chicken portion is dipped in the egg/milk wash and allowed to drain (30 seconds drain time) ... the chicken is then put in seasoned flour and I turn it a few times and press the flour into it using the back of a fork to help the flour get into all the crevices ... the chicken is then lifted and gently tapped to remove the excess breading and its placed on a wire rack.... the procedure is repeated for all portions to be cooked in the batch.
As soon as my last portion is breaded the oil is more or less at the 320°F temperature and all four portions go into the pot ensuring that they do not touch each other. If the chicken touches each other, it will not cook evenly.
As soon as the last portion of chicken is submersed I start an 8 minute countdown timer.
Using a skewer I lift and move the chicken slightly to ensure they are separate and evenly spread about the pot.
At 7 minutes remaining on the timer I cap the pot.. (note i usually smear the seal with a little cold cooking oil beforehand) I tighten the lid within an inch of its life... it's important to make a good tight seal... don't let it leak otherwise chicken can become grease laden.
I keep the temperature set high till the sound changes (steam falling back into oil from the underneath side of the lid) and the jiggler begins to move and leak steam... this usually happens within a minute or so.
I then turn the heat down to number 3 on on my cooker which has 9 heat settings and this just keeps the jiggler wobbling and rotating... with the odd burst of steam.
At 8 minutes the pot is removed away from heat and I use an upturned fork to lift jiggler to get the pressure down and lid off as quickly (safely) as possible. Chicken is quickly lifted with a potato masher:
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The potato masher is ideal to get the chicken out the oil quickly and without damaging the breading. The chicken is placed on another wire rack .. I don't advise using the same rack that was used earlier, post-breading, for the raw chicken unless you have thoroughly washed it beforehand.
I let the chicken cool for a minute or so and then place it in a 80°C preheated steam filled oven with boiling hot water bath at bottom for a minimum of 20 minutes (turn over each portion every 10 minutes) ... I would suggest discardong the chicken after 1-1/2 hours .. if you know you are not going to use it, remove from oven and allow to go cold and then store in fridge to eat cold the next day etc. If not used the following day I personally would throw it away.
Tips on cleaning the pot.
The pot should be cleaned the same day, if practicable ... when the oil is cool/cold drain oil through a paper cone filter into a suitable container (these cooking oil filters are available via Amazon) I drain my oil into a measuring jug as I can then make up any 'lost' oil and get it back to the two litre mark for use with my pot.
It is then good to add some washing powder to the bottom of the drained pot ... the powder will soak up the oil.. use enough powder just to absorb all the oil and then wipe out the powder with a paper kitchen towel which can be binned.. this will remove a majority of the oil from the pot and it can then be easily washed up as normal in the kitchen sink without coating everything in greasy oil.
The filtered oil is topped up and returned to either its bottle or the clean and dried pot ready for next use. I personally return mine to the pot and store it on a cold stone in an outside utility store cupboard, but I believe some prefer to return their oil to a bottle to store in a fridge or cool environment.
So that's the entire process I have adopted, from start to finish and the results aren't too bad, but like everyone I have suffered the occasional 'blips' like burning or undercooking the chicken and I have suffered very occasionally with grease laden chicken, because of a leaking lid, wrong drop temperature, not removing the chicken quickly from the oil etc.
Hopefully though, by sharing these detailed cooking experiences between us all, we can get to learn more about the process and get it off to a fine art and achieve perfection every time. (...wishful thinking!).
I'm normally quite lucky with the cooking process except everytime I cook for my son, for some reason he seems to jinx me and I can never get it just right whenever he visits with his mates to test my recipes... one of these days though I hope to make him proud of his ol' doddery Dad ... ha ha
Ken
