The History of KFC Salt Bags (Shows Single Portion Size)

[Ken_Griffiths]

Here are all the KFC salt bags broken down to their 'single portion size' for use with 150g of flour and 9.75g of seasoning, using the same type of calculation mentioned in my recent post on this forum ... It shows how the salt level has changed over the years. I think a change in some instances was not simply a reduction, but I suspect was salt that transferred to the KFC seasoning bag on some (but not every) occasion.

THE SALT BAGS

Salt Bag 3.75 lbs (60oz) (1700.970g) (I have never seen a photo of this bag)
60oz (1700.970g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 22.5g Salt Per Batch

Salt Bag 3.5lbs (56oz) (1587.572g) (I have never seen a photo of this bag) (Did this bag ever exist. Mentioned on other forums??)
56oz (1587.572g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 21g Salt Per Batch (- that's 3-1/2 tsps)

Salt Bag 3.375lbs (54oz) (1530.873g) (Part of the 80oz seasoning bag perhaps?) - (I have never seen this bag)
54oz (1530.873g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 20.25g Salt Per Batch

Salt Bag 3lbs (48oz) (1360.776g) - (I have a photo of this bag) (Possibly used with both the KFC 26oz and 40oz Seasoning Bag)
48oz (1360.776g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 18g Salt Per Batch (- that's 3 teaspoons)

Salt Bag 2lb.9oz (41oz) (1162.3304g) - (I have documentation to prove this salt bag existed dated 2008 for use with KFC 40oz Seasoning Bag)
41oz (1162.3304g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 15.375g Salt Per Batch
(2.625g salt difference from the previous bag of salt)

Salt Bag 2lb.5oz (1048.9323g) (I have documentation to prove this salt bag existed in 2013 for use with 40oz KFC Seasoning Bag)
37oz (1048.9323g) bag divided by 75.5987283* (for 150g flour) = 13.875g Salt Per Batch
(1.5g salt difference from the previous bag of salt)

[Deleted]

Ken,

IMHO, the grind of the salt is quite important. I've used coarse ground kosher salt, but fine ground (as in table salt grind) works a bit better.

Just saying

[Ken_Griffiths]

Yes I agree, most people recommend Stirling international fine salt... or popcorn salt.

I tend to simply blend fine table salt in a coffee grinder, together with (alongside) my chosen 'whole' herbs and spices and then add it all to the flour mix.

[johnnyb]

I found this data on the KFC US corporate site.

Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate.
Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Tricalcium Phosphate, Whey, Nonfat Milk, Egg Whites, Corn Starch, Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Triglycerides, Natural Flavoring (Milk), Gelatin (From Chicken), Colonel's Secret Original Recipe Seasoning.

After looking at various videos as to how the corporation prepares the chicken today, is the "marinated" referring to the quick dunk in the water or a previous marinade that occurred prior to arriving at the restaurant?

If it refers to the quick dunk in the water, is there information referring to the specific quantities of salt/msg used? Also, temperature of the water?

Thanks and sorry if I'm asking questions that have been already addressed somewhere else in the forum...

Best regards,

John

[Ken_Griffiths]

Sept 22, 2016 4:06:19 GMT johnnyb said:

I found this data on the KFC US corporate site.

Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate.
Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Tricalcium Phosphate, Whey, Nonfat Milk, Egg Whites, Corn Starch, Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Triglycerides, Natural Flavoring (Milk), Gelatin (From Chicken), Colonel's Secret Original Recipe Seasoning.

After looking at various videos as to how the corporation prepares the chicken today, is the "marinated" referring to the quick dunk in the water or a previous marinade that occurred prior to arriving at the restaurant?

If it refers to the quick dunk in the water, is there information referring to the specific quantities of salt/msg used? Also, temperature of the water?

Thanks and sorry if I'm asking questions that have been already addressed somewhere else in the forum...

Best regards,

John

John,

I will email you two pdf documents that I think will be useful to you in regards to your questions here.

I seem to recall the water dip temperature is 38°F.

I have never seen any info on the MSG/Salt marinade levels, but believe there is a weak solution (with possibly some antibiotics) in the bags of chicken and the dip is then used to wash and 'refresh' the chicken after it has been briefly trimmed and checked by the cook in store. It is then breaded and cooked, as per the KFC instruction manual I sent you.

Ken

[ThePieMan]

This is a sample of the restaurant to customer salt sachets.

Self-season salt sachet…

and a side by side comparison with free flowing, iodised salt…



note that the iodised salt is less uniform in crystal size.

[ThePieMan]

Feb 21, 2017 15:03:17 GMT ThePieMan said:

…note that the iodised salt is less uniform in crystal size.

Here's some closeups…
KFC Salt



iodised salt



I somehow don't think the company would use a salt substantially different for its hand it to the customers, salt and its fine flake salt. I posit that they are one and the same. If you're using normal domestic, free-flowing, table salt (iodised or otherwise) I suggest passing it through a fine tea strainer or sieve to pull out the rougher or bigger crystals. Hope that helps.

[Ken_Griffiths]

ThePieMan,

An interesting couple of posts regarding Salt.

I tend to just use free flowing Table Salt, but I also grind the Salt in an electric coffee grinder, together with my chosen 10g of herbs and spices, plus 3g MSG and it turns into a very fine dry talcum-like powder.

I find It's good to do that for a few reasons, one is the fact the Salt absorbs the oils and flavour from the freshly ground herbs and spices and it's then easier to clean out the grinder using a firm pastry brush.

The Fine Salt also seems to disperse better throughout the Flour, when I shake (and tumble) the 'ground' mix in a tight-lidded Tupperware container for a few minutes. Furthermore, I find I can then use slightly less salt, usually around 21-22g for use with 200g of flour, because of the better, even, dispersal, instead of the full 24g that I'm supposed to use in such a scaled down recipe.

If I don't grind my Salt, for any reason, then I tend to use the full 24g to get the full taste, so clearly the size of the Salt grain is important, like you mention. If the grain is too big, the Salt can sink to the bottom of the Flour. I therefore will also shake my mix turned upside down for a few seconds just before using, in that instance, to help counteract that issue and to try to bring the Salt back to the top of the Flour mix and even things out a little better.

[Deleted]

Here is the marinade. I have the marinade, the seasoning bag, the dried egg and milk bag, and the owners manual, all from 1998. The only thing "they" (friends) have failed to get for me are samples of the flour and the salt.

i.imgur.com/Ier0QN9.jpg

[ThePieMan]

Feb 23, 2017 12:40:57 GMT Ken_Griffiths said:

I tend to just use free flowing Table Salt, but I also grind the Salt in an electric coffee grinder, …

I did that today in making some Turkey Breast nuggets for my son's lunch. I used up what was in my spice bottle, 5g of Blend to 150g plain flour and 50g arrowroot (we don't have "Cake Flour" here, at least I haven't found any in the past 4 years.) I dipped the pieces in a wash of 200ml milk plus the white from a 55g egg. The turkey breast was marinated overnight in a brine of 1l water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 Tbs soy sauce [hey, that's not chicken! … "I know…" (Zorg, 5th Element)] 

I actually found the spice level good, for me – I was born in the 60' and a kid of the 70's; but I had to agree with my son who said, "It's really tasty but it makes you thirsty)

Oops, gotta go…

[ThePieMan]

… Had to drop my son off at football practice, and its raining cats and dogs here.



I was really happy with how these turned out. The breading adhered well and was moderately crunchy. I think the adherence was due to the egg white wash I used. Not to waste anything, I also had some hips and legs from a chicken in the fridge so I cooked them up as well…



The chicken didn't have the same, "gee, I really need a drink" response and tasted gooood! I was really happy with the breading as its the first time it really stayed on good, for me. 

The point of this story, in a Salt thread? Is this: I think there is a fine line to be drawn between how fine the salt is made. As a pulverised powder (I used a mortar and pestle,) SALT distributes very well through the flour and stays in suspension and thus a little goes a long way, areal long way, as I discovered when using it on popcorn. Thus the take home point here is that the granularity of the salt is important to the overall taste of the chicken, fine is good, too fine may by problematic.

[dprovo]

According to Jack Masseys biography

One of the franchisees (from the early brown/Massey period) was talking about how they would prepare the O.R... and he states that they would mix 26oz of seasoning with 25lb of flour AND 5 cups of salt!

Dustin

[ThePieMan]

Bakers Flour Salt. aka, Popcorn Salt, aka, Salt Powder.

...from the Morton Salt Co., 50lb bag...
www.webstaurantstore.com/morton-50-lb-bulk-salt-powder/102SALTPOP50.html

[willy]

Popcorn salt grains are 3 times larger than KFC salt grains.

i.imgur.com/ZVgb5oV.jpg

[deepfried101]

Can someone teach me how to attach a photo of a salt bag