Fried chicken fans got to go behind-the-scenes at KFC to find out how its iconic fried chicken is made with a recipe that’s a closely guarded secret - and our cameras were lucky enough to follow them.
KFC is one of the world’s tastiest and best-loved restaurants – with recipes that are a closely guarded secret.
But lucky locals were given the chance to get behind the counter and learn exactly what goes on inside the kitchens - including learning how the chicken is breaded by hand every day in-restaurant.
Ticket-holders were treated to some true southern hospitality and taught how to make the Colonel’s finger lickin’ chicken.
In the video above and article below, we follow how their exciting day unfolded...
First job before any secrets are revealed...
The budding cooks were given the first rule of preparation – sparkling clean hands.
Then came a lesson on how the British chicken on the bone is delivered fresh to KFC’s restaurants three times a week.
And once they’d had the history, learning how KFC opened its first branch way back in 1952, it was time to get hands on.
The secret to KFC's delicious chicken is the hand-breading!
Have you ever wondered why that succulent crispy coating doesn't slide off your chicken as you crunch into it at KFC? Well, here's the secret...
The team were shown exactly how each piece of chicken gets breaded by hand in the kitchens every day.
They watched as an expert cook tossed, folded and pressed the chicken in KFC's famous Original Recipe seasoning, before being given a chance to master the technique for themselves.
And it's just how the Colonel himself did it back in the very beginning to create his famous fried chicken, which continues to be enjoyed by millions of diners across the globe every day.
The key to the preparation is the unique KFC process '7-10-7 technique', which ensures every millimetre of meat is properly covered.
For ultimate flavour, the chicken pieces (which arrive fresh in restaurants three times a week) are first dipped in water, both for quality control and to help the famous coating stick as best as possible.
The chicken on the bone is then tossed exactly seven times, in order to retain the perfect amount of moisture, before being tipped into a huge tray of KFC's esteemed Original Recipe coating. They are then covered 10 times.
To avoid over-breading and to guarantee the coating is stuck on, each fresh piece of chicken is given seven little taps and shakes to get rid of any excess before being placed on the frying rack.
Timing is key for cooking perfect chicken
Next, the chicken was placed into fryers cranked up to 350 degrees.
Timing, they discovered, is everything, particularly when customer orders are coming in thick and fast.
So what's in that secret recipe?
The only thing that remained hush hush on the day was Colonel Sanders’ original recipe – a blend of 11 herbs and spices that remains a trade secret.
No matter how many pleas to discover what goes into the mix, no secrets were revealed!
In fact, only THREE people on the planet know what goes into that unique mix.
Finally...time to eat!
The guests unleashed their creativity after being given free rein of the burger station and challenged to build their own.
And they had no problems wolfing down the results!
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“It's kept in a vault in Kentucky,” she told UK documentary Secrets of the Fast Food Giants. “Across KFC, only two or three people actually know the exact recipe.” The fast food chain has two different factories to make part of its recipe so no one company would ever know the entire formula.
“It's kept in a vault in Kentucky,” she told UK documentary Secrets of the Fast Food Giants. “Across KFC, only two or three people actually know the exact recipe.” The fast food chain has two different factories to make part of its recipe so no one company would ever know the entire formula.
After some trial and error, they decided the chicken should be soaked in buttermilk and coated once in the breading mixture, then fried in oil at 350 °F (177 °C) in a pressure fryer until golden brown. As a pressure fryer was too big, a deep fryer was used alternatively as a substitute.
Strict Supplier Contracts: The suppliers of KFC's ingredients, such as the spice blend, are also bound by contractual agreements to maintain confidentiality. They often provide premixed spice blends rather than individual spices to further protect the recipe.
The KFC Secret Menu currently includes three items: the Zinger Stacker Twister, the BBQ Bacon and Cheese Twister, and the Kentucky Snack Box, but this menu changes regularly with snacks so exclusive they've never made it to the regular menu.
Their recipe uses 11 herbs and spices, so that's exactly who they follow on Twitter. Don't believe us? Well, the 11 people KFC follows on Twitter are: the five former members of the pop group The Spice Girls, and six men named Herb.
Black Pepper is considered the 'king of spices' and rightfully so. Unlike its perennial companion, salt, which is easily available in any nook and corner of the world, the black pepper owes its origins to Kerala – a state in South India.
KFC products are fried in oil which may contain the following: Canola Oil and Hydrogenated Soybean Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid Added To Protect Flavor, Dimethylpolysiloxane, an Antifoaming Agent Added OR Low Linolenic Soybean Oil, TBHQ and Citric Acid Added To Protect Flavor, Dimethylpolysiloxane, an Antifoaming ...
The main ingredients for the coating, according to this recipe, are paprika (4 tablespoons), white pepper (3 tablespoons) and garlic salt (2 tablespoons). But Ledington says one ingredient is the real star. “The main ingredient is white pepper,” he says. “I call that the secret ingredient.
Callers to the United States Department of Agriculture's Meat and Poultry Hotline sometimes ask about soaking poultry in salt water. This is a personal preference and serves no purpose for food safety.
KFC deep fries its chicken for 15 minutes and then drains the oil off for another five minutes – 20 minutes in total. If you don't have a deep fryer, heat up plenty of oil in a large saucepan and do it that way.
In 1991, the KFC name was officially adopted, although it had already been widely known by that initialism. Kyle Craig, president of KFC U.S., admitted the change was an attempt to distance the chain from the unhealthy connotations of "fried".
Here's where "crispy" is a code word for "steer clear." The extra crispy recipe is by far the least healthful of KFC's chicken options. A single breast will set you back 530 calories, 35 grams of fat, and 6 grams of saturated fat.
KFC's fried chicken famously contains a blend of 11 herbs and spices, which are supposedly produced at two different plants and then combined at a third, so nobody can be in possession of the entire recipe, which is locked away in a vault.
Seasoning and Flavor: KFC is known for its distinctive blend of "11 herbs and spices," which is used to season its chicken. This secret recipe gives KFC chicken a unique and recognizable flavor that sets it apart from plain or unseasoned chicken.
TIL that KFC, in order to keep the Original Recipe a secret, has a company mix the first half of the 11 spices then ship it to McCormick, who adds the second half to the mix before sending it back to KFC. Almost all the fried chicken restaurants use a pressure fryer.
The company is using Amazon Echo to help train employees, allowing them to ask questions and watch videos while they're performing tasks. Since KFC uses several commercial-grade kitchen fixtures, each now comes with a QR code that employees can scan to watch a video on how to operate it.
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