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Okay, my brother just told me he heard that Col. Sanders made his fortune off developing a method to deep-fry chicken in a pressure cooker.
That sounds insane to me. The idea of hot droplets of oil spraying out of a pressure cooker sounds exactly like a mist of gasoline spraying into a cylinder of a car engine--an explosion ready to happen.
So I'm sure it's more complicated than that.
What's the real deal?
Posts: 241 | Registered: Nov 2001
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You buy get pressure cooked fried chicken in small resturants up here in Wisconsin, it's actually rather good...a bit oily, but good. Satyagraha
Posts: 359 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Thanks, Jack. I was going to say, "I live next door to a KFC; should I go ask them?" but then I realized that I could probably find a real answer online.
Posts: 586 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Well, you're talking about just any pressure cooker vs. decades of KFC research. The 1040 (the designation of the KFC pressure frier) is only used by KFC. They designed the silly thing in the first place.
It is not, however, the secret to KFC chicken. Don't think that a pressure cooker and a few quarts of the ol' hydrogenated will get you KFC chicken. That's another story.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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I'm more just interested in the idea of deep frying in a pressure cooker at all.
I'm just discovering I enjoy cooking and I've been doing some grilling, smoking, that kind of stuff.
I've been interested in the assertion that, when done properly, frying doesn't really let much oil into the food. So I've been fiddling with that, and the idea of pressurized deep frying was intriguing to me--how it would work, first, since I was under the (apparently erroneous) impression that steam was most of the pressure (I'm guessing it much just be heat), and second, whether it would help or hurt my efforts to keep the oil out.
Posts: 241 | Registered: Nov 2001
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Do you get the horrible fried food smell around your house?
Last month I lived close to a rendering plant (I know, not exactly the same thing) and it made EVERYTHING smell. *ick*
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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It's a little known fact that KFC does not use real chicken, but genetic mutants with like 10 wings and 8 legs. There's no head, just a hole in the top which they put a food tube through. That's why they don't call it Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I usually can't smell it anymore, imogen, though my sister once informed me that my car smells like fried chicken. Maybe I should clean it and get an air freshener or something.
Posts: 586 | Registered: Jan 2003
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It is my impression that KFC is actually just a marketting idea. The "Kentucky" in Kentucky Fried Chicken makes people think that only hicks and hillbillies will eat it. Also, KFC serves a lot more menu items than just Friend Chicken. They offer much healthier foods, so "Kentucky Fried Chicken" is misleading to someone who, for whatever reason, has never had a bucket of the Colonel's best.
As to the secret of KFC chicken, there really isn't much to tell. The cooking process is about the same (excluding the pressure cooker) as any body else. It is true that the secret recipie of 11 herbs and spices (or whatever) is truely secret. I have no idea what they put in it that makes it so darned good (even after working there), but I've heard that certain spice mix manufacturers have gotten it close to the mark. I just can't remember them for the life of me right now.
As to using oil to cook foods without adding fats and oils, it is possible. However, you can forget fried chicken. "Oil Blanching" is the process you are referring to, but it doesn't stay healthy if you are putting bread or breaded items into the oil. The bread just sucks it up and keeps it like some kind of evil, diet-killing sponge. You can, however, toss meats and vegetables into oil to cook them quickly and evenly and healthily.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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