# kfc



## poynedexter (7 Dec 2012)

after about 12 months of saying never again, under pressure ror time, we had kfc for lunch. 4 pieces of boney chicken a stodgy chicken burger and a corn flavoured side later, i'm done.

what is that stuff cooked in cause i've been gurgling and burpin it ever since. feelin like a good boke is needed, spin class was a disaster. is gotta be bad for the body that stuff. maybe i've been eatin too well for the last year and its like poison to me now? what gives?


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## black'n'yellow (7 Dec 2012)

It's Colonel Sanders' secret recipe - nobody will ever tell you. You didn't have to eat it, by the way - just in case you weren't clear on that....


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## Phaeton (7 Dec 2012)

I always fancy it & the regret it as soon as I have eaten it, must be the way it is cooked in the UK, it's far better the other side of the pond.

Alan...


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## Rob3rt (7 Dec 2012)

I like a good old KFC Wicked Zinger Tower meal, side = gravy, drink = Malteasers Crushem now and then! I don't regret eating it! It is junk food, tasty junk food, not a crime! I also eat Barburrito on a weekly basis and McDonald's fairly regularly, maybe once a month.


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## poynedexter (7 Dec 2012)

well no one forced me, thats for sure, but little did know how bad it would be 6 hours later. is it that transit fatty acid rain stuff i thought was banned or what?


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## mcshroom (7 Dec 2012)

They don't cook in trans-fats (or semi-hydrogenated oil any more, they used to when I worked there).

The chicken and fillets are normal pieces of chicken, coated in a mixture of flour, salt, powdered egg and a spice mix. To cook them they are cooked in a pressurised deep fat fryer (probably using non-hydrogenated veg oil now) for 15mins.

Zinger burgers, strips, mini fillets, fries and hot wings are cooked in veg oil at normal pressure. Corn is either microwaved or boiled then dipped in a butter/oil mix.

Gravy is made from a stock made by filtering the oil in the chicken fryers, then have some flavourings added at the end.

I'd guess most of the gas is actually from the soda-stream style fizzy drink that comes with it. There seemed to be far more carbon dioxide in those drinks than bottled fizzy drinks.


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## srw (7 Dec 2012)

Take a look on the Guardian's website - on the Word of Mouth blog there's a video of someone cooking chicken using what is allegedly the Colonel's secret recipe. It's basically herbs and spices with a large slug of MSG.


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## mcshroom (7 Dec 2012)

Could well be. It came pre-mixed to the shops and the most noticeable smell was black pepper


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## DougieAB (13 Dec 2012)

Make your own at home but bake it in the oven! Loads of spice variations on the web, experiment and find one you like. I dip skinned chicken thighs in beaten egg then in the spice and breadcrumb mix and stick in the oven until browned and crispy. Serve with potato wedges and coleslaw, yum!


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## MontyVeda (13 Dec 2012)

"*4* pieces of boney chicken *AND* a stodgy chicken burger *AND* a corn flavoured side later"

if that's lunch... it's a good job you ride a bike!


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## martint235 (13 Dec 2012)

Every once in a while I buy a family bucket on my way back from the pub. It used to be very simple, pop in, buy bucket, eat all the chicken and as much of the chips as I could face. Now there's all kinds of choices to be made which I found difficult last time after several beers.


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## MontyVeda (13 Dec 2012)

if anybody hasn't been to KFC for a while... be aware... if they ask if you want to 'tower up', you no longer get large fries and a large drink for an extra 40p, these days, they slap a fecking hashbbrown and a slice of cheese on a chicken burger! so wrong on many levels.


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## Rob3rt (13 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> if anybody hasn't been to KFC for a while... be aware... if they ask if you want to 'tower up', you no longer get large fries and a large drink for an extra 40p, these days, they slap a fecking hashbbrown and a slice of cheese on a chicken burger! so wrong on many levels.


 
That has been the case for years! :S


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## CopperCyclist (13 Dec 2012)

I love KFC! Well, relatively speaking - I'd never have one in place of a decent meal, but you know what I mean. Chicken pieces and chips only though, I agree with you about their burgers.


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## Scruffmonster (13 Dec 2012)

There is no secret recipe. It's a marketing gimmick in the same way that the Coca Cola secret is.

To the OP... Close to a year off junk food will make it feel like poison. Whereas if you had it every day for the next month you'd struggle to keep away from the place.


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## 400bhp (13 Dec 2012)

Garbage in

Garbage out.


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## Andrew_Culture (13 Dec 2012)

I had my first zinger tower in years recently and it was great. In my experience the burger is just as likely to be rattling around in the bottom of the bag as betwixt the bun.

Nearly 1000 calories in a zinger tower burger!


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## dellzeqq (13 Dec 2012)

they are using the Youngbloods for their Krushems ad - so they can't be all bad


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDMyD1YTgT8


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## DCLane (13 Dec 2012)

Scruffmonster said:


> To the OP... Close to a year off junk food will make it feel like poison. Whereas if you had it every day for the next month you'd struggle to keep away from the place.



True. I can't eat cooked breakfasts or 'junk' food any more after 18 months off them.


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## tadpole (13 Dec 2012)

Your body is not used to that amount of fat. Any junk food would do the same.


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## MontyVeda (13 Dec 2012)

Rob3rt said:


> That has been the case for years! :S


 it was news to me 6 months ago... who the feck wants hash brown on anything, let alone a chicken burger?

I always used to exchange the fizzy drink for large fries, but they don't seem to do that any more either.


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## mcshroom (13 Dec 2012)

There's a difference between 'towering up' which means turning the burger into a 'tower burger' with the hash brown and cheese slice, and 'going large' which means larger drink and fries.

Oh and yes, both phrases are horrible


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## phil_hg_uk (13 Dec 2012)

Never mind a KFC family bucket, I feel like I need a bucket just thinking about KFC


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## Rob3rt (13 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> it was news to me 6 months ago... *who the feck wants hash brown on anything, let alone a chicken burger?*
> 
> I always used to exchange the fizzy drink for large fries, but they don't seem to do that any more either.


 

Me, I always get the Tower version!


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## MontyVeda (13 Dec 2012)

Rob3rt said:


> Me, I always get the Tower version!


 
freak!


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## Andrew_Culture (14 Dec 2012)

Have you seen the 'double down' that KFC sell in the USA? Chicken instead of bread and bacon as the filling!

www.cracked.com/blog/review-of-kfcs-terrifying-new-double-down-sandwich/


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## compo (14 Dec 2012)

mcshroom said:


> They don't cook in trans-fats (or semi-hydrogenated oil any more, they used to when I worked there).
> 
> The chicken and fillets are normal pieces of chicken, coated in a mixture of flour, salt, powdered egg and a spice mix. To cook them they are cooked in a pressurised deep fat fryer (probably using non-hydrogenated veg oil now) for 15mins.


 
As a point of interest (to me), do you recall off the top of your head how long you would keep cooked chicken in the holding cabinets before disposing of it.


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## srw (14 Dec 2012)

Andrew_Culture said:


> Have you seen the 'double down' that KFC sell in the USA? Chicken instead of bread and bacon as the filling!
> 
> www.cracked.com/blog/review-of-kfcs-terrifying-new-double-down-sandwich/


 Probably a more balanced and nutritious meal than the one with the "bread". It's an obvious adaptation of things like saltimbocca and chicken kiev.


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## Rob3rt (14 Dec 2012)

srw said:


> Probably a more balanced and nutritious meal than the one with the "bread". It's an obvious adaptation of things like saltimbocca and chicken kiev.


 
Kentucky Fried Kiev! Now I would subscribe to that!


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## tadpole (14 Dec 2012)

compo said:


> As a point of interest (to me), do you recall off the top of your head how long you would keep cooked chicken in the holding cabinets before disposing of it.


if it is kept warm (below 63 degrees) two hours
If it is kept Hot (above 64 degrees) 4 hours
but the relevant regulations (food safety TCR 1996) allow it to be chilled to below 8 degrees if the "retailer is confidant that the food is still wholesome". and it need to be reheated to an internal temperature of above 83 degrees before resale. It must be disposed of by the end of the trading day


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## dellzeqq (14 Dec 2012)

srw said:


> Probably a more balanced and nutritious meal than the one with the "bread". It's an obvious adaptation of things like *saltimbocca* and chicken kiev.


I always knew he was quality..........


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## mcshroom (14 Dec 2012)

compo said:


> As a point of interest (to me), do you recall off the top of your head how long you would keep cooked chicken in the holding cabinets before disposing of it.



In the sealed cabinets it was 90 mins for chicken, and there was a lower one for the display cabinets on the top (I think 30 but I'm not sure).

Fillets were less than that and mini fillets was a lot lower


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## compo (14 Dec 2012)

The reason I asked about storing cooked chicken before sale is that I used to work part time for Chicken George. The shop owner was very fussy and had very high standards in everything he did. I cannot remember off hand how long he stored cooked chicken in the holding cabinets but it certainly wasn't more than an hour. A few days ago I had to sit outside a KFC for over an hour. The cabinets had chicken in them when I parked. They didn't have many customers and were still selling from the same batch when I left. This particular store does have a very poor reputation for hygiene and food quality and it doesn't take much to see why.


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## mcshroom (14 Dec 2012)

90 mins in the hot cupboards wasn't detrimental in my experience. The cupborads are at 90[sup]o[/sup]C and the fat drains off, so we actually preferred the pieces of chicken that had been held for a while as they were less greasy. 

The shift manager is supposed to record all food cooked and disposed of with the times that this was done. Unfortunately I have heard of too many cases of falsification of those forms for me to trust them. There are also unannounced inspections 4 times a year, but again if you were inspected early on in that quarter then you knew there was little/no chance of being inspected again until the next quarter.

Another one I can remember is that fries get 5 mins, so if they aren't put in the hopper after you order then they are almost always going to be out of time.

It sounds strange in a junk food establishment, but as a cook I was proud of providing the stuff with as high a quality as possible so I would have been very unhappy if that had happened where I was working. We were in a busy retail park though so there wasn't much chance of it.

{disclaimer} I stopped working for them in 2005 so I may well be out of date {/disclaimer}


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## Moon bunny (14 Dec 2012)

Sl-o-o-o-o-wly cooked chicken legs with apple and an assortment of vegetables for tea tonight. Gorgeous.


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## Peteaud (14 Dec 2012)

Anything greasy makes me ill so i have to stay away from these types of place / foods.


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (14 Dec 2012)

Moon bunny said:


> Sl-o-o-o-o-wly cooked chicken legs with apple and an assortment of vegetables for tea tonight. Gorgeous.


Finest selection of Schwartz 5 spice shake and copious amounts of honey.

Nom nom


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## growingvegetables (14 Dec 2012)

mcshroom said:


> Gravy Agricultural diesel is made from a stock made by filtering the oil in the chicken fryers, then have some flavourings added at the end.


FTFY


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## MrJamie (16 Dec 2012)

Not a fan of KFC, years ago they used to be way too salty and greasy, had it once felt sick for hours, took me maybe 15 years to try it again, a burger was okay, box meal didnt sit too well. In terms of fast food, i do quite like Burger King Angus burgers, bit pricey but pretty good as far as it goes. Pub snacks a better option though and you can have a beer with it  

Started keeping my food intake in check today after lapsing for a while, keep thinking about food though


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## dave r (22 Dec 2012)

Having read this thread I'm glad I don't eat at KFC, or Mcdonalds either.


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## summerdays (22 Dec 2012)

I have a McDonalds about once a year - usually when rushed for time. The kids don't even ask for it either


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## tyred (24 Dec 2012)

I had a KFC meal once. I was about 8 at the time and I have never been remotely tempted to have another for some strange reason...

Although I am tempted to ride my bike through the drive through of the local one for a laugh.


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