Kentucky Fried Chicken at Home, Close as you will ever get.

In 1964, Colonel Sanders sold his chicken franchise to John Y. Brown, Jr, Jack C. Massey, Pete Harmon, and investors Lee Cummings and Harlan Adams, who in turn sold it to Pepsico, who in turn spun it off into Yum brands. I am not going to go into the entire history of the changing of the guard that brings us to today's KFC, you can read about it here: WikiPedia, HistoryofKFC. My only concern is a 1984 lawsuit between KFC Corp and Marion Kay Co,. Inc. You see Harlan Sanders was still operating restaurants up in Canada and felt the seasonings had been watered down, so to speak. He turned to an Indiana company, Marion Kay to reverse mix his seasoning blend. He was not able to tell Marion Kay what was in the blend for contractual and trademark reasons but to my taste buds, they hit the nail on the head in their recreation of the secret blend. You can read the lawsuit that later ensued here: KFC CORP. v. MARION-KAY CO., INC.

So what is the spice blend that Marion Kay created for Harlan Sanders? That I do not fully know, however you can purchase a container of it here: Marion Kay https://marionkay.com/?s=flake+salt&post_type=product recommends 2 tablespoons of the spice blend be mixed with 4 cups of flour, I actually bumped it up a bit and did 3 heaping tablespoons of the spice mix with 1 tablespoon of flake salt. I used a deep fryer and some of the Colonel's breading techniques based on the way he did it in a YouTube video, which can be seen here: Colonel Sanders making chicken at the Clinton KFC

Sanders also used soft wheat flour, I recommend cake flour such as Swans Down Cake Flour. https://www.swansdown.com/about/

4 Cups Cake Flour

3 Tbsp 99X Chicken Seasoning

1 Tbsp fine flake salt

1 brined chicken, patted dry. (see note*)

1 egg 

1 cup milk

Raised Cookie rack, set it over a large pan or cutting board.

Using a large mixing bowl, combine flour and seasonings using a whisk, set aside. In a pie pan whip egg and milk together. Coat chicken using a four-step process. Toss the chicken pieces through the flour mixture one at a time, setting each on the raised rack after it is coated. 2. Working with one piece at a time, dip the floured chicken into the egg wash allowing excess to drip off. 3. Toss the egg washed chicken through the flour, return the chicken to the raised rack. Allow the chicken to rest on the rack for 25 minutes until the flour has absorbed into the egg wash and the chicken looks gummy. Toss each piece through the seasoned flour again before frying. 

I move the pan and rack to an oven at this point and set the oven on its lowest setting. Move chicken to rack after frying and keep it warm till all chicken is fried. 

A word on gravy, I like to use the crackling grease (2 to 3 tbsp) from the bottom of the pot, then I use the seasoned flour, chicken stock, and milk to create a gravy.

Brine 

1 quart
1 Tbsp + 2 1/4 tsp sugar

1/3 cup kosher salt

1 heaping tablespoon chicken seasoning.

Brine for at least 3-5 hours
Here are some tips and tricks for turning out a crispy crunchy and juicy fried chicken.

1. Never fry refrigerator cold chicken, your oil temperature will drop the second you add the chicken to the oil. This will throw off the entire dish in more ways than one. Allow the temperature to return to 350 before adding the next batch. 

2. Never crowd the chicken in the fryer or the pot. That crust needs to have unfettered contact with that hot oil to crisp up and room to let the steam bubbles escape.   Cook only a few pieces at a time. It is worth the extra time and effort. 

3. Flour, use a softer lower protein flour. Cake flour is a great secret for fried chicken. All Purpose flour turns out a hard thick bready crust, rather than that delicate shattering crispy crust, I don't like it. 

4. Brining, definitely brine your chicken. Frying causes moisture loss, those bubbles in the frying oil, that is moisture escaping. I do a salt/sugar brine and water. drain the chicken well after brining and pat with a paper towel. Also, throw a tablespoon of the seasoning into that brine. 

5. Building a crust that sticks, it is a four-step process. 1. Toss chicken in seasoned flour in an oversized tall bowl. 2. Dip chicken in an egg-milk wash, let excess drain drip back into the bowl.3. Toss chicken through the seasoned flour. 4. Allow chicken to rest on the raised rack for 25 minutes and then one last toss through the seasoned flour. 

6. Use a raised cookie rack to set you chicken on after it is breaded, allow it to sit for 25 minutes till it starts to look a little gooey, toss it back through the flour for a double coating.

7. For a lighter coating only run it through the breading process once. Pure preference for single or double breading. 

8. Use popcorn or flake salt and fine ground seasonings.  Flake salt is usually a special order item, however, popcorn salt is easy to find. Why? Popcorn and flake salts are very light and float in the flour rather than sinking to the bottom. Your seasoning should all be finely ground so they float in your flour and cling to it.

9. Deep fryers are great to use, you can regulate the temperature easily and see if it drops. I now favor a cast iron deep fryer pot and a thermometer. Cast iron retains heat and prevents the temperature of the oil from dropping too much. 350 is the temperature you want. One other good option is a wok, the thing I find the most important is that the chicken floats, I don't like contact with the bottom like you get in a pan. 

10. Seasoning your flour, rule of thumb is 1 tablespoons seasoning to 2 cups of flour. I sometimes do a little more... again preference. 

11. Fry dark and light meat separately, breast meat cooks faster. 

12. Watch those bubbles, like popping popcorn when you hear the kernels almost stop popping you know it is done. When the bubbles slow down, the moisture level in the chicken has dropped. Having said that, see below for timing. *

13. Break the big thigh bone before cooking, this is a restaurant trick that allows faster cooking as thighs take the longest to cook. 

14. You can keep your chicken warm in the oven at 200, however, make sure it is sitting on a raised rack. Never set chicken onto paper towels or directly in a pan, the heat will steam your crust soggy.

15. Use an oversized tall bowl for tossing the chicken, toss the using your hands at least 7 times in the flour.

If you would like to make Kentucky Fried Chicken Cole Slaw, I have posted a recipe on this site here:KFC Coleslaw, not a copykat... the formula is more simple than you think..

If you are not going to buy the seasoning then below are some suggestions:

White Pepper

Black Pepper
Ground Sage
Ground Coriander
Ground Savory
Ground Rosemary
Ground Thyme
Ground Marjoram
Ground celery seed
Paprika (sweet)
Fine Plain Popcorn Salt
The two types of pepper and the flaked salt are very important. Table salt will fall to the bottom of your bowl rather than float in the salt. 

.