KFC Original Recipe

The KFC Original Recipe is a secret mix of ingredients that fast

food restaurant chain KFC uses to produce fried chicken.

Contents
History
Reception
Recipe KFC Original Recipe chicken

References

History
By the very late 1930s, Harland Sanders' Corbin, Kentucky, gas station was so well known for its fried
chicken, that Sanders decided to remove the gas pumps and build a restaurant and motel in its place.
While perfecting his secret recipe with 11 herbs and spices, Sanders found that pan frying chicken was
too slow, requiring 30 minutes per order. Deep frying the chicken required half the time, but produced
dry, unevenly done chicken. In 1939 he found that using a pressure cooker produced tasty, moist chicken
in eight or nine minutes.[1] By July 1940 Sanders finalized what came to be known as his Original
Recipe.[2]

After Sanders began franchising the chicken in the 1950s as Kentucky Fried Chicken, the company
shipped the spices already mixed to restaurants to preserve the recipe's secrecy.[1] He admitted to the use
of salt and pepper in the recipe, and claimed that the ingredients "stand on everybody's shelf".[3][4]

Sanders used vegetable oil for frying chicken. By 1993, for reasons of economy, many KFC outlets had
chosen to use a blend of palm and soybean oil. In Japan, the oil used is mainly the more expensive
cottonseed and corn oil, as KFC Japan believes that this offers superior taste quality.[5]

Reception
Sanders' Original Recipe of "11 herbs and spices" is one of the most famous trade secrets in the catering
industry.[6][7] Franchisee Dave Thomas, better known as the founder of Wendy's, argued that the secret
recipe concept was successful because "everybody wants in on a secret" and former KFC owner John Y.
Brown, Jr. called it "a brilliant marketing ploy."[8][9] The New York Times described the recipe as one of
the company's most valuable assets.[6] The recipe is not patented, because patents are published in detail
and come with an expiration date, whereas trade secrets can remain the intellectual property of their
holders in perpetuity.[10]
KFC uses its Original Recipe as a means to differentiate its product from its competitors.[11] Early
franchisee Pete Harman credited the chain's popularity to the recipe and the product, and John Y. Brown
cites the "incredibly tasty, almost addictive" product as the basis of KFC's staying power.[12] On the other
hand, Allen Adamson, managing director of brand consultancy Landor, remains unconvinced about the
contribution of the secret formula aspect.[13] He argues: "The story may still be part of these companies'
folklore, but I'd be surprised if more than 2 percent buy the brand because of it."[13]

In reference to the original recipe, the official Twitter account of KFC follows only eleven other
accounts: Six public figures (ranging from politics to sport) named Herb as well as the five members of
the Spice Girls.[14]

Recipe
A copy of the recipe, signed by Sanders, is held inside a safe inside a vault in KFC's Louisville
headquarters, along with eleven vials containing the herbs and spices.[15][16] To maintain the secrecy of
the recipe, half of it is produced by Griffith Laboratories before it is given to McCormick, who add the
second half.[17]

In 1983, William Poundstone conducted laboratory research into the coating mix, as described in his
book Big Secrets, and claimed that a sample he examined contained only flour, salt, monosodium
glutamate and black pepper.[18] KFC maintains that it still adheres to Sanders' original 1940 recipe.[19] In
Todd Wilbur's television program Top Secret Recipe, the Colonel's former secretary, Shirley Topmiller,
revealed that Sanders learned from his mother that sage and savory are good seasonings for chicken.[20]
Also, Winston Shelton, a former friend of the Colonel, said that the secret recipe contains Thalassery
black pepper.[20]

It is well attested that Harland Sanders asked Bill Summers of Marion-Kay Spices in Brownstown,
Indiana, US to recreate his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.[21] While alive, Sanders recommended
the Marion-Kay seasoning to franchisees over the corporate version, as he believed the latter had been
made inferior by its owners.[21] In 1982, after Sanders' death, KFC brought a lawsuit against Marion-Kay
and the latter was barred from selling its mixture to KFC franchises.[21] The Marion-Kay seasoning is
still sold under the name "99-X," and according to Sanders biographer Josh Ozersky, it is
indistinguishable from the original KFC recipe.[21]

In August 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported that Joe Ledington of Kentucky, a nephew by marriage of
Colonel Sanders, had claimed to have found a copy of the original KFC fried chicken recipe on a
handwritten piece of paper in an envelope in a scrapbook.[22] Tribune staffers conducted a cooking test of
this recipe, which took several attempts to get right.[22] They had to determine whether the "Ts" meant
tablespoons or teaspoons, and soon concluded the correct interpretation was tablespoons.[22] 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 degrees Fahrenheit in a pressure fryer until golden brown. As a pressure
fryer was too big, a deep fryer was used alternatively to substitute the pressure fryer. They also claimed
that with the addition of MSG as a flavor enhancer, they could produce fried chicken which tasted
"indistinguishable" from fried chicken they had purchased at KFC.[22]

The recipe found by Joe Ledington reads as follows:

11 Spices – Mix With 2 Cups White Fl.

 1. 2⁄3 Tablespoon Salt
2. 1⁄2 Tablespoon Thyme
3. 1⁄2 Tablespoon Basil
4. 1⁄ Tablespoon Oregano
3
5. 1 Ts Celery salt
6. 1 Ts Black pepper
7. 1 Ts Dried mustard
8. 4 Tablespoon Paprika
9. 2 Tablespoon Garlic salt
10. 1 Tablespoon Ground ginger
11. 3 Tablespoon White pepper
While Ledington expressed uncertainty that the recipe was the Original Recipe, he had a hand in mixing
the Original Recipe for Colonel Sanders when he was a young boy, and recalled that white pepper was a
principal ingredient.[22]

References
1. Whitworth, William (February 14, 1970). "Kentucky-Fried" (http://www.newyorker.com/maga
zine/1970/02/14/kentucky-fried). The New Yorker. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
2. Schreiner, Bruce (July 23, 2005). "KFC still guards Colonel's secret" (http://jacksonville.com/
tu-online/stories/072305/bus_19314459.shtml). Associated Press. Retrieved September 19,
2013.
3. Kleber, John E.; Thomas D. Clark; Lowell H. Harrison; James C. Klotter (June 1992). The
Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 796. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
4. Sanders, Harland (2012). The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20130921055011/https://s3.amazonaws.com/colcookbook/us/pdf/English_Full
Book.pdf) (PDF). Louiseville: KFC. p. 42. Archived from the original (https://s3.amazonaws.
com/colcookbook/us/pdf/English_FullBook.pdf) (PDF) on September 21, 2013.
5. Okawara, Takeshi (Summer 1993). "Universality and particularity in globalization". Business
Quarterly. 57 (4): 128–134.
6. Chartrand, Sandra (February 5, 2001). "Patents; Many companies will forgo patents in an
effort to safeguard their trade secrets" (https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/business/paten
ts-many-companies-will-forgo-patents-effort-safeguard-their-trade-secrets.html?n=Top%2fN
ews%2fTechnology%2fColumns%2fPatents). New York Times. Retrieved September 27,
2013.
7. Hovey, C. (2002). The Patent Process: A Guide to Intellectual Property for the Information
Age (https://books.google.com/books?id=aulUAAAAMAAJ). Wiley. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-471-
44217-2. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
8. Darden, Robert (January 1, 2004). Secret Recipe: Why Kfc Is Still Cooking After 50 Years.
Tapestry Press. pp. 12, 57–58, 101, 159, 175, 211. ISBN 978-1-930819-33-7.
9. Thomas, R. David (October 1, 1992). Dave's Way: A New Approach to Old-Fashioned
Success (https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1j8bD6SQrAC). Penguin Group (USA)
Incorporated. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-425-13501-3. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
10. "It pays to understand law on trade secrets" (http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/20
01/02/26/editorial2.html?page=all). Business First. February 26, 2001. Retrieved
February 22, 2013.
11. "KFC on lookout for fowl play" (http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/10/business/fi-kfc10).
Los Angeles Times. September 10, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
12. Schreiner, Bruce. "Kentucky Fried Chicken marks 50th anniversary of first franchise" (http://
onlineathens.com/stories/081102/bus_20020811016.shtml). Associated Press. Retrieved
July 21, 2012.
13. "Corporate Espionage; Secrets and lies". Brand Strategy. October 9, 2006.
14. "People followed by KFC (@kfc)" (https://twitter.com/kfc/following). Twitter. Retrieved
August 30, 2019.
15. Brady, Diane (March 29, 2012). "KFC's Big Game of Chicken" (http://mobile.businessweek.c
om/articles/2012-03-29/kfcs-big-game-of-chicken). Businessweek. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
16. "Colonel's Secret Recipe Gets Bodyguards" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130923032226/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26618866/Colonel039s_Secret_Recipe_Gets_Bodyguards). CNBC.
Associated Press. September 9, 2008. Archived from the original (https://www.cnbc.com/id/
26618866/Colonel039s_Secret_Recipe_Gets_Bodyguards) on September 23, 2013.
Retrieved January 31, 2013.
17. Crossan, Rob (April 26, 2012). "The A to Z of fried chicken". The Times. Times
Newspapers.
18. Poundstone, William (1983). Big Secrets (https://archive.org/details/bigsecretsuncens00pou
n/page/20). William Morrow. pp. 20–21 (https://archive.org/details/bigsecretsuncens00poun/
page/20). ISBN 0-688-04830-7.
19. Choi, Candice (August 26, 2013). "Is Coke's 127-year-old recipe the same? Not quite" (htt
p://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Is-Coke-s-127-year-old-recipe-the-same-Not
-quite-4777106.php). Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
20. "KFC" (http://www.cmt.com/show/top_secret_recipe/episode.jhtml?episodeID=184796#mor
einfo). Top Secret Recipe. Season 1. Episode 101. 2011. Viacom. CMT. Retrieved
October 1, 2013.
21. Ozersky, Josh (April 2012). Colonel Sanders and the American Dream. University of Texas
Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-292-74285-7.
22. Dodrill, Tara (August 19, 2016). "KFC Secret Recipe Found? Colonel Sanders' Nephew
Shares 11 Herbs And Spices Found In Family Scrapbook" (http://www.chicagotribune.com/li
festyles/travel/ct-kfc-recipe-revealed-20160818-story.html). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved
August 23, 2016.

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This page was last edited on 17 December 2019, at 22:14 (UTC).

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