Double Down Throwdown: Our Homemade Version Takes on KFC's

Posted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, April 13, 2010 at 3:45 PM

“Never in my life did I ever expect to ingest something called 'The Colonel's Special Sauce,' much less spend a morning trying to recreate it.”

KFC's Double Down Sandwich. [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

By now, everyone knows what this is, right? It's the new Double Down “sandwich” from KFC. Two slices of bacon, two slices of cheese, and a big squirt of the “Colonel's Special Sauce” sandwiched between two deep-fried chicken cutlets in lieu of bread. Most people online seem to be in agreement, with Sam Sifton leading the charge: This thing is gross.

Most of the panty-twisting revolves around its nutritional qualities. But is it really that bad for you? After all, conceptually and nutritionally, it's no different than a Chicken Cordon Bleu, right? Is there no room in our diet for fried chicken or bacon?

To me, the grossness of this sandwich is the same as what's gross about all fast food: convenience and quality. It's simply too easy to walk up to a window, hand over five bucks, and get 600 industrially produced calories prepared by a worker who couldn't care less.

As a culinary concept, on the other hand, chicken, bacon, and cheese sounds pretty good to me. So what if I were to recreate the Double Down with time and care using quality ingredients? How would it compare to the original? Find out, after the jump.

This morning, we did just that (yes, I was up frying chicken before 8 a.m.). Here are the results.

The Chicken

KFC's Chicken cutlets are not bad as far as fast food goes. They are clearly made from whole (albeit grisly and slightly dry) pieces of chicken breast, not ground and formed chicken meal. The problem is the crust. In the two sandwiches I had, it lacked crispness except around the very edges. It also seemed to be adhered to the breast with some sort of industrial-strength food glue. Finally, while the Colonel is proud of his secret 11-herb-and-spice blend, it overwhelms not just the chicken but the bacon, sauce, and melted cheese, as well—not a minor feat!

To improve matters, I started with good, air-chilled chicken breasts, which I split in half horizontally into cutlets and soaked overnight in buttermilk seasoned with black pepper, fresh garlic, and paprika in order to help tenderize and flavor the meat. I also added plenty of salt to the mix, turning the buttermilk into a brine, helping the chicken breast pieces retain more moisture as they cooked, ensuring juiciness.

Standard fried chicken breading will have you drop the buttermilk-soaked pieces into seasoned flour. To get a bit of extra crispness, I worked a bit of extra buttermilk into the flour mixture with my fingertips before adding the chicken. This creates little crisp nubs that stick to the exterior of the chicken for extra crunch. I tried frying in lard and shortening, but they proved too heavy, leaving an offputting waxy coating on your tongue. Peanut oil fared much better.

Since the chicken breast cutlets are so thin, I didn't even need to break out the deep fryer—they stayed submerged just fine in a 12-inch skillet, making cleanup much more appealing.

I once had a chef who used to yell at cooks, “I don't care if you're cooking fried dogs**t. If it comes out of the fryer, you salt it the second it comes out!” He's right: Salt sticks much better when the food's still hot and slightly greasy.

The Bacon

KFC's bacon was by far the most disappointing part of the sandwich. After digging through the cheese-mayo mixture with a pair of tweezers, I was finally able to locate the two floppy, anemic slices. Even when tasting them on their own, it was tough to discern any particular pork flavor. All I got was a vague hit of chemical smoke. Blugh.

In order to stand up to the flavor of the chicken, I decided to go with thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon. My normal go-to method is to lay the strips out on a sheet tray in the oven, but it makes collecting excess fat a little more difficult, and I had definite plans for that bacon fat. Instead, I cooked the bacon (two full slices cut in half per sandwich, plus three extra for my wife*) in the skillet, reserving the fat to combine with my chicken-frying oil, rendering the chicken extra-crisp and flavorful.

The Cheese

KFC claims to use a slice of Monterey Jack and a slice of pepper Jack. Though I did see vague flecks of green and red in the pepper Jack, I honestly could taste no difference between the two slices. Not only that, but by the time the chicken had cooled sufficiently to eat, the cheese had solidified into a solid plastic sheath. Not for me, thank you.

Instead of going with slices, I figured I'd get better, more even coverage by applying a layer of grated pepper Jack directly to the fried chicken and melting it with a brief stay in the oven. I didn't even both with two different cheese. After all, pepper Jack is just Monterey Jack with hot peppers added to it. Did the chefs at KFC really decide that two full slices of pepper Jack was just too spicy? Really?

The Sauce

Never in my life did I ever expect to ingest something called “The Colonel's Special Sauce,” much less spend a morning trying to recreate it. Unlike the sweet and sour McDonald's Special Sauce, the Colonel's got a spicier background. I did ask the employee at KFC what kind of sauce it was. His response: “Special,” along with a smug “look-at-that-joke-I-just-made” smile on his face.

Clever. Very clever.

In the end, I went with a mix of mayo, ketchup, fresh garlic, paprika, and a dash of Frank's Red Hot sauce. Exactly the same? No, but trust me—you don't want your sauce to taste exactly the same as the Colonel's.

Assembly

There's not much to the assembly. I cooked the bacon, fried the chicken, melted the cheese, slathered the sauce, then put it all together. Was it better than the original? How could it not be?

The main advantages were that in the original, everything kind of melts into one salty, spicy, mealy bite, whereas with the homemade version, all the elements are of a high enough quality that they remain distinct, while still managing to come across as a harmonious whole. Aside from the absurd portion size, I'd happily make this for myself a couple of times a year.

And as luck would have it, I think I've discovered a portion-size solution as well: The Double Down Junior.

Made from the tenderloins that I removed from the chicken breasts before cooking, each Double Down Junior is just the right size for a single strip of bacon, packs all of the flavor and excesses of its bigger brother, but can be consumed in two single bites. How's that for fast food?

So what about you? If you could make or buy a higher quality version of this sandwich, would you be more likely to try it?

* Who would leave me if I ever cooked bacon without making extra for her.

About the author: After graduating from MIT, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt spent many years as a chef, recipe developer, writer, and editor in Boston. He now lives in New York with his wife, where he runs a private chef business, KA Cuisine, and co-writes the blog GoodEater.org about sustainable food enjoyment. Become a fan of The Food Lab on Facebook for play-by-plays on future kitchen tests and recipe experiments.

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Sue Lowden, the likely Republican nominee against Harry Reid, is doubling down on her widely ridiculed proposal that people should haggle and barter with doctors to bring down prices.

Appearing yesterday on Nevada Newsmakers, Lowden said:

I’m telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor, they would say I’ll paint your house. I mean, that’s the old days of what people would do to get health care with your doctors. Doctors are very sympathetic people. I’m not backing down from that system.

That's right. “Bring a chicken to the doctor.” Seriously. We're not making this up. Watch for yourself:

Clearly, Lowden's absurd statement is going to bite her over and over again during the course the campaign — it's a huge gift to Harry Reid. Really, the only question Lowden's statement raises is this: how would you mock her health care plan?

Some ideas that I've heard tossed around by others who are far wittier than me:

• You know, I bet most modern doctors would prefer a KFC meal to a live chicken.  Market efficiencies are not such that killing your own chicken really makes sense anymore.
• It seems not to have occurred to her that people brought chickens and offered to paint houses in the olden days because EVEN IN THE OLDEN DAYS, PEOPLE COULDN'T AFFORD THEIR DAMN HEALTH CARE.
• It'll never work … some asshole will try to game the situation — bring a snake and say, “but it tastes like chicken.”
• “I'm telling you that this works. As an employer, having your employees barter a chicken beats paying for health care. I'm serious about this. Doctors like chickens.”
• Question: Do turkeys count?
• Oh, well, in the olden days, yeah. That's a great health care plan, then! You give me a chicken, and I'll put leeches on your face. Deal?
• I've been picturing granny after her broken hip operation. Should she decide to give up food or climb a ladder and paint?
• Now mentally picturing an image of an old, sick person in a hospital bed with a doctor standing in the doorway holding a chicken by the feet. Doctor says: Give me that chicken, or I'll expect you at the house by 7:00 a.m. I'll be nice and provide the paint and brushes.
• Plus no chicken means no eggs. And no eggs means no capital gains taxes. Tax deduction!

Please join the fun — add your ideas in the comments!

Hi..Yes, maybe if the other feels the same way too, then it may lock some personal bonds like by feeling devotedly and loyally attached to eachother, Or maybe just only one of them. It doesn't matter for that is also possible, as one sided love. No manifestations of real bondings that can be intimately united as a loving couple,

And cynicism somewhat artistically expressed be without much weigh of an insult that may not only possibly loosen the love, but it may also affect its vulnerability unfavorably…I guess.

However, I think there's nothing really wrong in locking personal bonds, but just to be sure that it's worth locking it with the soul, that you're going to devote your heart into.
Someone that you really treasure and love..constantly in life.

Have a wonderful time..Edetwi. Hi..Yes, maybe if the other feels the same way too, then it may lock some personal bonds like by feeling devotedly and loyally attached to eachother, Or maybe just only one of them. It doesn't matter for that is also possible, as one sided love. No manifestations of real bondings that can be intimately united as a loving couple,

And cynicism somewhat artistically expressed be superior without much weigh of an insult that may not only possibly loosen the love, but it may also affect its vulnerability unfavorably…I guess.

However, I think there's nothing really wrong in locking personal bonds, but just to be sure that it's worth locking it with the soul, that you're going to devote your heart into.
Someone that you really treasure and love..constantly in life.

Have a wonderful time..Edetwi.

Fine is not it ?
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Long term treasury yields are on the verge of breaking out. In the March 25 issue of Breakfast with Dave, Rosenberg mentions various factors in play.

Despite signs of economic cooling in Q1 (around 2.5% growth and half the Q4 pace) and lower inflation expectations, the 10-year Treasury note yield is ratcheting up (in a destabilizing fashion) and devoid of any bearish economic data (for a range of technical/fund flow reasons as was the case in the summer of 2007).

In technical lingo, it does look as though the yield is breaking out from a triangle since the December 31, 2009 yield peak —go back to that period in December and January, 3.85% on the 10-year Treasury-note served at least three times to be major technical support — a break of that this time around would mean some serious near-term trouble (the nearby high closing level was 3.98% back on June 10, 2009).

Rates may be rising because:

• Of added supply concerns from Obamacare;
• Sovereign credit quality;
• Heightened fears over a looming trade spat with China (if the Treasury accuses China of being a ‘currency manipulator’ next month);
• Hedging related to the most recent huge wave of corporate bond issuance;
• Swap rates have also become unhinged (they traded at an unprecedented 8bp discount to 10-year Treasuries yesterday) ….

… but yields are NOT rising from inflation (in fact deflation signs are re-appearing again). Hence, real yields are on the rise … not typically what an equity bull would like to see with real growth now softening. Rising real rates as real growth slows means it is time to get more defensive, not more cyclical (especially with small-cap stocks up nearly 10% year-to-date, doubling the performance of the large-caps. This will not be sustained as the global and domestic economies cool off through the balance of the year.)

Bottom line: Stronger U.S. dollar. Rising bond yields. Lower commodity prices. Slower growth. And the stock market is flirting at post-crisis highs. Bond yields are rising temporarily and this will very likely prove to be a good buying opportunity; however, over the near-term, higher yield activity may well persist and the question is how the equity market is going to handle this backup in market rates. Recall that the 10-year yield had a March to June 2007 spike of 90bps before the rate and credit collapse took hold in the back half of 2007! Could it be that history is rhyming again? The March-June period has been seasonally weak for the Treasury market in five of the past six years.

I concur with Rosenberg this is not an inflation related phenomenon. And with the economy slowing, fundamentally treasury yields ought to be dropping.

Then again most do not believe the economy is slowing. However, new home sales hit fresh record lows, state tax revenues that have collapsed, and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index dropped to –0.64 in February, down from –0.04 in January.

Bear in mind that new home sales typically lead every recovery. I am hard pressed to believe it's different this time.

Weekly claims were better than expected, but 442,000 new claims is not exactly an economy that is humming along.

Whatever the reason, most likely a combination of the 5 bullet points above plus seasonality, rates can easily run here. If they do, and the stock market breaks lower, 2010 might be the year where there are no hiding places at all except in the much despised US Dollar.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Broil More Efficiently by Leaving the Oven Door Ajar

Broiling is a great way to semi-recreate the effects of outdoor cooking inside. As simple as broiling is, you can still muck it up by keeping your oven closed too tightly.

Over at Home Ec 101, a home and cooking centered blog, a reader wrote in asking whether or not keeping your oven cracked actually does anything. They responded by clarifying the process:

Broiling is a specific method for applying heat to food. When a recipe directs food to be broiled, it is expected for the item to be exposed, relatively closely to a source of dry, intense heat. For many models, the best results are achieved with the door left ajar a couple of inches. In fact, most models have a stop that makes this easy.

If you leave your oven closed up when broiling you end up baking the item instead. When the door is closed moisture can't escape and the oven reaches equilibrium faster which will kick off the heating element and put an end to that intense, dry heat you're looking for. Check out the full article at the link below for more information. If you have your own broiling wisdom to share, let's hear about it in the comments.

There are already a whole lot of oil rigs off of the California coast; come take a look some time.
Besides the oil rigs off of the coast, there are nearly 50,000 oil rigs in California, the third largest producer of oil in the country (after Alaska and Texas), but our appetite for oil is still much bigger than what we can possibly take out of the ground.
Even Texas cannot get enough oil out of the ground to supply its own needs, and is dependent on imported petroleum for much of what it uses.

That the two largest oil-producing states in the lower 48 cannot produce enough crude to even supply their own needs illustrates how important it is for us to develop alternative energy sources.

i love those photos. Nice huh ?

Is government intervention and restriction of free enterprise always diabolical? I can think of some instances where it has not been. Some positive examples, just off the top of my head: the government regulated banks (Jefferson, Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, many others); freed enslaved labor (Lincoln); introduced anti-trust law and passed the Food and Drug Acts (Republican Teddy Roosevelt again, one of the great interventionist presidents!); created OSHA (Nixon); and to throw in a president of whom I am not at all fond, I applaud FDR’s minimum wage Acts of 1938. All of these seriously limited free enterprise in some way, by telling employers what they could not do (underpay workers, own slave labor, sell food and drugs without disclosing their contents, allowing unsafe work sites). All cost industry a great deal of money, all probably cause prices of the products to rise, and all incited extremely anger response. All were in my opinion excellent improvements…in the direction of a more just society and also a more prosperous one. I would throw on the pile that people are forced to buy auto insurance and to spend money on car safety seats for their infants.

I could give a list of other acts that I view unfavorably: just a couple – the Smoot-Hawley Act in 1930 (both were Republicans), which tried to use trade protectionism to get the USA out of the stock market crash and arguably caused or greatly prolonged the Great Depression; most of the moves by FDR; Reagan taking away the air traffic controllers right to organize (the union was PATCO), as I see it, a right of all American workers. There are plenty of others, but perhaps my readers don’t need to see more examples in order to be convinced!

My humble conclusion: let’s weigh the health bill on its own merits, not on the assumption that all government intervention is inherently harmful to the nation and to its economy or that it has as its primary or even secondary goal to rob citizens of their freedom.

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