# Is the KFC recipe really a secret? If so is it valuable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921 "2012-05-04T20:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/1 "2012-05-04T20:26:45Z")
According to Wikipedia, the only complete copy of the secret KFC recipe is the original handwritten note, and it is kept “in a … secure, computerized vault guarded by motion detectors and security cameras.” Is the recipe really a secret? If so, wouldn’t it be possible to work out what it contains? Is that security justified - would someone really go to the trouble of stealing it if there were less security - or is the whole thing just about promotion? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/2 "2012-05-04T20:33:49Z")
In one of the _Big Secrets_ books, William Poundstone got his hands on some KFC material and had it analyzed. IIRC, it was flour, salt, pepper, and MSG. No “eleven secret ingredients” ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/3 "2012-05-04T20:35:51Z")
Yes, a secret recipe really exists and is kept secret. Yes, it’s largely about promotion, much like Coca-Cola’s secret recipe. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/4 "2012-05-04T20:43:32Z")
KFC today does not seem anything like the fried chicken we bought in the 1970’s. There was a time when KFC was the best fried chicken you could buy. I think the Colonials recipe was thrown ought decades ago. KFC was a combination of the recipe **and** the cooking methods that the Colonial perfected. There’s no question its been heavily modified. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/5 "2012-05-04T21:16:07Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > KFC today does not seem anything like the fried chicken we bought in the 1970’s. There was a time when KFC was the best fried chicken you could buy. > > I think the Colonials recipe was thrown ought decades ago. Having known several people over the years who worked for KFC (at HQ, not at local restaurants), I can tell you that the Colonel’s recipe was not “thrown out”, per se, but it’s been incrementally (and repeatedly) modified over the years (often for cost-reduction reasons). OTOH, I know of at least two separate efforts which KFC has gone through in recent years to return Original Recipe to something closer to the true “original”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/6 "2012-05-04T21:17:40Z")
Colonel, not Colonial. Spell check hit you there? But yeah, anyone who wanted to know could figure it out, but it’s still very valuable, because it lets them use that in their advertising campaign. > [@](#): > > According to Wikipedia, the only complete copy of the secret KFC recipe is the original handwritten note, and it is kept “in a … secure, computerized vault guarded by motion detectors and security cameras.” This, though, can’t be true. The stuff has to actually get made somewhere, and the machines that mix it have to be set somehow to put in X amount from vat 1, Y amount from vat 2. The settings on the mixing machines would then constitute another copy of the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/7 "2012-05-04T21:25:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Colonel, not Colonial. Spell check hit you there? > > But yeah, anyone who wanted to know could figure it out, but it’s still very valuable, because it lets them use that in their advertising campaign. > > This, though, can’t be true. The stuff has to actually get made somewhere, and the machines that mix it have to be set somehow to put in X amount from vat 1, Y amount from vat 2. The settings on the mixing machines would then constitute another copy of the recipe. There wouldn’t necessarily be another “complete copy,” however. The ingredients in vat 1 could be put together in one place, while those in vat 2 come from some other place, and the two mixed together in a third place. Therefore there would be no single list containing all the ingredients separately. Of course, I’m not saying this happens, just that it’s one way there could be only a single copy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/8 "2012-05-04T21:32:00Z")
:eek: yeah, I grabbed the first choice offered by spell checker. 😛 I should have looked at it closer. > [@Chronos](#): > > Colonel, not Colonial. Spell check hit you there? > > But yeah, anyone who wanted to know could figure it out, but it’s still very valuable, because it lets them use that in their advertising campaign. > > This, though, can’t be true. The stuff has to actually get made somewhere, and the machines that mix it have to be set somehow to put in X amount from vat 1, Y amount from vat 2. The settings on the mixing machines would then constitute another copy of the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/9 "2012-05-04T21:39:23Z")
I don’t know about how much the chicken has changed, but the damned SIDES are different. The gravy used to be made with the seasoned flour used on the chicken. It was ethereal, absolutely worthy of the reverence Cartman gives it on South Park. NOW it’s beef gravy mix, 1/4 cup in one cup of water, simmer until thick. Nasty, nasty. The potatoes are instant. The biscuits are truly sorry, and the so-called “honey” is a honey “sauce” made with HFCS that someone whispered the word “honey” over the top. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/10 "2012-05-04T21:51:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There wouldn’t necessarily be another “complete copy,” however. The ingredients in vat 1 could be put together in one place, while those in vat 2 come from some other place, and the two mixed together in a third place. Therefore there would be no single list containing all the ingredients separately. > > Of course, I’m not saying this happens, just that it’s one way there could be only a single copy. That’s what happens (again, according to Wikipedia). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/11 "2012-05-04T22:33:02Z")
Damn my diet now I want some KFC. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/12 "2012-05-05T00:46:02Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > According to Wikipedia, the only complete copy of the secret KFC recipe is the original handwritten note, and it is kept “in a … secure, computerized vault guarded by motion detectors and security cameras.” > > Is the recipe really a secret? If so, wouldn’t it be possible to work out what it contains? Is that security justified - would someone really go to the trouble of stealing it if there were less security - or is the whole thing just about promotion? > **[Redirect Notice](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=kfc%20grilled%20chicken%20beef%20powder&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CG0QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthemoderatevoice.com%2F36480%2Fkentucky-fried-beef%2F&ei=THekT4HZDIui8ATKrLSnAw&usg=AFQjCNGBOmqeSYitxHJNvl60vz5RkRDUcw)** Well their ‘grilled chicken’ recipe ain’t a secret. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/13 "2012-05-05T00:58:37Z")
Saw a great cartoon in Playboy back in the seventies. Two cops are hauling Colonel Sanders out of one of his franchises, and one cop is saying to the other “I found out what’s in those 11 herbs and spices.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/14 "2012-05-05T01:07:44Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Damn my diet now I want some KFC. It’s some of the best tasting, bad-for-you foods out there! ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/15 "2012-05-05T01:15:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > KFC today does not seem anything like the fried chicken we bought in the 1970’s. There was a time when KFC was the best fried chicken you could buy. > > I think the Colonials recipe was thrown ought decades ago. > > KFC was a combination of the recipe **and** the cooking methods that the Colonial perfected. There’s no question its been heavily modified. Agreed. KFC is not what it used to be. The hot food counter at the local grocery store now has better fried chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/16 "2012-05-05T01:25:15Z")
“Secret recipes,” whether Coke or KFC or anything else is really just about promotion. It’s foodstuff with a limited number of possible ingredients and given the time and resources, a competitor could duplicate it in a short time at little expense. But why would anyone bother? Is Pepsi going to advertise “Pepsi tastes just like Coke!” Is Popeye’s going to say “Our chicken tastes just like KFC!” There would be no point. And to the extent that store brands or bargain brands try to duplicate the taste of Coke, Coke (1) can’t do anything about it and (2) needn’t bother. The real value of Coke is its trademarks and trade dress. Coke isn’t going to lose significant market share to a generic soda that tastes like Coke. In fact, there was a whole episode of _This American Life_ about trying to figure out Coke’s secret formula and they basically were able to do it, but they concluded that it didn’t really change anything about the soda market. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/17 "2012-05-05T01:42:03Z")
Now I want Colonial Chicken. BSG meets MSG. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/18 "2012-05-05T01:50:03Z")
Believe it or not, there’s an [entire forum](http://kfc.forumup.co.uk/index.php?mforum=kfc) dedicated to unearthing KFC’s original recipe. Everyone pretty much agrees that the current incarnation is a pale shadow of the original, original recipe and that there’s no point trying to duplicate the current recipe. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/19 "2012-05-05T01:53:33Z")
this reminds me of the story of the _Soup Stone_. it really is magic, if you buy into it. alas with KFC the magic is gone, for the original formula is no longer followed, even if they still possess the secret ‘stone’. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921/20 "2012-05-05T04:06:02Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Agreed. KFC is not what it used to be. The hot food counter at the local grocery store now has better fried chicken. _secretive whisper_ Go to [Bojangles](http://www.bojangles.com/). Best fast-food fried chicken there is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kfc-recipe-really-a-secret-if-so-is-it-valuable/620921.md?page=2)