Call it a disease, an addiction, an obsession, or a craving. You can’t go more than 4 days without your KFC fix. You usually eat all of it, the grease running down your forearm and a pile of napkins on the table. This time, your mom interrupted you halfway through your meal. She needs you to take out the garbage and you won’t have time to finish your KFC.
Don’t worry. You think that KFC can never taste the same after it is reheated. This guide will show you how to reheat your KFC so that it tastes better than the original. The key is to dip your chicken in sauces after you cook it so that the taste is slightly altered. If you really want your leftover KFC to taste like garbage, try reheating it in the microwave.
To reheat KFC chicken in the oven, set the temperature for 420 degrees. Make sure you separate the pieces of chicken so that they are not touching on a baking sheet. Cover with aluminum foil and reheat the chicken for 10 minutes. Use sauces to bring out the most of the flavor.
Why is Fresh KFC So Delicious?
KFC straight from the store will always be the most delicious way to enjoy your chicken. The perfect blend of the secret 11 herbs and spices seems to taste the best when enjoyed straight out of the store. You will never be able to replicate that perfect blend of herbs and spices unless you are a supertaster and can distinguish the spices one by one.
When I reheat my KFC chicken, I try to sprinkle a tiny bit of spices on the chicken to bring the flavor back while it cooks. I am pretty sure that I have distinguished the 11 herbs and spices that KFC uses. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the secret or the KFC KGB will be on my tail and these guys are not someone to play around with.
Even if you don’t know the secret recipe, you can still put some spices on your chicken. Chili powder, salt and pepper are some of my go to standards. I have also tried salt, pepper, and oregano. Use a very small amount of salt because the chicken is already very salty. You just want to use just enough to reactivate the flavors of the chicken.
Steps to Take Before You Reheat Your KFC Chicken
Make sure you inspect the chicken before reheating. Sometimes a piece of crust will fall off the chicken and you won’t have anything to protect the chicken while it cooks. Take a small amount of flour and water and make a paste. Paste the crust back onto the chicken. You probably won;t be able to replicate the original, but it will be better than having a gash of unprotected chicken cooking in the oven.
Put the chicken on a cookie sheet that is covered with aluminum foil. You do not want to use an uncovered cookie sheet because you know that your mom rarely washes it and it has cookie crumbs all over it. To be extra careful, use two sheets of aluminum foil, but be sure to recycle the foil after using it because the planet is probably going to be destroyed from wasteful human activity.
How to Prepare the Oven
First off, be sure that the oven is clean. Gourmet cooks such as myself will never reheat KFC in a dirty oven. The chicken ends up tasting like the black gunk that is at the bottom of the oven. Use a sponge or a towel to clean up all that gunk. Your mom will be pleased that you have shown so much care for the oven.
Wipe the glass door on the oven so that you can see the progress of the cooking chicken. Usually these glass doors are covered with grease and you can’t see anything inside. Use a gritted sponge or get some Comet out of your mom’s cleaning supplies to do the job. Do not get any Comet on your chicken because it tastes like bleach.
I like to burn some sage inside of the oven to bless it and to bless the chicken that will be cooked. You can use the sage that is in your mom’s spice rack. Just roll it into a cigarette paper, light it, and smoke it like a regular cigarette. Blow the sage smoke into the oven to fully bless the appliance.
Steps to Reheat Your KFC
- Preheat the clean oven to 420 degrees.
- Arrange the chicken on the cookie sheet that has been protected with aluminum foil.
- Make sure the chicken pieces are not touching each other.
- Sprinkle on the desired spices that you think will mimic the 11 secret herbs and spices of KFC.
- Put the KFC in the oven.
- Cook for 10 to 12 minutes without turning. Turning the chicken will cause the batter crust to fall off.
- Make sure to check the progress of the chicken through your clean glass oven door.
- Take out the chicken. Be sure not to burn yourself or your mom won’t let you use the oven again.
- Enjoy the chicken with sauces.
How to Eat Your Leftover KFC
The key to truly enjoying your leftover KFC is to use sauces on the chicken. I will never eat my leftover chicken with less than 5 sauces, and I usually will have 7 to 11 sauces. With so many sauces it is highly likely that you will get the majority of the secret 11 herbs and spices that make KFC so delicious.
A List of Possible Sauces
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Spicy mustard
- Soy sauce
- Barbeque sauce
- Teriyaki sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Tartar sauce
- Spicy ketchup
- Salsa
- Worchester sauce
- Peanut sauce
- Oyster sauce
You can use whatever sauce you want on your leftover KFC. I have personally tried melted icecream and the results were fantastic. One time I dunked my leftover KFC in a chocolate cake and ate it. I was so pleased that I did it again. However, my mom got pretty mad at me for making a mess.
Beverages to Enjoy with Your KFC
Typically, KFC serves their chicken with sweet carbonated sodas. Your mom doesn’t mind that you have the soda at the KFC restaurant, but her diabetes is pretty bad and she doesn’t like to have sweet drinks in the house.
List of Beverages to Enjoy Your Leftover KFC
- Beer. KFC always tastes better with beer, even when fresh.
- Milk
- Chocolate milk
- Orange Juice
- Cranberry Juice
- Capri Sun juice bags
- Tea
- Coffee
- Hard liquor
Clean Up
Try not to make a big mess when you are dunking your leftover KFC into sauces. Little drips and splatter will get on the counter. I suggest using a bib unless you want to ruin your shirt. Your mom will appreciate that you have kept your work area clean. Who knows, she might buy you some KFC again soon.
Conclusion
Reheat your KFC in the oven at 420 degrees on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. The KFC should take 10 to 12 minutes to reheat, but this is variable so keep an eye on the chicken through the oven door window. Eat the reheated KFC with sauces to try to get that secret KFC 11 herbs and spices flavor.
