Chicken – How Did Robert C. Baker Bind Breading to Chicken?

chickenfreezingreheating

I read on Wikipedia that Robert C. Baker invented a revolutionary new way to bind breading to chicken, which also sticks on the chicken after it was frozen and heated again.

I can't find what this way is called and how it is done, does someone of you knows that?

Best Answer

From an article entitled The Forgotten Inventor Of The Chicken Nugget on BusinessInsider.com

Baker’s prototype nugget, developed with student Joseph Marshall, mastered two food-engineering challenges: keeping ground meat together without putting a skin around it, and keeping batter attached to the meat despite the shrinkage caused by freezing and the explosive heat of frying. They solved the first problem by grinding raw chicken with salt and vinegar to draw out moisture, and then adding a binder of powdered milk and pulverized grains. They solved the second by shaping the sticks, freezing them, coating them in an eggy batter and cornflake crumbs, and then freezing them a second time to -10 degrees. With trial and error, the sticks stayed intact.