The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget • Hacker News Board

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#21

Post by cr0sh » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 4:47 PM UTC

yourapostasy wrote: post #11

jasongill wrote: post #2

Interesting article, but I was disappointed that the article didn't talk about chicken nuggets at all!

There is a write up of the chicken nuggets part [1]. Reading that inspires me to try a variation of chicken nuggets some time: slow-cooked, bone separated, bones pressure cooked and blended into a puree, added back to stripped chicken, refrigerate so the gelatin in the bone sets, make a coating from egg and freshly-ground ancient wheat grains, and nuggets baked made from that. The wheat germ is preserved, and while p…

> bone separated, bones pressure cooked and blended into a puree, added back to stripped chicken

To me, this part just sounds like it would make the end result unpalatable; I think I would stop at just making the bone broth, and adding that to the chicken (for the gelatin) - but get rid of the bones.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#22

Post by lysis » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 4:57 PM UTC

dkhenry wrote: post #8

When you make this yourself you have to be careful not to let the sauce break. Add in the egg and oil and beat vigorously then slowly add the vinegar while mixing. You want a nice emulsified mixture. Also make sure you base every 5-10 minutes, thats a lot more frequent then you might do when normally cooking chicken, but you really need to build up the layers of sauce on the outside. Finally I have never gotten a goo…

As the sauce seems a lot like Mayonnaise, another egg and oil emulsion, a hand blender in a tight fitting cup might produce good results as in this recipe: [http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonn...]

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#23

Post by alistairSH » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 4:58 PM UTC

Is there another name for "Cornell Chicken"? I swear I've had it (or something very similar) down here in DC metro, but never heard the name.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#24

Post by munificent » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 4:59 PM UTC

dkhenry wrote: post #8

When you make this yourself you have to be careful not to let the sauce break. Add in the egg and oil and beat vigorously then slowly add the vinegar while mixing. You want a nice emulsified mixture. Also make sure you base every 5-10 minutes, thats a lot more frequent then you might do when normally cooking chicken, but you really need to build up the layers of sauce on the outside. Finally I have never gotten a goo…

It took me a while reading the recipe before it clicked what this is. The sauce is basically a thin mayonnaise — an emulsion of oil and egg with an acid added to it. Mayo is thicker and usually uses lemon juice instead of vinegar, but Cornell sauce is a variation of that theme.

If you use melted butter instead of oil, you'd get a Hollandaise sauce. I wonder how that would work as a marinade or basting sauce.

I used to make a chicken recipe on the grill that involved marinating in mayo. It was fantastic, but the heavy oil coating had a tendency to turn the chicken pieces into poultry Molotov cocktails, so I haven't made it in a while. (Now that I think about it, simply turning off the burner under the chicken would fix that.)

Seems like I've got some chicken grilling ahead of me.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#25

Post by iaw » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 5:23 PM UTC

Cornell is such an odd university, thousands of little contributions over the decades to every field that touch the lives of everyone in the world.

I always get a kick when I learn about another little thing that was invented there.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#26

Post by iaw » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 5:24 PM UTC

cpfohl wrote: post #3

Didn't even realize Cornell chicken was regional... We've eaten it that way my whole life. I suppose the "Cornell" should have tipped me off.

Cornell is a common enough surname that it could've been named for it's inventor.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#27

Post by Rhinobird » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 6:00 PM UTC

So, nuggets are made from the Cornell of the chicken. That also explains Cornell Sanders.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#28

Post by yourapostasy » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 7:45 PM UTC

cr0sh wrote: post #21

yourapostasy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a write up of the chicken nuggets part [1]. Reading that inspires me to try a variation of chicken nuggets some time: slow-cooked, bone separated, bones pressure cooked and blended into a puree, added back to stripped chicken, refrigerate so the gelatin in the bone sets, make a coating from egg and freshly-ground ancient wheat grains, and nuggets baked made from that. The wheat germ is preserved, and while p…

> bone separated, bones pressure cooked and blended into a puree, added back to stripped chicken To me, this part just sounds like it would make the end result unpalatable; I think I would stop at just making the bone broth, and adding that to the chicken (for the gelatin) - but get rid of the bones.

I should have clarified that I eat the bones for their calcium content. Blended in a Vitamix, they are turned into unidentifiable particles. You are free to add other binders, of course.

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#29

Post by johansch » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 8:18 PM UTC

I have noticed that vinegar plays a key role in a surprisingly large amount of the dishes that I enjoy making over and over again...

Re: The Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget

#30

Post by dkhenry » Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 8:29 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #24

dkhenry wrote: post #8

When you make this yourself you have to be careful not to let the sauce break. Add in the egg and oil and beat vigorously then slowly add the vinegar while mixing. You want a nice emulsified mixture. Also make sure you base every 5-10 minutes, thats a lot more frequent then you might do when normally cooking chicken, but you really need to build up the layers of sauce on the outside. Finally I have never gotten a goo…

It took me a while reading the recipe before it clicked what this is. The sauce is basically a thin mayonnaise — an emulsion of oil and egg with an acid added to it. Mayo is thicker and usually uses lemon juice instead of vinegar, but Cornell sauce is a variation of that theme. If you use melted butter instead of oil, you'd get a Hollandaise sauce. I wonder how that would work as a marinade or basting sauce. I used t…

The ratio is way off from what you would use in Mayo ( Mayonnaise is 1 part water to 16 parts oil, cornell BBQ is 2 parts water to 1 part oil ), but its along the same lines, which is why you want to get a good emulsion. There is a slight variation called roadside chicken that doesn't use the egg to emulsify so for that I always use a blender or food processor to get as much of a mixture as I can.