What the Heck is a Broaster?

[weinoo]

Over in the Dinner topic, I posted about quail I made the other night, which were broiled and then left in the oven to finish cooking via roasting. I called them broasted quail. Little did I know that there evidently is Broaster Company, and "broasted foods" and "broaster" are trademark terms.

Did you know this:

“Broasting” – a revolutionary method of preparing chicken, meats, and fish by combining pressure cooking and deep frying concepts, is introduced by Flavor Fast Foods, Inc., in Rockton, Illinois.

Yikes.

Has anyone ever eaten something that was actually from the Broaster Company?

[rotuts]

Ive had Broasted Chicken. its not really a big deal. thick crispy crust not greasy greasy

i think all fast food CK frying is a variation on a pressure fryer.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Broasted Chicken (done in actual Broaster cookers) is extremely popular in Ecuador. Consequently, I eat it fairly frequently. The defining feature is crispiness in the skin coupled with a roasted flavour in the meat, and as rotuts mentions, not all that greasy.

[ElsieD]

We have a couple of places here who specialize in broasted chicken. It really is very tasty, nice and crisp and not the least bit greasy.

[lindag]

Broasted chicken seems to be a regional item here in the US. At least it is in WI, which is really the only place I've seen it .

[Hassouni]

I've never had it, but it's VERY popular in the Middle East..

[gdenby]

There is a broaster franchise where I live. Not quite as good as KFC from decades ago, no secret spice recipe, but exceptionally juicy w. good breading. The shop used to have a link to the hardware vendor. Appeared to be an automated pressure frier, if I recall correctly.

[judiu]

We had Broasted Chicken stands when I was on the road, particularly in the northern Midwest. Good stuff!

[Smithy]

I remember loving it back in my California childhood. Although it never measured up to my mother's fried chicken, it was a good sight better than the Kentucky Fried alternative. This summer I was "treated" to "the best fried chicken in Fresno!" per my cousin. It reminded me a lot of broasted chicken, but I was underwhelmed. A couple of the Duluth grocery delis do a much better job.

When Broasted Chicken first hit the stage in our central California town, our family decided that the name came from a combination of 'broil' and 'roast'. Now it seems that linguistics would be the only reason to think so.

Edited for spelling, although "good sigh" instead of "good sight" wasn't bad in its own right.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Smithy (log)

[Hassouni]

So wait, is it really just fried chicken?

[Bill Klapp]

And it is a 1950s idea to boot!

[rotuts]

maybe the "broaster" was an early pressure - fryer, the patent of which expired and now KFC etc uses a similar technique

just a guess

[Toliver]

Broasting doesn't really involve "roasting". It's actually a combination of pressure cooking and deep frying. At least that's the method Harlan Sanders used to launch his KFC empire.

Legally, it's not supposed to be called broasting unless an actual Broaster® is used. It's not for the home cook, to say the least.

My mom drools like a Pavlovian dog if we mention the broasted chicken at the Jimmy's restaurant in Santee, CA. It's her favorite place to get broasted chicken.