Culinary yoU

If you grew up in the 1970's like I did, you probably remember a product called 'Shake and Bake' that was marketed as a healthier alternative to pan or deep frying chicken or pork. If you have never heard of Shake and Bake that would not be surprise me either as it has not really been heavily marketed on television since the early to mid 1990's. During the 70's and 80's though their commercial's were seen on television on a regular basis. Having explained all that, Shake and Bake is a bread crumb, flour and seasoned coating that was developed for chicken and pork to mimic the crunchy texture of deep frying when baked in the oven.

It works relatively well in simulating deep frying, and when used with chicken that has the skin on makes for a petty crispy crust. When used on skinless chicken and or rabbit, you do not quite get that crispy crunchy coating as the fat from the skin is not there to crisp up as much, but I quite enjoy the flavor of the coating. It is as General Foods originally advertised “a better alternative to frying.”

Now owned by Kraft foods, there are thirteen different varieties of 'Shake and Bake' listed on their website. That's quite a few for a product which is no longer advertised on national television. Anyway, while I love fried chicken, I knew I needed to have a healthier alternative to frying. While shopping for groceries I remembered seeing 'Shake and Bake' at my local Walmart. Because this blog is all about stretching your food dollar, and giving you and you family healthier food alternatives, I thought to myself, I bet I can made a homemade version that is not only cheaper, but tastes better. I think I was successful, and I hope you think so as well.

The Ingredients

The ingredient list of both the commercially prepared and the recipe for my homemade Shake and Bake are very similar, and in this instance there is very little health advantage between using one over the other unless you are wanting to eliminate high fructose corn sugar from your diet. Eliminating the powdered chicken bouillon in the homemade recipe will however decrease the number of ingredients as well as remove any unwanted MSG. Personally I like the recipe as it stands, but feel free to modify it to suit your personal tastes.

Shake and Bake Original Chicken Seasoned Coating Mix – Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [Vitamin B1], riboflavin [Vitamin B2], folic acid), enriched bleached wheat flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [Vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), maltodextrin, salt, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, canola oil, paprika, contains less than 2% of celery seed, spice, high fructose corn syrup, dried garlic, yeast, dried onions, natural flavors.

Homemade Shake & Bake – All purpose flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin [A B Vitamin], Iron, Thiamin, Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), plain bread crumbs, salt, sugar, cornstarch, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, and powdered chicken bouillon*.

*Chicken bouillon contains quite a few additives including monosodium glutamate (MSG). For further reading on the ingredients of powdered bouillons, see my previous article: 'Restaurants Use Them, So Should You?' http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Bullion.

Cost Analysis

A box of Kraft Original flavor Shake and Bake is $2.00 for a 5 ounce box or 40 cents per ounce.

Great Value all-purpose flour sells for $1.60 for a 5lb bag or 2 cents per ounce, while Great Value plain breadcrumbs are $1.68 for a 15 ounce container or 11.2 cents per ounce. As with most recipes, the spices that go into the mix are of such a small quantity they are no more than one or two pennies each. In this instance 10 cents should cover the overall cost of all the miscellaneous spices in this recipe. So when everything is totaled we see that our homemade shake and bake costs approximately 8.43 cents per ounce (8oz AP flour = 16 cents, 15oz bread crumbs = $1.68, miscellaneous spices 10 cents, total for mix $1.94 divided by 23oz = 8.43 cents per ounce) versus the Kraft brand which costs 40 cents per ounce. So we see once again that making your mix can save you a significant amount of money. In this case making your own shake and bake is 79% cheaper than buying a pre-packaged mix.

Homemade Shake & Bake

1 cup AP flour

2 cups breadcrumbs

2 tablespoon dried parsley

4 teaspoons chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

Mix all dry ingredients together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

When ready to use, add 1 cup shake and bake and 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil to a medium sized bowl and stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed. Pour mix into a zip lock bag or container and add the poultry or rabbit a few pieces at a time and mix until evenly coated.

For Chicken – Place on foil lined baking sheet sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Do not cover chicken. (1 cup coats approximately 8 to 10 pieces of chicken or rabbit.

For Rabbit – Place in corning ware or casserole dish sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray and cover. Bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes or until done. Take the lid off during the last 15 minutes to crisp up the coating. (1 cup coats approximately 8 to 10 rabbit hindquarters). The rabbit is cooked longer and at a lower temperature to keep the meat from drying out as it is so lean. You can experiment with a higher temperature bu run the risk of drying out the rabbit.

For Pork -  Place on foil lined baking sheet sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray and bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 15 to 30 minutes or until done. Do not cover or turn pork chops.

Conclusion

While the health benefits of making your own breading mix may not be that different from the commercially prepared product, using your homemade shake and bake as an alternative to deep fat frying is definitely a healthier choice. While we cannot put a price tag on the advantages of making significant lifestyle changes (baking versus frying), making your own shake and bake coating mix can save you and your family a significant amount of money (79%). Another way you could really cut the cost of your homemade shake and bake is if you prepared your own bread crumbs out of leftover stale bread, but that is a topic for another article. Once again I ask that if you enjoy this article and have found it informative, please share it with your friends so that they can make better informed food purchasing decisions.