As written.
I use KFC to build encounters using CR. I cheat toward hard/deadly because I have an experienced crew who enjoy the combat game, but that's still within the CR usage guides. I find it useful to get a rough gauge on vase encounter difficulty, which I can then adjust to circumstances like terrain or non-hp-exhaustion win conditions.
However, it bears stating that I also get pretty close to the 6-8 encounter adventuring day recommendation, so that helps.