Do you DEEP FRY?
I never have, ever! I love fried foods and wish they were good for you.
Not that I do it often, but I have fried everything from chicken, french fries, lemon slices, eggplant, ravioli, zucchini, and green tomatoes to herbs, but I've never had more than an inch or two of oil in my pan. Maybe I'm too cheap to use a whole bottle? I really don't know. My cast iron dutch ovens would work fine. I'm not about to fry a turkey, but I sure would love to taste one that has been deep fried. I know it's faster, but does the food taste different/better if it is dropped into a gallon of hot oil versus an inch or two? Is it also less greasy and therefore not as artery clogging? What is your experience?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
19 Comments:
meant to add..........often I only use a little olive oil and a touch of butter - just enough to crisp the breading of the fish or whatever I'm frying.
PerkyMac at 2:00PM on 02/27/08
My family deep fries a turkey every year for Thanksgiving and it's delicious! Always juicy and evenly cooked. Last year we made Alton Brown's frickles (fried pickle spears) and they turned out pretty well, except we should have used a higher-quality pickle. We've also tried Cornish Game Hen (yum!) and prime rib (bad idea- we had to bake it additionally and it was ruined!)
I've never deep-fried anything in my kitchen (mostly because I'm scared of all that hot oil and the smell would be too much!) The turkey fryer stays in the backyard and is a perfect excuse for the guys to go have "guy time" and a beer away from my crazy family.
Does anyone refer to "deep-frying" as "deep-fat-frying?" My roommate from Iowa always adds in the extra "fat" and thinks I'm strange because I don't.
LiveToEat at 2:53PM on 02/27/08
I don't deep fry because I generally don't eat fried foods. If, however, I must deep fry something, I use a small saucepan with enough oil to fry a few of whatever I'm frying at a time. On occasion, I like to make croquettes with leftover risotto or potato pie and the best and quickest way to do this is deep frying.
chiff0nade at 3:07PM on 02/27/08
I just about never deep fry. My partner wouldn't want to eat it and there's no sense in eating fried food all by oneself! I do like to make fried chicken but haven't in years, but maybe I will for a picnic this summer. The last thing I deep fried was shrimp in the shell, breaded with cracker crumbs, which I served as an hors d'oeuvre a couple years ago. You salt them when they come out of the pan and serve immediately. It's a recipe from Amanda Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte" which was originally published in the NY Times (ironically 2 days before 9/11)
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01EEDC1739F93AA3575AC0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=shrimp+cracker+meal+amanda&st=nyt
Otabenga at 3:36PM on 02/27/08
LivetoEat-- I'm from Iowa and I've heard the "deep-fat-fry" thing a lot. I don't think it's an exclusive term tho. Come to think of it, my mom always says that. :) lol
bygnerd at 4:25PM on 02/27/08
I decided early in my cooking career that deep frying was way too dangerous and I don't relish storing a bottle of strained cooking oil for the next infrequent session. I used to substitute teach (oh horrors!) and once had to implement the lesson plan left by their teacher - deep frying. We had an electric deep fryer but I spent most of the period worrying about the students hurting themselves. I told the class that deep frying was probably best left to diners and donut shops.
Raki5 at 4:38PM on 02/27/08
I bought a little electric fryer a couple years ago, and I use it now and then. If you've got the fat at the right temp, it seals the coating and the interior doesn't get greasy.
It's not something I'd do every day, but once in a while it's an interesting indulgence. And I figure that home made french fries made from real potatoes are probably better than the fake frozen processed potato fries that don't taste all that good anyway.
dbcurrie at 5:43PM on 02/27/08
I don't think "deep-fat frying" has any firm connection to the depth of the fat. In fact, submerging the food in a deep kettle of hot liquid is probably a "cleaner" method of preparation than frying it in an inch or two.
The only reason deep far fryers hold such a large volume of fat is so that the temperature won't drop as far when the food is added. That is what will make fried food greasy/unhealthy.
That said, I rarely deep fry because it's messy.
srhcb at 5:57PM on 02/27/08
I deep fry occasisionally.
And truthfully, if you are using a vegetable oil to fry in you aren't adding any cholesterol to whatever you are frying. If your temp is correct, then the breading will crisp up and prevent the product from being greasy. Like everything, moderation is the key - no one is saying to go out and say eat a pound of fries, a pound of fried chicken, a pound of fried cheese and a pound of fried corn dogs in one sitting, but a small serving every once in a while isn't going to hurt all that much.
Important thing to remember - as soon as your item comes out of the fryer: salt it. It adds a lot of flavor to the party!
SayWhat at 8:33PM on 02/27/08
@PerkyMac, I grew up in the South and adore fried foods, especially seafood. Knowing how bad frying is for me, I rarely eat fried foods out and I very rarely fry things at home. I can count on one hand the times I've fried something (fish or shrimp, never anything else). I wait till I go home to visit my parents and eat almost nothing but fried seafood the whole time. So, I pretty much eat fried foods twice a year and, otherwise, fry up some fish once maybe every two years.
GumbeauxGal at 9:13PM on 02/27/08
Hi Perky - We don't deep fry ever, however we used to in a fry baby. The only thing we kept doing was deep fried boneless chicken tenders for sub sandwiches and we haven't done that in years, but we keep threatening to. They were so good on fresh homemade sub buns with pesto aioli and sweet onion and arugula. yummmm.....
My husband really, really wants a deep fryer to make pommes frites and potato chips but I have to keep reminding him that unless he wants my behind to block out the sun, it shouldn't happen. That's another one of those big appliance things that would sit on the shelf down in the basement with the wok and pasta machine, that we use 4 times a year.
frederika at 1:04AM on 02/28/08
I'm a fryer, so to speak. I fry chicken about once a week, and about every third time I deep fry it. I posted, about a week ago, a comment regarding "My Lucky Day." It was about finding a cast iron chicken fryer at a yard sale. Well, the other night I got to use it for deep frying some chicken thighs. What a treat! I also deep fry chicken livers, fish (anything from catfish and mullet to grouper and snapper), and hush puppies. And of course, I always deep fry a turkey for Thanksgiving. Peanut oil is my choice for almost all my frying. When I finish, I let the oil cool and strain it for future use.
1stmakearoux at 8:07AM on 02/28/08
I love fried...but I don't personally fry. I have an issues with vats of hot grease. I do have a top of the line home deep fryer which has never even left the box. Hubby is begging me to get it out so he can make scotch eggs.
However, my parents deep fry turkeys on holidays and then the day after always buy a pork tenderloin, butterfly it and fry in patties for pork tenderloin sandwiches seen at all lions club get togethers in Indiana (it's a taste of their childhood).
Also, I have pan fried the pickles. Growing up in Nashville they were everywhere....but I don't like them in spears. They are much better if you slice them into thin little "chips" and fry! Much more crunch!
jcrisco at 4:13PM on 02/28/08
@frederika... "I have to keep reminding him that unless he wants my behind to block out the sun, it shouldn't happen"... too funny... me too :-(
May I add that, although I personally haven't deep fried anything in about 20 years, my FIL does so when we visit. He does this JUST FOR ME. What a gem. He uses a CI pot on the stove, full of fresh lard he renders himself. Let me tell you. It makes for some truly amazing deep fry. It's nothing like veg oil deep fry. Completely different universe. Especially hush puppies.
Ooops. Just drooled on my keyboard...
LoCo at 4:15PM on 02/28/08
I deep fry on occasion (french fries, onion rings, a special sweet and sour chicken recipe...). My sister and my neighbors both deep-fried a turkey this last thanks giving and loved it! The temperature seals the meat so well that the oil does not penetrate and it's done in a fraction of the time. No greasy taste. They both said they'd do it this way all the time if other diners weren't so grossed out by the idea.
subeast at 5:24PM on 02/28/08
I deep fry french fries, onion rings, chicken fried steaks, and trying to learn to make good fried chicken.
I saw Ham on the Street on Food Network deep fry chocolate chip cookies. You batter the dough then fry it. The inside is nice a gooey and chocolatey.
Never deep fried a turkey, but it is really good and moist. I know that you never deep fry a turkey in the house unless you want to burn it down. You do not fill the fryer to the top. You have to test the displacement of the oil that the turkey will cause and make sure it won't make the overflow. You don't deep fry a frozen turkey either.
eatorama at 7:53PM on 02/28/08
My parents owned a restaurant for most of my life so getting fried chicken, french fries, buffalo wings, tempura, etc. was never a challenge. Now, they've retired and I miss mom's fried foods. I really miss the fried chicken.
Someone mentioned that they are the lucky recipient of lard-fried foods...you are truly blessed. Everything tastes better fried in lard; like the frites at brasseries, twice fried...in lard. ooh, soo good. I hear duck fat is even tastier.
Oh, and I have to chime in on the fried turkey...The first time I saw a fried turkey, I was a little disappointed b/c it looked burnt, but it was delicious, very moist and well seasoned. I'm a convert. Might buy a turkey fryer one day, but I really don't know how to dispose of THAT much used grease.
wookie at 1:06AM on 02/29/08
Take the used grease to your local recycle center.
1stmakearoux at 2:45PM on 03/03/08
No deep frying at our house.
crazyspice at 3:04PM on 03/03/08