Canalien
13-02-2006, 03:41 AM
Before I get into this, I feel obliged have a little chat about safety.
Seriously, do not skip over this if you've never deep fried before.
Most of us are responsible and are well aware that the Kitchen is probably the most dangerous area of your home. A bedroom with three naked ladies runs a close second. Much like the menage a trois, in the kitchen things are sharp, things are fast, things are hot, things are wet and things are slippery.
Apart from the bedroom of naked gals, it's the part of the home where I have the most fun, but you've have to be responsible. I'm pretty carefree when it comes to the triplets though.
Seriously though, you've got to stay on the ball in the kitchen and listen to that little voice in your head saying "This is not a good idea. This could make something very, very bad happen". Especially if you, like most of us are amateurs. Especially if you have kids around. Especially if you are going to try something in the kitchen, like this, that has massive potential for a very big and very painful fuck up. I'm speaking from experience here, and that's the reason I can't stress this enough.
Trying madly to wash 200 degree oil off of your hand while your eyes and lungs sting and suffer from the black smoke you're inhaling while you simultaneously attemp to put out the flames engulfing your stove before it spreads any further is not an experience you soon forget. Believe me.
So remember, always, always safety first. If you're not sure, stop and reconsider. Don't just try and make it happen anyway. If, for example, you don't think you have a big enough pot, or something else says to you "This might not work". Don't do it. Go buy a bigger pot. It's just not worth it.
Now, onto the good stuff.
First of all, when we say 'Deep Frying', we mean complete submersion of food in hot fat or oil. This is opposed to Pan Frying (also called Shallow Frying), Stir Frying and Sautéing, none of which use anywhere near the amount of oil as deep frying. With those other types of frying, the oil can be measured in tablespoons. With deep frying, we're talking litres.
Now you might say, all that fat, surely this is not a very healthy way to cook food. Well, yes and no.
Most people associate deep frying with soggy, greasy chips, battered who-knows-what and carnies. Deep Frying has a bad rep. But this is undeserved. The bad image comes from a lack of knowledge, and a lack of technique. When done incorrectly, deep frying can taste like shit have potential to really clog up those arteries. It doesn't have to be that way. For example, the Japanese know how to do it. Tempura anyone? Yeah, that's right. Now we're talking.
The secret to proper Deep Frying is really really high heat, and really really short cooking times. Despite all the liquid fat, Deep Frying is actually considered a dry-cooking technique and properly done the food will evidence that. The secret is the moisture that is contained already within the food you are going to cook. It actually repels the oil (try pouring oil into some water in a jug, they don't mix) and keeps it from seeping in. The oil, in turn, superheats this existing moisture and causes the food to steam itself from the inside out. Clever.
As long as the oil is hot enough, and the food doesn't sit in it too long, the oil will not penetrate far, and be restricted to the outer layer only.
Where people go wrong is leaving it in too long. When you do this, too much moisture disappears and the oil finds it's way into the food. On the other hand, if the oil isn't hot enough, the outside of the food will take longer to brown, essentially meaning that to cook it, you HAVE to leave it in longer, which as we've just established, is bad.
So how hot? How long?
Well, really this comes down to experimentation and experience, especially when it comes to time. Follow a few recipes first and use their recommended time to get a feel for it. It also depends on the type of oil you use. You want to keep your oil above 175 C, but not too much past 190 C. Now, each different oil you use will have a different Smoke Point. This is the specific temperature at which the oil begins to break down, release smoke and carcinogens, and generally make things taste like shit. You don't want to heat your oil that much. Beyond the smoke point somewhere, lies the flash point. Boom. This is one of the reasons why I highly recommend, nay insist, on investing on a deep fry thermometer. They're not expensive, they come in many varieties, and they let you know at a glance how hot your oil is. Most come with a 'Deep Fry Zone' indication around the right temperatures. Just remember to stir the oil before you measure the temperature so you get an even indication, and not a hot spot.
It's also important to remember that when you add food to the hot oil, the temperature will drop. It's good to monitor this with a thermometer and remember not to add too much food at once, as the temperature will drop too drastically and the food will sit in the oil too long not cooking while the oil struggles to heat up again.
Personally for deep frying I like to use Sunflower oil. It's pretty cheap, it has a relatively high smoke point (above 200 C) and it's pretty much cholesterol free. The best oil you could possibly use would be Avocado Oil. It's cholesterol free, is usually endorsed by the Heart Foundation and has a smoke point of somewhere around 270 C. The problem is that it's expensive as all buggery, and buying enough decent Avocado Oil to deep fry anything bigger than a toothpick is going to start costing you. The worst oil to fry with is Motor Oil.
Here's a list of some common oils and their usual smoke points.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 160 C
Butter - 177 C
Lard - 182 C
Canola Oil - 204 C
Really Expensive, Low Acid Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 207 C
Peanut Oil - 227 C
Sunflower Oil - 227 C
Safflower Oil - 266 C
Avocado Oil - 271 C
It's pretty safe to say that any cooking oil you buy at the supermarket is refined, however be aware that unrefined or semi-refined oil has a much lower smoke point.
So you've got your oil, you've got your stove. Now you need some kind of receptacle. The size of this really depends on what you're going to Deep Fry, but you generally need something pretty big. Personally I use my Wok. It's big enough to hold a few litres of oil and it's much smaller at the base than at the rim, meaning i get a great depth:volume ratio (The amount of oil you have to put in to achieve the depth required to cover a certain piece of food. Because the wok is a tapered shape, you put much less in). If you're like kleph and deep fry entire birds, you're gonna want something massive.
Now this is important; don't ever fill your receptacle up all the way. Remember what I said about buying a bigger pot if you need to? Very important. When you add food to the oil, the volume is going to increase quite a bit. Firstly because of displacement (Eureka!), and secondly because the oil is going bubble up a whole bunch. If your pot isn't big enough, it's going to go over the sides real fast and hit the flame or element and catch fire even quicker. You don't want this to happen, ever. Even if you're curious. It's a bad, bad thing.
To be on the safe side, I'd only recommend filling a pot HALF way with oil. 2/3 at the most. If you do that and putting your food in the oil isn't going to cover it, or is going to cause it to over flow, buy a bigger pot.
The other thing you'll need is some sort of implement to get the food into and out of the oil. Don't just drop it in. It will splash. Don't try to take it out with your fingers either. I use a frying basket. It's a wide mesh basket that I can put my food in, then put the whole thing in the oil, and when I'm done, lift it out and clip it to the side of the Wok to drain any excess oil before going any further. These are dirt cheap and there are many varieties. Slotted spoons are also good for pulling things out individually.
So, let's fast forward a a fair bit to clean up time. What to do with all that oil? Can you reuse it? The answer is yes. To an extent. The more times oil is heated, or exposed to oxygen for that matter, the lower smoke point gets, and the more it begins to break down. It's generally wise not to re-use oil more than a few times. You'll start to notice it changing colour and getting darker. Going from a crisp yellow to a nasty brown/orange. Colour is a good indicator. It'll start tasting bad too. What you want to do first, is let it cool off. A lot. It's really, really hot, and you don't want to spill it on anything. One because it'll probably start to melt whatever it hits, and two because oil is such a pain in the ass to clean up. So let it cool down, even as far as around room temperature. You'll notice that depending on what you've cooked, the oil contains anywhere between a few and a lot of floaties in varying sizes. You don't want these. You want to filter them out. You can buy coffee filters and use that, but it takes absolutely forever. If you can wait though, it does a hell of a job. A quicker option, and one that still filters out 99% of visible floaties is paper towel. I recommend a good quality one, like Handee Ultra, as it's quite a lot thicker, won't tear as easily under the saturation of oil, and acts as a better filter than the cheap stuff. There you go, a legitimate reason to actually buy the expensive paper towels. Once it's filtered through, pour it all back into where it came from and store it in a cool, dark place. Light and heat are the enemy when storing. If you have the space to refirgerate it, do so, as bacteria can live in it and make it go rancid. As hot as it's going to get, it's still not a good idea to breed E.Coli in your cooking oil. Ideally, it would be stored in a vaccuum sealed, opaque glass container, in darkness at a temperature under 4 C. You can work backwards from there. But be sure to check that your oil isn't off before using it.
Okay, I know I didn't actually include any recipes, but the main aim of the thread is to de-mystify the process a bit, because it's kind of daunting and downright dangerous when done improperly. I've typed for miles and I've probably overlooked at least a few things, so if you're interested, feel free to ask about anything you're unsure of and I'm positive those in the know won't hesitate to help. Likewise, feel free to contribute anything you think I've missed out on.
Seriously, do not skip over this if you've never deep fried before.
Most of us are responsible and are well aware that the Kitchen is probably the most dangerous area of your home. A bedroom with three naked ladies runs a close second. Much like the menage a trois, in the kitchen things are sharp, things are fast, things are hot, things are wet and things are slippery.
Apart from the bedroom of naked gals, it's the part of the home where I have the most fun, but you've have to be responsible. I'm pretty carefree when it comes to the triplets though.
Seriously though, you've got to stay on the ball in the kitchen and listen to that little voice in your head saying "This is not a good idea. This could make something very, very bad happen". Especially if you, like most of us are amateurs. Especially if you have kids around. Especially if you are going to try something in the kitchen, like this, that has massive potential for a very big and very painful fuck up. I'm speaking from experience here, and that's the reason I can't stress this enough.
Trying madly to wash 200 degree oil off of your hand while your eyes and lungs sting and suffer from the black smoke you're inhaling while you simultaneously attemp to put out the flames engulfing your stove before it spreads any further is not an experience you soon forget. Believe me.
So remember, always, always safety first. If you're not sure, stop and reconsider. Don't just try and make it happen anyway. If, for example, you don't think you have a big enough pot, or something else says to you "This might not work". Don't do it. Go buy a bigger pot. It's just not worth it.
Now, onto the good stuff.
First of all, when we say 'Deep Frying', we mean complete submersion of food in hot fat or oil. This is opposed to Pan Frying (also called Shallow Frying), Stir Frying and Sautéing, none of which use anywhere near the amount of oil as deep frying. With those other types of frying, the oil can be measured in tablespoons. With deep frying, we're talking litres.
Now you might say, all that fat, surely this is not a very healthy way to cook food. Well, yes and no.
Most people associate deep frying with soggy, greasy chips, battered who-knows-what and carnies. Deep Frying has a bad rep. But this is undeserved. The bad image comes from a lack of knowledge, and a lack of technique. When done incorrectly, deep frying can taste like shit have potential to really clog up those arteries. It doesn't have to be that way. For example, the Japanese know how to do it. Tempura anyone? Yeah, that's right. Now we're talking.
The secret to proper Deep Frying is really really high heat, and really really short cooking times. Despite all the liquid fat, Deep Frying is actually considered a dry-cooking technique and properly done the food will evidence that. The secret is the moisture that is contained already within the food you are going to cook. It actually repels the oil (try pouring oil into some water in a jug, they don't mix) and keeps it from seeping in. The oil, in turn, superheats this existing moisture and causes the food to steam itself from the inside out. Clever.
As long as the oil is hot enough, and the food doesn't sit in it too long, the oil will not penetrate far, and be restricted to the outer layer only.
Where people go wrong is leaving it in too long. When you do this, too much moisture disappears and the oil finds it's way into the food. On the other hand, if the oil isn't hot enough, the outside of the food will take longer to brown, essentially meaning that to cook it, you HAVE to leave it in longer, which as we've just established, is bad.
So how hot? How long?
Well, really this comes down to experimentation and experience, especially when it comes to time. Follow a few recipes first and use their recommended time to get a feel for it. It also depends on the type of oil you use. You want to keep your oil above 175 C, but not too much past 190 C. Now, each different oil you use will have a different Smoke Point. This is the specific temperature at which the oil begins to break down, release smoke and carcinogens, and generally make things taste like shit. You don't want to heat your oil that much. Beyond the smoke point somewhere, lies the flash point. Boom. This is one of the reasons why I highly recommend, nay insist, on investing on a deep fry thermometer. They're not expensive, they come in many varieties, and they let you know at a glance how hot your oil is. Most come with a 'Deep Fry Zone' indication around the right temperatures. Just remember to stir the oil before you measure the temperature so you get an even indication, and not a hot spot.
It's also important to remember that when you add food to the hot oil, the temperature will drop. It's good to monitor this with a thermometer and remember not to add too much food at once, as the temperature will drop too drastically and the food will sit in the oil too long not cooking while the oil struggles to heat up again.
Personally for deep frying I like to use Sunflower oil. It's pretty cheap, it has a relatively high smoke point (above 200 C) and it's pretty much cholesterol free. The best oil you could possibly use would be Avocado Oil. It's cholesterol free, is usually endorsed by the Heart Foundation and has a smoke point of somewhere around 270 C. The problem is that it's expensive as all buggery, and buying enough decent Avocado Oil to deep fry anything bigger than a toothpick is going to start costing you. The worst oil to fry with is Motor Oil.
Here's a list of some common oils and their usual smoke points.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 160 C
Butter - 177 C
Lard - 182 C
Canola Oil - 204 C
Really Expensive, Low Acid Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 207 C
Peanut Oil - 227 C
Sunflower Oil - 227 C
Safflower Oil - 266 C
Avocado Oil - 271 C
It's pretty safe to say that any cooking oil you buy at the supermarket is refined, however be aware that unrefined or semi-refined oil has a much lower smoke point.
So you've got your oil, you've got your stove. Now you need some kind of receptacle. The size of this really depends on what you're going to Deep Fry, but you generally need something pretty big. Personally I use my Wok. It's big enough to hold a few litres of oil and it's much smaller at the base than at the rim, meaning i get a great depth:volume ratio (The amount of oil you have to put in to achieve the depth required to cover a certain piece of food. Because the wok is a tapered shape, you put much less in). If you're like kleph and deep fry entire birds, you're gonna want something massive.
Now this is important; don't ever fill your receptacle up all the way. Remember what I said about buying a bigger pot if you need to? Very important. When you add food to the oil, the volume is going to increase quite a bit. Firstly because of displacement (Eureka!), and secondly because the oil is going bubble up a whole bunch. If your pot isn't big enough, it's going to go over the sides real fast and hit the flame or element and catch fire even quicker. You don't want this to happen, ever. Even if you're curious. It's a bad, bad thing.
To be on the safe side, I'd only recommend filling a pot HALF way with oil. 2/3 at the most. If you do that and putting your food in the oil isn't going to cover it, or is going to cause it to over flow, buy a bigger pot.
The other thing you'll need is some sort of implement to get the food into and out of the oil. Don't just drop it in. It will splash. Don't try to take it out with your fingers either. I use a frying basket. It's a wide mesh basket that I can put my food in, then put the whole thing in the oil, and when I'm done, lift it out and clip it to the side of the Wok to drain any excess oil before going any further. These are dirt cheap and there are many varieties. Slotted spoons are also good for pulling things out individually.
So, let's fast forward a a fair bit to clean up time. What to do with all that oil? Can you reuse it? The answer is yes. To an extent. The more times oil is heated, or exposed to oxygen for that matter, the lower smoke point gets, and the more it begins to break down. It's generally wise not to re-use oil more than a few times. You'll start to notice it changing colour and getting darker. Going from a crisp yellow to a nasty brown/orange. Colour is a good indicator. It'll start tasting bad too. What you want to do first, is let it cool off. A lot. It's really, really hot, and you don't want to spill it on anything. One because it'll probably start to melt whatever it hits, and two because oil is such a pain in the ass to clean up. So let it cool down, even as far as around room temperature. You'll notice that depending on what you've cooked, the oil contains anywhere between a few and a lot of floaties in varying sizes. You don't want these. You want to filter them out. You can buy coffee filters and use that, but it takes absolutely forever. If you can wait though, it does a hell of a job. A quicker option, and one that still filters out 99% of visible floaties is paper towel. I recommend a good quality one, like Handee Ultra, as it's quite a lot thicker, won't tear as easily under the saturation of oil, and acts as a better filter than the cheap stuff. There you go, a legitimate reason to actually buy the expensive paper towels. Once it's filtered through, pour it all back into where it came from and store it in a cool, dark place. Light and heat are the enemy when storing. If you have the space to refirgerate it, do so, as bacteria can live in it and make it go rancid. As hot as it's going to get, it's still not a good idea to breed E.Coli in your cooking oil. Ideally, it would be stored in a vaccuum sealed, opaque glass container, in darkness at a temperature under 4 C. You can work backwards from there. But be sure to check that your oil isn't off before using it.
Okay, I know I didn't actually include any recipes, but the main aim of the thread is to de-mystify the process a bit, because it's kind of daunting and downright dangerous when done improperly. I've typed for miles and I've probably overlooked at least a few things, so if you're interested, feel free to ask about anything you're unsure of and I'm positive those in the know won't hesitate to help. Likewise, feel free to contribute anything you think I've missed out on.