Groomed Home Smarter Living
You can prepare many dishes with your deep fryer without knowing how to properly use your kitchen appliance.
Among the best tips for frying in good conditions, here are a few to follow to make the most of your oil.
Choosing the right oil
Don’t use a random oil when prepping your fryer. You’ll need one ready to withstand high temperatures, above 355°F/180°C, without smoke.
Sunflower oil and peanut oil are particularly well placed for frying your food. They are also cheap.
Note that higher-end olive oil (extra virgin) also supports well temperatures of a fryer. The taste will be more pronounced, so reserve it when frying fish.
Among atypical oils that do not burn, but are appreciated by food lovers out there, are goose and duck fat. Be careful not to over-use them however.
Temperature
The oil should be hot enough to sear your food in a very short time. By searing it, the food will be covered with a crust that prevents the oil from getting inside it. As a result, fried foods in such a way are actually lower and fat, and more digestible than the ones immersed in oil at lower temperatures (foods which will merely absorb the oil, like a sponge).
The ideal temperature of the oil in your fryer should be at least 345°F/175°C when introducing the food to be fried. It will be easier to reach more precisely the desired temperature if you use an electric fryer with a thermostat.
Re-using oil
It is vital to cook your food in clean conditions. In other words, you’ll have to clean your fryer from top to bottom every time you use it instead of reusing old oil.
With that said, the oil used in your fryer should not be discarded immediately. Simply remove any debris and small food particles that have accumulated in it. An easy trick is to use an egg white:
- Turn on the fryer, and wait until the oil reaches 355°F/180°C.
- Separate an egg yolk from its white. Beat the egg white and add it in the boiling oil.
- With a wooden spoon with a long handle, gently mix the white to the oil. The dirt will be sticking to it like magic.
- All you need to do is skim everything to get back a perfectly clean oil.
