Fry Hard

Yippee-Fry-aaa, Anon

Greetings Fren, 🏝

Doing a deep dive today on the controversial subject of FRIED FOODS.

People Love to pile on Deep Fat Frying. 

It’s so easy, after all, when you hear the same narrative repeated over and over again. Over time deep fat frying has come to be associated with taboo words like

-Oily

-Heavy

-Greasy

-Unhealthy

With Moderation (eg: don’t recommend eating fried foods daily) and Proper Technique, the above concerns are negated.

Coupled with user error and the importance of using the appropriate kind of fats, this is where a lot of confusion has resulted.

Make no mistake, the public campaigns started in the 1950’s for “Heart Health” that brought us the Rise of Vegetable Oils, The Blacklisting of Butter, and push for Margarine, were all the result of incompetent research, funded by food special interests, that turned out to be “wrong” but are still in the common narrative.

So let’s cut through all of that… like a knife through butter 😉

So why do people love fried foods?

Because they are delicious! 

The flavor and texture created during the process is almost impossible to replicate, and it’s very efficient. Good fats/oils can be heated to 350-400F whereas water has a boiling point of 212F. Higher Heat-> Faster Cooking

And when done correctly, you can savor deep fried foods guilt-free.

So let’s take a brief look at what happens when frying foods, and the major myths of deep fat frying.

Frying Science 101

When food is submerged in hot oil (usually 350°F to 375°F), the outside surface dehydrates. Then, through a series of Maillard reactions, sugars and proteins break down to create complex flavor and a golden brown color.

From the inside, the moisture contained in the food, is heated and released as steam. This steam creates a barrier around the food as it’s fried, due to the force with which the steam is emitted. (This is why, properly fried food should not be “greasy”, and no, it’s doesn’t absorb a bunch of oil)

Choose The Right Fats

There is a large rabbit hole to go down here. I highly recommend “Deep Nutrition” by Cate Shanahan, as a great resource. (See table below).

The long and short of it: The heat produced when vegetable/seed oils are manufactured creates oils that are highly unstable, oxidize and create free radicals when heated, which in turn is a contributing factor to inflammation and oxidative stress. There are “sauces” that completely disagree with this. I would avoid any of these resources.

Butter VS Veg Oil

In the last 100 years consumption of butter per person has dropped from 18lbs, to 4lbs per year. Veg Oil Consumption has risen from 11lbs per person to 59lbs per person. The results? Heart Disease has continued to sky rocket. In 1900, heart disease was rare, by 1950 it was the primary killer among men, and in 2000 we saw heart disease as the number 1 killer for men and women.

From “Deep Nutrition”, Cate Shanahan

Myth 1 “Deep Fried Foods Absorb a Lot of Oil”

This is complete bullish!t. Studies have shown that deep fried foods absorb practically the same amount of oil that foods cooked in a shallow pan with small amounts of oil.

The issues occur with USER error. If your oil temp is too low, there is not enough steam produced to create the natural barrier to oil penetration. Same happens if you overload your fryer and the temp crashes.

This happens a lot in commercial settings with fryers that can’t keep consistent and steady temperature during peak service times. 

Result? Oily, greasy, stodgy foods. This is a caused by bad practices, not the deep frying itself. 

Myth 2 “Fried foods are high in Trans/Saturated Fats”

We’ve been told for decades “Saturated Fats - Bad”. Remember when Dr’s were counseling patients to get rid of butter and go with margarine? Oops, turns out they were wrong. When heated, Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFA) oxidize, create free radicals that contribute to oxidative stress. The process is much more complex, again I recommend “Deep Nutrition”. The rule of thumb I follow, “Nature Does Not Make Bad Fats”.

This is where knowledge comes in. Palm and Peanut oil are low in both of these fats, and have high smoke points. 

You shouldn’t have seed oils in your pantry anyway, I’ve covered that before, so while peanut oil carries a slightly higher cost, the benefits to your health and nutrition don’t even make this an intelligent debate; especially if you’re keeping consumption to once per week 

I use a blend of peanut with either tallow, bacon grease or lard; the flavor is fantastic and I don’t indulge frequently.

Myth 3 “Fried Foods are Heavy”

Again, this is largely a pandemic of the “Placebo Effect” due to a constant barrage of “ScIeNcE” saying fried foods are heavy.

A steak that is pan seared and basted would have the same approximate fat absorption as a deep fried steak. 

But if presented with an option to choose the “lighter” choice, 99.9% of people would automatically choose the steak prepared in the pan.

This is pure conditioning. 

You can Deep Fry at home safely, and with ease.

Control Your Environment

Like most cooking, the best way to ensure you

-maximize flavor 

-suit your individual taste

-control what you put in your body

Is to Do It Yourself!

Deep frying is not complicated and can be done safely.

Temperature is crucial

The biggest mistake most people wait is frying in oil that is at a temperature that is too low.   

This is a big mistake. 

You need to maintain proper heat to create the steam “cloud” which actually keeps the oil from absorbing into the food you are frying. 

General guidelines for most foods are 350-375F as optimal frying temperatures, but there are exceptions. 

To ensure this you need a good thermometer. A digital probe thermometer works well, just check your oil temp occasionally as you are frying. 

Traditionally a candy thermometer works well because you can fix it the pot you are frying in and gives you a constant reading. 

Slightly less responsive than the new digital probes, however.

Vessel

You need to fry in a safe vessel. 

In most cases a deep dutch oven or rondeau is the best bet. For smaller batches a deep sauce pot can work but use your best judgment. 

Rule of thumb: never fill your vessel more than halfway with oil. 

You need plenty of room for steaming, bubbles, and expansion during the frying process and grease fires are just a huge pain in the a$$ 

Mise en Place. 

Have all your prepped items, batter(s), dredges, landing stations all ready to go before you fry. 

It will probably take at least 10 mins for your oil to come up to the proper frying temperature so you should use that time to get organized and ready to fry. 

Disposal. 

This is of importance and not to be overlooked. 

A lot of the carcinogenic properties associated with fried foods comes from the continual reheating and reusing of the same oils over and over again as they break down. To this end, I would not recommend reusing fry oil more than 3-4 in a home setting. 

Do the math, if you fry at home every 7-10 days, that means you can get 1 month of frying out of one batch.

To reuse, allow your oil to cool, strain through a coffee filter and store in your refrigerator until next use. Day of- take your oil out in the morning before you go to work and when you return it will be room temp and ready to warm for frying.

This opens the door for Octopod to drop some fried recipes!

Air Fryers

A word on the “Air Frying” craze. If you own an Air-Fryer and enjoy using it, I’m happy for you. It’s clever marketing. A convection oven with a bunch of fans that sits on your countertop. The autist in me knows that you cannot fry anything in air. I’ve always been of the persuasion that having the real-thing less frequently, is more enjoyable than eating a substitute regularly. The idea of using a tortilla to make “pizza” is not appetizing to me. Moderation and good technique are my go-to’s. Hence, “Air” Fryers aren’t present in my kitchen.