The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 1062

of oil up to 375°F on your stovetop is a frightening prospect But what if I told you that despite the violent bubbling, alchemic transformation, and incredible deliciousness that results from a fry-job-done-well, frying is actually a remarkably simple process and one of the easiest techniques to perform in the kitchen, given a bit of knowhow? Crispy Beer-Battered Fried Cod (here) I mean, think about it: who does most of the deep-frying in this country? The least-trained kitchen workers, that’s who Why do you think the fry station is the very first place that most beginning restaurant cooks are assigned to? All those faultlessly fried clams you get from roadside shacks in New England in the summer—guess who’s cooking them? Hint: it’s not a four-star chef Most likely it a high school kid trying to make a few bucks over summer vacation And if they can do it, then so can you Here’s what happens when you drop a piece of food into a deep fryer: • Dehydration Free water inside foods and in batters or breadings will evaporate at 212°F As soon as your food hits the oil in a deep fryer, which for most recipes ranges from 300° to 400°F, moisture will rapidly convert into steam, releasing itself in a violent cascade of bubbles This escape of moisture is what you see when you first lower food into a fryer Within a few minutes (depending on the thickness of your food and temperature of your fryer), most of the free moisture in your food will have completely evaporated and the bubbling will slow down After this, bound water from inside the food—that is, water that takes more energy to escape from its cellular prisons—will continue to be released in small streams of bubbles Eventually, after all free and bound moisture has been expelled, you will no longer see bubbles coming from your food At this stage, your potato chip is about as fried as it’s gonna get • Expansion This phenomenon occurs in foods that are coated in a batter or dredged in a mixture leavened with baking powder, whipped egg whites, or other ingredients that cause the formation of air bubbles Hot air takes up more space than cold air, so the rapid change in temperature that occurs when you drop food into a fryer causes the air bubbles inside the batter around a piece of fried food to expand In that way, it’s very similar to the way that a ball of dough will puff when put into a hot ... lower food into a fryer Within a few minutes (depending on the thickness of your food and temperature of your fryer), most of the free moisture in your food will have completely evaporated and the. .. or other ingredients that cause the formation of air bubbles Hot air takes up more space than cold air, so the rapid change in temperature that occurs when you drop food into a fryer causes the. ..they can do it, then so can you Here’s what happens when you drop a piece of food into a deep fryer: • Dehydration Free water inside foods and in batters or breadings