Deep frying rules

Have you ever eaten food whose smell made your mouth go drippy; but when you were about to clear your plate you felt your stomach turn, heave, churn and heave again? Well, if the food was deep fried, some rules must have been broken in the process.

The following are guidelines to ensure that your deep-fried food comes out just as the recipe stipulated, and that you are safe even as you devour the meal.

• Choose your cooking oil carefully. Use those which don’t break down at high deep frying temperatures. These include sunflower, peanut, canola and safflower oils.
• Use a deep and heavy pan to fry. Pour oil to the cold pan leaving at least two inches at the top of the pan. This helps to avoid dangerous spillage when the oil bubbles up as the food is dipped in.
• Ensure that the food you are to fry is dry. Dry it on paper towels or coat it in flour or bread crumbs to make it dry faster.
• Start heating the oil on fairly high heat-not the highest. The oil is ready when a piece of white bread turns brown in 60 seconds when dropped into the oil.
• Don’t overcrowd the pan. Gently add the food, leaving some space around each piece so that the food cooks evenly. Too much food at once makes the temperature drop causing the food to absorb fat instead of instantly sizzling.
• Keep a keen eye on the food as it cooks, regulating the heat as necessary-keeping the oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees F.
• When the food is browned according to the time specified in the recipe, remove it with a perforated slotted spoon that has a long handle. Put the food on paper towels to drain.
• You can keep the fried food warm in a 200 degrees F. oven until all the food is cooked.
• Keep water or anything that has water away from the hot oil to avoid accidents.
• Should the oil flare up in flames, cover it with a lid or another sufuria: Baking soda can be used to put out any fires caused by cooking oil.

Invest in a fire extinguisher for your kitchen. This will be used in case the fire gets out of hand. Make sure you know how the fire extinguisher is operated way in advance.

END: PG 33 /37