31 Responses to “Six Steps for Deep-Frying Without a Deep Fryer”
Travis
Great tips for deep frying at home! A couple of questions:
1. Is an IR thermometer sufficiently accurate for deep frying?
2. Any tips for oil reuse and/or disposal?
April 5, 2013 at 9:08 am
As for your second question, we go into this in greater detail in volume 2 of Modernist Cuisine, but basically, you want to reuse oil up to a point. Once it smells fishy or foams, it’s time to get rid of it.
April 5, 2013 at 12:05 pm
With oil once it is past using for re frying here are two good options:
If you have chickens, you can mix the oil with their feed and give it to them. It is a treat and (especially) in the winter they appreciate the fat and energy.
It is a great firestarter for a wood stove. Just soak some paper towels and use it that way. The papper towel acts as a wick and it burns long.
November 12, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Josh
What exactly is the difference between a ‘dedicated’ deep fryer and a pan?
April 5, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Erik
What sous vide cooked food would you finish with a frying application?
April 8, 2013 at 6:18 am
You can finish meat by deep-frying it briefly. In Modernist Cuisine at Home, we deep-fry some of our skewers. It’s really just an alternative to finishing food other ways (such as searing or using a blow torch).
April 8, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Steak is one of the things in MC@H that is recommended for deep fry finish after Sous-vide. Do you have a recommended temp/oil for doing so?
April 16, 2013 at 2:17 pm
We recommend about 30 seconds in oil heated to 225 °C / 437 °F.
April 19, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Moscool
If you can’t serve immediately after frying, what’s the best hold temp/timing?
Last week I made a tempura dinner and the quantity to fry meant I had to hold in the oven. I used 100C on fan but still got a certain degree of sogginess. I now understand that it’s best to remove paper towels (I have since purchased a handling tray with a pierced plaque) but I was wondering if anyone had experimented with holding temps and maximum holding times. After all plenty of places seem to hold fries for quite some time…
April 19, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Johnny Zhu
I would let it cool. But don’t salt it! That can make it soggy. Then either refresh the food in a 121 °C / 250 °F oven or refry it quickly for a few seconds.
April 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm
I am intrigued by the chicken wing recipe calling for an almost 50/50 of Wondra which because of the way it is made is gluten-less and potato starch. As we all know, potato starch shows up in a lot of Japanese recipes. My own experience it that it is too potato-ey, hence good if you are frying something that will be tossed with a sauce. I think tapioca starch, that also shows up in Korean fried foods is an alternative.
May 22, 2013 at 11:41 am
Will
I tried something similar with a baking mix. The coating browned way too quickly, more quickly than with regular flour.
May 3, 2017 at 8:31 am
sabrina
When browning appears too quickly with a certain coating it means the coating contains sugar. Do your own coating, without any sugar and it won’t brown before cooking the meat. Plus burned sugar is not what you want to eat.
July 23, 2017 at 2:00 pm
[…] stars). I don’t see the value of having a dedicated deep-fryer when I could come close with a saucepan. More and more often, the home kitchen is growing to a gadget […]
December 4, 2014 at 1:57 pm
[…] adeep pot, but gauge your temperature correctly using a probe thermometer. For more information, see this article by Modernist […]
February 26, 2015 at 5:04 am
[…] read some helpful tips for deep frying at home! Some more here […]
March 9, 2015 at 11:17 am
[…] quarts of oil with a few doughnuts. Kenji Lopez-Alt prefers to use a wok for his deep frying, while Modernist cuisine recommends deep frying in a pot large enough to completely submerge the food to be fried in oil. Both America’s Test Kitchen and […]
November 5, 2015 at 10:31 am
Hi, your article is highly instructive. Sure would be helpful for me to review this article, It’s definitely the best tips for how to use deep frying without deep fryer, Excellent article!
November 18, 2015 at 9:33 am
[…] quarts of oil with a few doughnuts. Kenji Lopez-Alt prefers to use a wok for his deep frying, while Modernist cuisine recommends deep frying in a pot large enough to completely submerge the food to be fried in oil. Both America’s Test Kitchen and Alton […]
December 11, 2015 at 8:56 am
[…] I found thislinkuseful for how to deep fry in a regular […]
January 1, 2016 at 12:38 am
I always love the way deep frying can help me in my cooking, especially for any kinds of fried food.
My french fries is one of the best dish which I can make. I often use 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
for chips but for others such as vegetables or chicken wings I will not add any extra oil.January 19, 2016 at 7:35 pm
[…] quarts of oil with a few doughnuts. Kenji Lopez-Alt prefers to use a wok for his deep frying, while Modernist cuisine recommends deep frying in a pot large enough to completely submerge the food to be fried in oil. Both America’s Test Kitchen and […]
February 4, 2016 at 10:52 am
Alf Toy
Heating fry oil to 440 F is dangerous esp if a novice cook uses the wrong oil. I would suggest a temp of 350-375F.
March 29, 2016 at 11:30 am
[…] Please be careful when frying anything in hot oil. If you are unfamiliar with how to fry in oil, please check out this post on Six Steps for Deep-Frying Without A Deep Fryer. […]
January 28, 2017 at 7:48 am
[…] you don’t have a deep fryer at home, be sure to click this helpful article on how to safely and successfully deep fry in a regular pot on your […]
October 24, 2017 at 5:46 am
Maori
bro, i just chuck the chips in the pot with some oil, dont know what type of pot it is, chuck it straight on high with the cheap oil from paknsave, their cheap as cuz, cook it up for 3 minutes, then bam.. chips
October 29, 2017 at 7:05 pm
[…] Add the oil to a deep pot, but fill it no more than half full. Generally the walls of the pot should rise at least 10 cm / 4 in above the oil so that there are no spillovers. This also helps contain splattering and makes cleanup easier. Use enough oil so that you can submerge a small batch of food completely. —Modernist Cuisine […]
January 13, 2018 at 1:14 pm
john c
Great article, but heating oil to over 400F is extremely dangerous, the oil can catch fire. All US Restaurant Equipment Manufacturers of deep fat fryers, have Hi Limit temperature shut offs that automatically shut off power to the fryer gas or Electric supply at 400F. Restaurants generally fry between 350F to a max temp of 375f. This may be because the volume of oil in a commercial fryer is large, 30- 40 ILs of oil ( not sure what that converts to in gallons), and so the heat recovery time is always being taken into account. By the way, when frying, always have a pan lid next to the stove, to put over the pan to extinguish the fat if it does catch fire.
April 2, 2018 at 10:59 am
