The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 1071

hold, the faster hydrolysis will occur, the lower the smoke
pointofyouroilwillbe,andthelessefficientitwillbeasa
fryingmedium.
As it turns out, the fried chicken joint in my
neighborhood smells fishynot because it is storing old fish
under the counter—but because it doesn’t filter or change
theoilfrequentlyenough.Thefriedfishshop,ontheother
hand,changesitsoilregularly,leavingonlythearomaofits
freshfishtolingerintheair(guesswhichrestauranthasthe
longerline).
Q:Whataboutathome?HowmanytimescanIreusemy
oil?
Whenfryingathome,youcanexpecttousethesamebatch
of oil for six to eight frying sessions before it begins to
break down. Certain foods will cause oil to break down
faster than others. In general, the smaller the particles in
yourbreadingorbatter,thefasteryouroilwillbreakdown.
Thus,friedchickenthat’sdredgedinflourwillruinyouroil
fasterthaneggplantslicesbreadedinchunkierbreadcrumbs
—which in turn will break down your oil faster than onion
ringsdippedintoabatterthatturnssolidwhenfried.
Q:Howcomearestaurantisabletoreuseitsoilsomany
moretimesthanIcanathome?
Thisisbecauseofoneofthemajoradvantagescommercial
deepfryershaveoverhomesetups:theyarenotheatedfrom
the bottom. Restaurant deep fryers have electric or gaspoweredheatingelementsthatareseveralinchesabovethe
baseofthefryer.Whatdoesthismean?Oneofthebiggest


problems with deep-frying is the buildup of detritus in the
fat. Bits of batter, flour, and bread crumbs all fall off your

food when you drop it in the fryer and stay there after you
take your cooked food out. What happens to this debris?
Eventuallyitcompletelydehydratesandsubsequentlysinks
totheverybottomoftheoil.Inarestaurantfryer,thisisn’t
much of a problem: the debris sits in the relatively cool
section of oil, underneath the heating element. At home,
however, your wok or pot of oil is heated directly from
underneath. Fallen particles burn, wreaking havoc on the
quality of your oil and sticking to subsequent batches of
foodyoudropintoit.
So,whatcanyoudoathome?Thekeytopreventingthe
oil from ruining your meal is to be very meticulous about
cleaning it between batches of food and between frying.
There are also some countertop small-scale electric deep
fryers that have heating elements that work like the
restaurantfryers,allowingyoutogetmoreoutofyouroilin
thelongrun.However,theyalsotakeupcounterspaceand
most take a long time to heat up.The trade-off is largely a
matterofpersonalpreference.
Q:Anyotheradvantagestoarestaurantdeepfryer?
Restaurant deep-fat fryers are designed for volume: most
haveacapacityofatleast10gallons.Athome,you’remore
likelytobecookingwithacoupleofquartsofoilatmost—
abouttwentytimesless.Theadvantageofusingatonofoil
iseasiertemperaturemanagement.Dropahandfulofroomtemperature French fries into 10 gallons of 375°F oil, and
it’llloseatmostadegreeortwo.Dothesameintwoquarts