I came up with a fun way to remember the rules of checking for proper temperature of oil for frying battered foods, without a thermometer in a skillet or pot based on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" ;-)
If the batter immediately turns golden and raises to the top then the oil is too hot. If you drop a teaspoon of batter into the oil and it sinks to the bottom right away then the oil is too cold. If the batter takes about 30 seconds to rise then the temperature of the oil is just right.
By Deeli from Richland, WA
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I was wondering what I am doing wrong. Every time I try to deep fry fish it sinks to the bottom of the pan and when I try to get it out it falls apart.
Thank you.
Your temperature is not hot enough. You can get a oil temp gauge, that specifically tells you how hot for fish and other fried items. This will save your food from getting too oily and more flavorful!
It's very difficult to answer your question without more information as to how you are attempting to do this.
Are you using a store bought deep fryer? If so then you should be able to follow the detailed instructions as to temperature and how much to fry at one time.
If you're using a pan or dutch oven (large heavy pot) then you'll either need a candy or meat thermometer to get the temperature right.
You can also test it with a small chunk of bread but this is not the best way as oil has to be the right temperature or your food will just soak up the oil and taste terrible.
The type of oil also matters so maybe if we knew what recipe you are following we could help more.
Check out the following suggestions to see if you are following your recipe closely. You do not have to use all of the ingredients in the recipes but you do need to follow the frying instructions exactly.
www.foodnetwork.com/
www.foodnetwork.com/
It sounds like you are trying to deep fry your fish in a frying pan with just oil in the pan. This can easily cause the fish to stick to the bottom of the frying pan if you don't have enough oil in the pan or the oil is not hot enough when you first add the fish to the frying pan. Normally if you deep fry fish you will need to make your own batter for the fish and wait until the oil is very hot before adding the fish to the frying pan.
Any suggestions for getting breading to stick to fish and other foods before I fry it? Whatever I have tried doesn't work.
By Jean F. Stoeber from Palm Coast, FL
I have the best success at making any coating stick, if I coat the meat first with flour, then egg, then the coating, whatever it is. It also helps to let the breaded meat sit for a bit and dry out some before frying.
I have a great recipe for this. It is a beer batter. Flour, salt & pepper, & enough beer to make the consistency of pancake mix. I love this particularly on deep fried squash.
Whatever coating is used, I always prepare ahead and let sit in the fridge for at least 30mins before cooking. Not sure why, but it works.
I dust the meat with cornstarch then flour and that works for me. Also make sure the oil or grease is hot before putting the meat in.
Make sure the oil is hot and don't flip tons of times, that should help!
I do the dry/wet/dry method myself, and it works well. My sister-in-law does the dry, then wet, then puts them right in the hot oil, and hers works well too!
Why do you have to pour hot oil on the fish before you deep fry it? What is the benefit of that? (The fish already has a coating.)
I have never heard that before. Hubby cooks fish all the time and never does that. Can you share the recipe you are using? Maybe there is something special in the recipe that it helps the coating stay on...but I can't image what.
He usually just batters them up and fries.
The oil has to be hot before you put the fish in. You only submerge the fish once when you deep fry. The hot oil sears the fish and keeps it juicy on the inside while crisp on the outside.
I'm not sure but I believe you may have misunderstood what the recipe called for.
Dry, cooked on grease can be tough to remove and deep fryers can spatter a lot. This is a page about cleaning grease off a deep fryer.
If everything tastes better deep fried, imagine what it will do to bacon. If you have access to a deep fryer and love crispy bacon, try deep frying it.
Frying oil can often be reused if you follow a few simple steps. This is a page about reusing frying oil.
This is a page about safe oils for deep frying foods. Choosing the safest oil for your cooking needs can be confusing.
