Regular commentator Hans writes in to ask: So what’s this about food not browning well in really-fresh oil? I’m glad you asked that, Hans! For indeed people who really know frying will tell you that perfectly clear, fresh oil doesn’t cook food particularly well. That’s very true. The question is: why? The answer, again, is […]
READ ONHow long does it take for good fry oil to turn bad you mean? That depends on a number of factors, chief among them the type of fat you’re using. In general, you want one that’s fairly stable (i.e. resistant to breakdown) and neutral flavor-wise. For me that means either vegetable or canola oil. Solid […]
READ ONTo understand how the ’76 Steelers can turn into the ’08 Lions, we need to back up a bit and talk about fat composition. Kitchen fats are what are known as trigycerides. Which is to say their molecules are made up of three long-chain fatty acids attached to a “backbone” of glycerol. Imagine a capital […]
READ ONIn order to excel at things like doughnuts, fritters and cannoli, it’s important to understand the process of frying. As I’ve mentioned previously, good frying is really more like steaming, but why would that be so? It all comes down to this simple maxim: oil and water don’t mix. In the case of frying, the […]
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