Other Favorite Deep Fried Foods Include:

Home Deep Fryers

There are a number of different home deep fryers. One recent favorite is the Cool Daddy which stays cooler to the touch and has a lid to prevent excess oil from getting in the air.

The key difference in home deep fryers is size. If you plan to deep fry chicken, you will want a larger unit than if you do vegetables. But, if your family goes wild for home cut French fries, then you may end up doing batches if you have a smaller fryer.

Cooking in a Deep Fryer

You’ve heard the saying oil and water don’t mix, so most foods you see cooked in a deep fryer are battered or are some type of bread product. Battering prevents the food moisture (and most foods have some) from coming into direct contact with the oil and popping or splattering.

The battered foods are dropped into the deep fat fryer at temperatures from 325 to 400 degrees F typically. Anything under 325 F will result in the food absorbing grease and over 400 degrees will cause the oil to smoke.

Foods should be close room temperature and should not be crowded in the deep fryer. If you drop in cold foods or overcrowd the unit with too much food at one time, the temperature of the oil will drop and result in greasy food which doesn’t taste so great.

Hard to Beat Deep Fried Food on Flavor

My boys are thrilled when I break out the fryer. I don’t fry a lot, since I know there are healthier ways to cook. Still, it’s nice to have fried fish and hush puppies from time to time, and they really just don’t taste the same baked.