11 August 09

Deep-Frying isn't as bad for you as you may think

So during this cookbook adventure I’ve set myself onto, I’ve had to do a fair amount of cooking of dishes I’ve either been meaning to make but never have (hello! Sweetbreads!) and dishes I’ve made but wanted to make better. Fried chicken is one of the dishes I wanted to improve on. So after reading about 500 other recipes for fried chicken, I settled on some assumptions and gave it a go. And not only did I give it a general go, but I decided to fry up about 4 pounds of chicken legs, cause they’re my favorite. And really, it’s all about what I want, honestly.

So I set a huge Dutch oven over a medium to medium-high flame and then I poured 1 quart of oil into the pan. 1 quart of peanut oil. Yep! 8 cups of oil. Oh my gawd! Do you feel your arteries clogging as you read that? Well, they shouldn’t. And here is why. And I’d read it, but I figured it was kinda bogus. But I’d meant to test it and I never did, and well, here is what I learned.

Deep-frying doesnt’ cause foods to soak up oil. IF you do it right. IF you keep the oil above 325˚F (according to the food scientist people I found on The Internet) then your food will seal immediately and then not soak up the dreaded oil. And it’s true. Deep-frying, in the case of my fried chicken recipe, was lower in fat than if I’d pan-fried the chicken. How do I know?

Well, I poured one quart of oil into the Dutch oven. I fried 4 pounds of chicken legs. I then let the oil cool so I could pour it back into the bottle and either filter it for use again or discard it if I had to. And you know what? The bottle was full again. Well, almost full. TWO TABLESPOONS of oil disappeared while I was DEEP-FRYING 4 pounds of chicken. That’s less than 1/2 of a teaspoon of oil per serving. 1 teaspoon of oil is a serving according to the bottle of oil. And even if I was pan searing the chicken to bake in the oven, I would have likely used more oil than that.

So, the next time someone is all “ew” when you mention the word deep-frying, you can let them know (cause I told you! and I’m an expert!) that deep-frying isn’t bad for you. What you deep-fry may not be healthy, but the cooking method isn’t as bad for you as many people think. And, I couldn’t be happier about that. Cause, oh man, do I love a good piece of fried chicken now and then.

Comments

  1. I also understand that deep frying with “clean” oil is way healthier than the “dirty” oil. At home, we use the oil a few times which keeps it fairly pure. But in restaurants they use the oil over and over and over which makes the foods cooked in it less healthy.

    Or so I’ve been told by a friend who is a chef.

    — Erica Lucci on Aug 18, 07:46 am

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