“Theory without practice is dead,” said the great commander Suvorov, and I have a feeling that under other life circumstances Alexander Vasilyevich would have emerged as an excellent cook. After all, what is any recipe if not a theory? A novice cook or hostess may look in vain at step-by-step photographs, but if they do not know the basics, the recipe remains for them an incomprehensible inscription in a dead language.
How many of you can boast that you know how to fry properly (in a pan, of course)? Honestly, I don’t always succeed. And if you don’t have a plan to save the world for the next 5 minutes, make yourself comfortable, let’s sort it out together.
What is frying?
When we talk about frying, we mean one of the methods of heat treatment of food, in which heat is transferred using hot oil or fat. In 90% of cases, a frying pan is used for frying.*, to which oil is added and the product is fried until golden brown. And if I leave the choice of the product to your discretion for now, it is worth talking about the other characters in more detail.
Pan
If you think that I will now reveal a terrible secret and tell you which pan is ideal for frying, I have to disappoint you. Firstly, there is no consensus in the scientific community on this score: some people say that the best frying pan is grandma’s cast iron, others prefer a light and modern frying pan with a non-stick coating. Secondly, different frying pans are suitable for different types of frying: for example, if you are going to fry a beef steak, one frying pan is suitable for you, but if you are frying zucchini pancakes, then another.*… In general, a good frying pan should have the following:
- thick bottom – for good and even heat distribution*;
- big square – so that more food can be fried at a time;
- comfortable handle – after you have put the pan on the fire, manipulations with this tool are not exhausted, and if the handle, for example, overheats quickly, this is not very good.
But the non-stick coating is a double-edged sword. It is, of course, convenient, but in fact, you do not need it very often, and after long use, such a coating can flake off and get into food, which is completely undesirable.
Heat source
That is, the stove. If you ask me what is more convenient to fry on, I will answer without hesitation – on fire. The fire is easy to regulate*, it quickly heats up the pan and allows you to visually control the process. I practically did not deal with induction cookers, but if I understand correctly how they work, such cookers are almost as good as gas cookers, however, not every frying pan can be put on them. Electric stoves for frying are poorly adapted: they heat up slowly, cool down even more slowly, and if the bottom of the pan arches during the heating process*, it will heat up unevenly. Ironically, I have an electric stove at home, so I know what I’m talking about.
Oil
The third character, without whom the performance will not begin, is oil. Popular rumor claims (and marketers happily echo it) that you can fry in non-stick pans without adding oil at all – but if you want this coating not to peel off after several uses, even in such a pan it would be more correct to fry with a few drops of oil … For the rest, I will not beat around the bush: a few months ago I wrote an article What oil to fry with ?, where I analyzed different options and combinations and brought out, in my opinion, the ideal one.
Temperature
In my understanding, correct frying is that frying where everything that happens in the pan is under our complete control, and since it is a question of heat treatment, temperature control comes to the fore. The good news is that we do not need a thermometer and Bradis tables – 3 temperature points are critical when frying, and they are easy to determine visually:
- boiling point of water – default 100 degrees Celsius*… Water is contained in absolutely any product, and upon contact with oil, it begins to stand out from it. If the oil is heated above the boiling point of water, it instantly evaporates and does not interfere with the frying process. If the oil is heated to a temperature below 100 degrees*, the water will not evaporate, and the product will not be fried, but stewed in a mixture of cooled oil and its own juices.
- Maillard reaction temperature – the temperature at which a chemical reaction begins between amino acids and sugars contained in the product, causing the formation of that very golden crust. This reaction, described in 1912 by the Frenchman Louis-Camille Maillard, starts at temperatures of 140-165 degrees Celsius. This means that if you fry food in oil heated to 130 degrees, they will be fried, not stewed, but you will not get a crust.
- oil smoke point – the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke is a sure sign that its chemical composition has begun to change, and carcinogens have begun to form in it. Frying in oil heated to this temperature is not recommended*.
As you can see, oil that is too cold is bad, too hot is also bad, and it is the search for this golden mean that turns out to be the main obstacle for beginners who have not yet learned how to fry properly.
Practice
Let’s move on to the practical side of frying, in a question-answer format.
When to add oil – to a cold skillet or to a preheated one? In theory, the second option is more correct, but if you are not sure that you can accurately capture the right moment without overheating the pan, heat the oil along with the pan. You can check its temperature in old-fashioned ways – by placing your palm a couple of centimeters from the surface of the oil* or splashing into the oil with a couple of drops of water: if they crunch, run in and evaporate almost immediately, then you can start frying.
What if the oil overheats and starts to smoke? Remove skillet from heat* and twist it gently to cool the oil faster. If the oil continues to smoke and darken, it is best to pour it out, wipe down the pan, and start over.
What if the food is added to the oil too quickly and does not want to fry? It happens. Raise heat slightly and leave food alone. Soon you will hear a crackling sound – a sure sign that the oil has warmed up and the water has begun to evaporate. As soon as the juices that have managed to release the products evaporate, they will begin to fry, and after that they can be turned over and continue to fry as usual.
What if there are too many products? Fry in several stages. The standard recommendation is to lay out the products in the pan so that they do not come into contact with each other: in this case, nothing will prevent the juices emitted by them from evaporating freely.
What to do if food sticks to the pan? And this happens – and more often than we would like. Continue to fry and, grasping the pan by the handle, move it back and forth. After a minute or two, when a crust forms, the product will peel off the pan by itself.
How do I prevent food from burning without a non-stick coating? The method described above works almost flawlessly – but, for example, frying fish in a pan without a non-stick coating so that the skin does not stick to the bottom of the pan is very difficult. In this case, cut a circle out of parchment paper, place it on the bottom of the pan, and fry right on it.*.
If you still have questions about how to learn how to fry properly, ask them in the comments. Whatever one may say, frying is used more often than, say, steaming, and everyone should own this skill.