Deep fat frying does not have a good reputation. It is considered about as healthy as smoking. From soggy fish and chips to deep fried Mars Bars (Creme Eggs at Easter), using a deep fat fryer to cook your dinner is not the first choice of most people. However is this fair? If you cook in a wok you can make something very greasy if you don’t know what you are doing. So is this the case with deep frying? This article hope to shed some light on this subject.
The first thing to ask is how does deep fat frying actually work. The answer may come as some surprise. It is not actually oil that cooks the food. The role of the hot oil is to actually heat the water inside the food. The desired result is that as the water in the food heats, it steams the food from the inside out. So given that it is the water inside the food that does the cooking, why is deep fat frying considered so unhealthy? The reason for this is that unless you deep fry properly, the oil penetrates the food. However if you follow the proper procedures this does not occur and you are left with non-greasy, perfectly cooked food.
So what makes the oil penetrate the food? It all has to do with the temperature of the oil. If the oil is hot enough, the water vapor escaping the food will keep the oil at bay. If the oil is too cool, the water vapor being released will not be powerful enough to keep the oil from penetrating the food.
The other thing that can lead to oil penetration is time. If the food is overcooked, the food will be dry, no vapor will be released and the oil will start to seep in.
The key to perfectly deep fat frying food is therefore about keeping the food submerged at exactly the correct temperature for exactly the correct time. Obviously different foods require different cooking times and temperatures so always follow the recipe and you should get great results.
So to summarize, is deep fat frying food as healthy as eating a salad? No. Is it any unhealthier than wok cooking or pan frying? Not if you keep in mind the pointers on heat and time discussed above. When deep frying is done correctly – think lovely king prawn tempura, it is truly sublime and bears no resemblance to the greasy nightmares you see in late night cafes.