Besides a vessel, a thermometer and the right oil, a good frying session requires a few additional helpers. At some point the food will have to go into and come out of some very hot oil – hands are not an option. It’ll also need some place to sit after it’s removed from the frying oil both to drain away any excess frying oil and to promote slight cooling. Nobody likes to eat cold fried food (well leftover fried chicken from the fridge is pretty good eating) but you don’t want to eat it right out of the 350+ degree pan either.
The Long Arm
In frying, longer is better – at least when it comes to the handles for manipulating fried food inside the vessel. You’ll want a frying utensil that can withstand the heat of the oil with out degrading and without conducting a lot of heat. It’ll also be helpful for the frying utensil to allow the hot oil to flow off the food while the finished food is being extracted from the oil. So far I’ve found the need to have two kinds of frying utensils depending on the food I’m frying. For small items like potatoes, a perforated metal or wire basket style utensil is a great choice. It can swoop up those small chunks in a hurry.
For larger items, like say chicken metal tongs are the way to go. If you’re frying in a non-stick pan, you’ll want the ones with the silicone tips on them so as not to scratch the pan. The tongs should not be the ones that are hinged in the middle unless you fancy getting your knuckles burned every once in a while. Get tongs that are hinged on the end and plenty long. Here’s are the ones I use.
frying utensils
Resting Place
Fried food needs to be drained. No matter how long you hold that food over the oil, some of it will remain in or on the food. It needs to come into contact with something to wick that excess frying oil away not to mention a place to sit and cool a bit. My favorite draining rig is one I picked up from Alton Brown on Good Eats. You’ll need a jelly roll pan (otherwise known as a rimmed baking sheet), a couple of sheets of news paper and a cooling rack that will fit inside the rimmed baking sheet.
Fold the newspaper so it completely fits into the inside of the baking sheet. Getting the newspaper 2-3 layers thick will keep the drained frying oil from making too much of a mess. If you don’t have newspaper, a couple of large paper bags (not plastic!) will do. Place the cooling rack upside down on the newspaper inside the baking sheet. Yes, the legs on the cooling rack will be point upwards. Looks like this when fully assembled.
fried food draining rig
Why upside down with the cooling rack? So that the oil draining away from the food sitting on the wire rack comes in contact with something that can absorb it. If we leave the cooling rack right side up, some of the frying oil will cling to the wires on the cooling rack and stay attached to the food – ick! With the cooling rack inverted the oil hits the paper and drains away not only from the food but from the cooling rack as well. Sweet!
After the food is drained you can wad up the newspaper and just throw it away.
Hungry yet?
