Classic Snacks Made from Scratch (24 page)

But you absolutely don’t need an electric fryer to make the recipes in this chapter; everything has been successfully tested with the stovetop deep-frying method as well. For best results, here’s my method for frying on the stove:

Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed pot with canola or vegetable oil. Le Creuset or other enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens are perfect for the task, since they both distribute and retain heat evenly. Stainless steel stockpots and Dutch ovens are your second-best bet. Just make sure your pot has high sides and a sturdy bottom.

Don’t overfill your pot with oil. Once the food hits the hot oil, it’ll boil and bubble, and you’ll be in a lot of trouble if the oil starts pouring over the edges like a volcano. In all deep-frying recipes, I specify oil to a depth of at least 2 inches, since that’s generally deep enough to completely submerge the food as well as shallow enough to prevent boilover. My general rule of thumb is to use 1 quart of oil (that’s 32 fluid ounces) for every 3 quarts of stockpot capacity, and to make sure that the oil doesn’t come more than halfway up the pot’s sides.

Attach a candy/oil thermometer to the side of the pot, and make sure its tip is submerged deep enough to clear the “dimple” above the tip but isn’t touching the bottom of the pan. Bring the oil up to heat uncovered. Depending on your pot’s size, shape, and heat retention, this can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as 45 minutes.

Unlike a meat thermometer, which probably only hits 200°F max, a candy/oil thermometer is designed to register much higher temperatures and to stay immersed in the hot liquids it’s monitoring for long periods of time. Again, it’s a one-time investment, but there’s really no substitute for the safety and monitoring features it provides. It takes so much of the guesswork out of frying and working with hot sugar, and pays for itself in peace of mind.

Have your draining station at the ready. I take a cue from the inimitable Alton Brown and line a baking sheet with paper towels, then cover that with a wire cooling rack flipped upside-down to put the metal in direct contact with the paper towels. This helps wick away additional oil to keep fried foods crisp instead of soggy from hanging out in oil puddles.

Use a metal skimmer or a flat mesh strainer to flip foods and to simultaneously
scoop up your goodies and drain excess oil back into the pot. Metal tongs work in a pinch, too (get it?), but the skimmers and strainers are wide enough that you can grab more than one piece of food at a time. And when you’re doing multiple batches of fried food, you want to get to the eating part as quickly as you can!

What Should I Do with the Leftover Oil?

When filtered and stored properly, that oil can be reused for your next crispy adventure. First, let it cool to room temperature in the vessel you used for deep frying. Don’t try to decant it into anything else just yet; simply move the pot off the hot burner and leave it uncovered until it cools.

Place a funnel in the mouth of a clean, sealable container. (The plastic jug your oil came in is absolutely perfect, if it’s empty—if not, a Mason jar, wine bottle, or seltzer bottle works equally well. Just make sure the container is large enough to hold all the oil.) Place a fine-mesh strainer or paper towel in the mouth of the funnel to catch any fried bits and bobs that might be clouding up your oil—they’ll make it go rancid more quickly.

With a friend’s help, if necessary, pour the oil through the strainer and funnel into the container, then seal. You can reuse the oil, filtering each time, until you notice it darkening significantly. Usually you can get about 8 to 10 uses out of your oil before it’s kaput, but frying foods with a distinct odor (such as seafood or salami) will leave a flavor on the oil from there on out.

When the oil’s no longer usable, don’t pour it down the drain! Cooking oil clogs pipes and sewers. Check
earth911.com
for local oil recycling facilities, or talk with a neighborhood restaurant about adding your oil to their recycling pickup.

Why Canola or Vegetable Oil?

These oils have both a high smoke point (that is, they won’t start to smoke and burn before they hit almost 450°F) and a neutral flavor that won’t interfere with the taste of your snacks. I love peanut oil, too, but it’s definitely got a taste. Don’t use olive oil; it’ll start to burn at 375°F.

Casey Barber
is the editor of
Good. Food. Stories
. (
goodfoodstories.com
) and a food writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in
Gourmet Live, ReadyMade, Better Homes & Gardens, iVillage, Serious Eats
, and other national print and online publications. Though Casey loves her adopted state of New Jersey (not just for its deep-fried hot dogs and sour cherry orchards, but for its proximity to New York City), she’ll always be a Pittsburgher at heart.