Use a Deep Fat Fryer to Cook Very Crispy Potatoes
Cooking is now an important chore around the house as many restaurants are closed and extra food mouths are parked at the table for all three meals. I don’t know about you all, but frozen food was the first thing removed from my local grocery store when I slowly started stockpiling in late February. Over the past month, all of my favorite potato tortillas, potato pancakes and bagged fries that I love to make in a deep fat fryer have been completely sold out.
I can imagine deep fryers are gaining traction as people around the world are forced to squat due to our collective downtime. My theory is based on a simple truth: These devices cook food faster and make it crisper – two things we need when the world feels like it’s over. Luckily, you don’t have to go into the frozen aisle to get the best quality potatoes in your deep fat fryer. The regular potatoes really shine here and before I had my little R2-D2 air oven I was aiming for “regular” potatoes and the stores are full of them.
Baked, fried, and fried friends are crispy and delicious, and as I repeat, my excitement grows, like the guy at ShamWow – it happens much faster than in a conventional oven, allowing you to perfectly time your meals.
Maintain the uniformity of the fried potatoes
The key to chopping raw potatoes in a deep fat fryer is to use uniform cuts. While weird chunks work well in ovens with uneven heat distribution – some become completely scorched and others nice and soft – you can achieve an almost even browning in the deep fat fryer. Use this to your advantage!
Diced or thinly sliced, most shapes work well here, even meager cuts, but the main problem going from raw to crispy is too much steam, which will definitely happen if you overfill the basket. Regardless of which cut you use, make sure there is room for moisture to evaporate. Building up steam will make things flexible.
Try mixing redskins with a tablespoon of neutral oil and plain salt and pepper, but hold on to the bowl in case you need to add more oil later. Too much oil will simply fall to the bottom of the basket, and applying vegetable oil before the potatoes enter the basket prevents this from happening. I love making one-inch chunks from the russet chunks – the large potatoes fill my deep fryer basket perfectly.
Run the cycle for 10 minutes at 400 ° F, then shake the basket or toss the potatoes with tongs before starting again. They shouldn’t be dripping with oil, but if you think they look too dry, you can drop them again with the rest of the oil in the bowl you left behind. Cook for another five minutes, shaking or turning, until they are crispy to your liking.
Potato pancakes with butter
For shredded potatoes, a deep fryer may not sound ideal, but when kept together with eggs and other binders, you can make one delicious potato pancake. This is where oil sprays come in handy. Sprinkle the basket with cooking spray or oil before adding the shaped patches, and then sprinkle the pancakes with oil. A 12-14 minute cycle at 350 ° F should do the trick, but you can spray them again halfway so they have the same savory buttery crunch as fried latches.
For some models, you will need to turn off the fan for shredded or finely chopped potatoes as the fan may swell your food. Small pieces of potatoes can get stuck in the fan, so be careful.
Par-bake for super crispy chicken legs
One way to avoid cooking confusion is to start your potato projects with baked or fully baked potatoes. Pre-baking the steep, starchy reddish brown in the deep fat fryer means you can slice and dice the already cooked potatoes, then return them to the deep fryer for a few more minutes until crispy with a little oil. Potatoes cooked this way are as crispy as anything you’ve deep-fried. If you want to eat fresh, hot potatoes throughout the week, you can bake a large batch and then air-fry at your leisure.
To bake, peel three medium-sized straws and pierce them with a fork several times on each side. Roast in the air at 400 ° F for 20-25 minutes for partially cooked potatoes and 30-35 minutes for fully baked potatoes, depending on your model. (My regular oven takes about an hour to cook them completely, so this is a summer survival tactic when I don’t want to blow my living space.)
Take these cooked babies and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator, then experiment as much as you like. It’s a killer move for small households – one potato serves two easily – and you can change the cut and seasoning every day to keep things interesting. Eat a wedge of turmeric and lemon once, try some cumin and chili with peppers and onions for breakfast the next day, then chop one and brush with melted butter, perhaps using a sprig of rosemary as a brush if you really want to make it extra special. A deep fryer grinds the skins and outer surfaces of each without burning oil or vegetable oil in just five minutes, resulting in restaurant-quality patatas.