Tips For Making Deep Fat Frying Batter

Whether you are trying to deep fry vegetables, meat, or pastries, you should consider a few items to make sure that your gourmet creation is preserved in the deep fat frying process.

First and most important would be the proper deep fat frying equipment. Whether you use a real deep fat fryer or a deep fry pan, the oil you use will determine either help or hurt you. You need an oil that will not burn quickly, but burns at a higher temperature. Not considering this will cause your food to get a burned and unsavory flavor. Oils that work well best for deep fat frying are:

* Vegetable, including shortening and lard

* Safflower

* Canola

* Peanut Oil - be careful of this option to ensure none of your guests have allergies to nuts

Choices of oil to avoid include butter or olive oil. In all cases, you ought to ensure your oil is hot when you submerge the food - it needs to crisp up immediately trapping all of the moisture and juices inside!

Next, take into account the food that you are to deep fat fry. General rule is if your food is wet, your batter should be dry. If the food is dry, your batter must be wet. Simple, right? Yes and no - in instances like zucchini, the food is extremely wet and it's beneficial to pat down your surfaces before you apply the batter. This helps the stick factor and you will see a reduced amount of flake off during the deep fat frying process. If the food is dry and you need to use a dry rub or batter, this could be easily resolved by adding water or egg to help the mix adhere to the surface.

Lastly, what is the staple of all batter recipes? Below I'm showing you a tried and true recipe that works largely for vegetable and meat frying.

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 c water

1 slightly beaten egg

Stir your dry ingredients first than fold in your wet ingredients.

Now for individuals who like a little spark of something in their batter, some good additions to this batter include paprika, finely chopped peppers, garlic or onion powder. Rule of thumb is to include a 1/4-1/2 tsp of your addition to taste. Also, get creative with your wet ingredients by substituting beer for water. Open your pantry and add those flavors you prefer! In all cases, bon appetite!

Paul Stevens is author/publisher of a buyers' guide to Deep Fat Fryers