Getting Oil Out of Fries and Fried Chicken

[Jay Francis]

I have been dreaming of finding some method of extracting all of the oil that one can from fried chicken without taking away from the crispy crust goodness.

Any ideas?

It occurred to me that if there were such a thing as a stainless steel salad spinner, or some sort of centrifuging device that could handle heat, that would work great. Does anyone have any ideas?

Jy

[pax]

Uhm. It's fried chicken and fries.

I guess we're coming at this from two pretty different perspectives, cause if I were going to the aggro of making chicken and fries, I'd be craving maximum oily goodness, and I'd save the healthy eating for the next day. And the next. : )

ALthough, you know, there's that whole red wine being good for your cholesterol thing. Maybe you should knock back some good wine with your chicken.

Enjoy!

[Jay Francis]

Fried chicken in all its greasy goodness is wonderful, but it would still be fun to figger out someway to get rid of the extra oil. Fingers crossed.

I just had an idea though. What if one could have a welder build a stainless basket that had a center adapter for a Cuisinart? The Cuisinart Lexan can probably handle the hot oil and you would get a great centrifuge from the powerful motor.

I think I will talk to my welder-neighbor today.

Jay

Edited July 15, 2007 by Jay Francis (log)

[GlorifiedRice]

Pax!!!

Thats what I was always thinking!

I also was thinking of using a salad spinner for getting oil out of ramen.

[LRunkle]

I have tried this with a regular plastic salad spinner and it works fine...however, you can spin the crust off chicken etc sometimes if you get carried away. I line the inside basket with paper towels. I use salad spinners for a lot of applications where gravity drainage would also work but not be as efficient or rapid.

[JAZ]

It seems to me that a better approach would be to work on frying techniques that reduce the amount of oil that's absorbed in the first place. Then you wouldn't have to worry about trying to get it out.

[DCP]

It seems to me that a better approach would be to work on frying techniques that reduce the amount of oil that's absorbed in the first place. Then you wouldn't have to worry about trying to get it out.

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Right - such as proper temperature control. If the oil is too cold, you get a grease-soaked mess.

I've also heard it claimed (I believe Alton Brown is one proponent, but can't locate a citation at the moment) that frying done properly is an extremely low-fat proposition, as the food's surface water flashes to steam to create an oil-resistant outer crust. I'd like to believe this, but it's done poorly often enough - and my own technique is not well-refined.

[Octaveman]

This is a joke, right?

[Toliver]

Right - such as proper temperature control.  If the oil is too cold, you get a grease-soaked mess.

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We ran into this issue when deep frying our Thanksgiving turkey. I believe the magic temperature is 375°F. Anything lower and the oil soaks right in.

[hummingbirdkiss]

This is a joke, right?

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really I agree it has to be a joke?