Deep Fat Fryer Help Needed

eamon

I would love one but my head says no. When I've been drinking I'm liable to get an attack of the munchies closely followed by a burnt down house & dead me.

rendez2k

Well, first test over and done with. Slight smell in the kitchen of oil while cooking but wife said no worse than bacon! I did specifically pick a model that had good reviews about the smell. The problem was, chips were a little dry. I did over cook them slightly but would that make them dry? Or is the oil wrong (used corn oil)

angeltreats

rendez2k wrote: »

Well, first test over and done with. Slight smell in the kitchen of oil while cooking but wife said no worse than bacon! I did specificlly pick a model that had good reviews about the smell. The problem was, chips were a little dry. I did over cook them slightly but would that make them dry? Or is the oil wrong (used corn oil)

You need to cook your chips twice First heat the fryer to 150ºC and fry the chips till they are cooked (a knife will go through them easily) but haven't got much colour. Then remove them into a bowl lined with kitchen towels, heat the fryer up to 180ºC and fry the chips for a second time only for a minute or so till they are crispy and a lovely golden brown.

Apparently Heston triple-cooks his chips :eek: but most restaurants, chippies etc double-cook theirs.

I really don't think the smell is that bad, it definitely doesn't linger in my house. This might just be me, but I do think that brand new oil is a lot smellier than old oil - anyone else find this?

zippychick

I know the hairy bikers have a double cooked chips recipe! EEK!

I don't have a DFF but used to borrow one from my neighbours., Chips don't taste half as good as i did when I was a kid

It would be a waste of money and space for me personally but each to their own

I merged this with one of the threads Pink linked to

Zip

dogstarheaven

sparkleworld wrote: »

I threw mine out only two weeks ago! Before that i too used to use it outside. Think my neighburs thought I'd lost the plot when they first saw me doing it- That and the ironing outside in nice weather.

What made me throw it away- I'd be lucky to use it 3 times a month. It took 6 litres of oil to fill it- Despite cooking outside with it as soon as I brought it inside you could smell the fat, It took up a whole cupboard ( which always needed cleaning) to itself next to the cooker - this has now been better utilised with all my herbs and spices on one shelf and all my sandwich bags, freezer bags, cling film, baking parchment etc on the bottom shelf- Had to remove the shelf to accommodate the fryer. I haven't missed it yet and when I do I still have an old fashioned chip pan/basket which is easy to clean takes far less oil, so is changed regularly and as regards safety- I will NEVER leave this type of fryer unattended.

In the past *cough splutter* amount of years I have only had 1 fryer I found easy to clean but even that got to the stage where it just didn't feel it got clean enough to cook in anymore.

So I suppose in essence for me it was the hygiene
( succinctly put in 11 words)- sorry for the ramble

we do the same too, altho' our back garden's tiny and it's really filled to the brim with planted pots so we have to be careful that the frying steam/fumes don't get too close to the plants!:eek:
ours was bought from Asda for about £20 about 18mths ago, and we make HM Fish & Chips, Salt & Pepper Squid, Tempura Veg, Onion Rings about once a month or so.

angeltreats wrote: »

You need to cook your chips twice First heat the fryer to 150ºC and fry the chips till they are cooked (a knife will go through them easily) but haven't got much colour. Then remove them into a bowl lined with kitchen towels, heat the fryer up to 180ºC and fry the chips for a second time only for a minute or so till they are crispy and a lovely golden brown.

Apparently Heston triple-cooks his chips :eek: but most restaurants, chippies etc double-cook theirs.
I really don't think the smell is that bad, it definitely doesn't linger in my house. This might just be me, but I do think that brand new oil is a lot smellier than old oil - anyone else find this?

we double-fry ours - the first batch at a lower temp. for about 6mins. this gets the potato cooked through then we wait till it cools down and re-fry at a high temp to get the colour and crispness on the chip.

and then we drain off the oiliness onto newspaper instead of wasteful kitchen paper towels. does anyone else use newspaper. i haven't notice that the ink's come off onto any food before?

zippychick wrote: »

It would be a waste of money and space for me personally but each to their own

i agree about the space issue:cool: it's sited on the kitchen top as there's no room in our cupboards and it's gathering dust already!

RazWaz

I've got a tiny little one and I love it. The basket is probably just larger than a clenched fist so it makes a 'just big enough for one' portion of chips and doesn't take too much oil to fill it. I haven't noticed any smell lingering around, though I always have the kitchen window open a few inches and always use the extractor fan as I've got an over sensitive smoke alarm (opening the oven door has set it off before - even when nothing is burnt).

I paid £15 for it in sainsbury's and it's perfect for one. Saved me a fortune already since I never want a takeaway anymore (and healthier for me since i always ended up ordering extra due to living alone and minimum delivery orders).

Memory_Girl

Me too - bought a £12 one from Aldi and its just big enough to do chips for the boys ................... but as I get me potatoes for almost nothing (friends farm) I figure that instead of a bag of soggy chippie chips between them (£1.50 here) I'd rather they had crispy HM ones now and again for pennies instead.

Mind you it it teeny and only uses I bottle of oil - and I do have the door open when I use it.

MG

rendez2k

OK, its driving me mad now! I can cook frozen chips great in it. But thats not the point - I want fresh. I got some maris pipers, washed and dried them and cooked them at the recommended 190 for 7 mins using corn oil. They were a little over done outside but almost under done inside and soft. So, did the same thing again but cooked for 4 mins at 150 took them out for 5 mins then put them back in at 190 for 3. They seemed to be slightly over done but crisp(ish) for the first minute then they went soft again and some seemed slightly under done. What am I doing wrong? Is making crispy chips rocket science?!

meritaten

my method for homemade chips is
peel and cut the chips. Dont make them too thick about half inch thickness is the max.
I use Sunflower oil as I hate the smell of Corn oil and I dont think it cooks the chips properly.
heat the fryer to 150C and cook the chips for about 4 minutes then check that they are soft and not coloured. take them out and drain them on kitchen paper (you can also actually blanch them in boiling water instead - but do drain them well and make sure they are DRY before frying them). heat the oil to 170C and refry the chips. by the time they are golden brown they should be crisp outside and soft and fluffy inside.
I have used Maris Piper, Desiree and King Edward potatoes and they all make good ones. when these arent available I will use 'Baking' potatoes. any potato which makes good bakies or roasties will make good chips!

MaggieBaking

Rendez - the secret is in knowing it's cooked in the first place. You can do all kinds of double/triple frying - different temperatures and oven baking but ultimately it's not like toast where the colour is what's important but the fact it's cooked first.

If you boil potatoes and know when they are done - soft, stick a fork in and it splits the potato rather than stabs it. That's what you want from chips before you brown them.

I never time chips, and have been known to cook them at 170 till cooked and then whacked up to 190 to finish, and my Mum & Dad swears by cooking them through on 150 till they're ready.

Chip the chips, thin or thick, however suits. Rinse really well in a colander. Lay a tea towel out on the work surface and tip the rinsed chips into one half. Cover the chips with the other half of the tea towel and rub well to dry them. Put straight into a chip fryer heated at about 170.

Keep checking every now and then for it to be soft and cooked. If it's going brown and not cooked - turn the oil down.

You might also be overfilling your deep fat fryer - only fill the basket 3/4 full.