Thursday, December 03, 2015

Carrot Oil


                                                           FOOD






BONUS- How does the carrot in deep fryer trick work?


So I just heard about putting a carrot in the deep fryer so as to pick up the burnt junk and keep the oil clean for longer. I tried it. It works! Now I'm wondering how it works, and what other veggies or whatnot can be substituted in place of the carrot?

Could you possibly share some more information about the trick and how you went about it? Did you put the carrot in heated oil or cold for instance? – Richard ten Brink Jan 7 at 13:07
          
@Richard I put it in after the oil heated up, right before I started lowering food in the basket. I was extremely skeptical but figured it couldn't hurt to try. What happened was is the carrot turned blacker and blacker with each batch and shriveled up. I told showed it to the kids and told them it was a hot dog. They fell for it:) – user6591 Jan 7 at 13:49
          
@Richard I fried quite a few pounds of batter dipped chicken nuggets. Towards the last few batches it seemed the carrot was 'used up' as the oil was getting somewhat darker and smoking a bit. Next time I'll switch out the old carrot halfway through for a new one and see if that helps. –
1        
Poor carrot. Your sacrifice shall not be forgotten. – Jason Schock Jan 9 at 18:52

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2 Answers


Aside: I seem to remember that Escoffier (free download) recommended that, after straining cooking fats after each use, adding some lemon juice would help keep the oil bright.    Also from Escoffier, once cooking fats turn brown they may continue to be used for frying fish. It works.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I call the fryer/fry pan dregs flavor crystals.

drew458 said...

We use sawdust as flux when casting lead. It binds up all the impurities and the oxides and then floats to the top. Spoon it off about halfway through the casting session if using a bottom pour pot. a spoonful of Borax also works, and makes a thin disc of glass at the top that keeps the tin from evaporating.

The carrot ... or any vegetable carb? ... is working like a flux here, to collect up the dross in the oil.








Anonymous said...

All right, Drew. Great idea. I'm gonna put some sawdust in my cooking oil next time I do chicken fried steak.

jd

Chuck Martel said...

I had a Jewish grandmother who told me the way to make chicken soup is to make sure you include one large parsnip. It soaks up the excess fat.

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