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Introducing the Great Fuel Foods: Fats: Frying

HOW TO TEST THE TEMPERATURE OF FAT FOR FRYING We have noticed that we do not speak of boiling fat, nor do we wish to speak of smoking, hot fat; for, when fat smokes, it is burning and is too hot for use; nor can such fat be restored to proper condition for future use. Food cooked in it, especially if it has been overheated a long time, or several times, will not take on appropriate color, and whatever fat is absorbed by the article will not be wholesome. When the fat becomes still, have ready some inch cubes of stale bread and drop one of these into the fat. If the cube of bread becomes a golden brown, while you count forty, as the clock ticks, the fat is at the right temperature for croquettes, fish-balls, small fish, like brook trout and smelts, or small fillets of fish and oysters. If it takes sixty seconds to brown the cube of bread, the fat is at the proper temperature for frying fritters, doughnuts and other similar mixtures of uncooked ingredients. You may think the fat should not be as hot for frying fillets of raw fish and oysters as for croquettes, made of cooked ingredients, which are simply to be reheated. But fish and oysters, being cold, will cool the fat so that longer cooking will be needed to secure the right color for the exterior, and the proper cooking of the article.

PREPARATION OF FOOD FOR FRYING Heat, as we know, coagulates and hardens albuminous substances; thus, if we cover an article to be fried with a substance rich in albumen, as eggs, or even less rich, as milk, and plunge it into hot fat, a covering will be produced that will keep out the fat perfectly. With the egg, we use sifted bread crumbs; with the milk, we use flour or meal. The starch in the flour, meal or crumbs, is changed by the heat to caramel, and a well-tasting crust is formed. A thin coating is all that is essential. The juices of chops and oysters, thus protected, can not pass out into the fat any more than the fat can enter, thus such articles when properly fried are particularly juicy and well-flavored. It should be needless to add, that the covering must be complete at every point, and that the fat must be deep enough to cover the articles to be cooked in it.

The dough for fritters, doughnuts and the like, must contain enough egg to keep out fat heated to the proper temperature for frying. Croquettes, oysters and the like, are often placed in a basket, so that three or four may be lowered into the fat and removed from it at the same time. The articles must not touch each other, or steam will be produced, which will moisten the crisp crust. Drain carefully, in the basket, over the kettle of fat, then remove to soft paper for the final draining.

TRYING OUT AND CLARIFYING FATS Cut the fat in small pieces, cover with cold water and let stand over night; pour off this water, add fresh water or milk -- a cup to each two pounds of fat -- and let cook very slowly until the pieces are light brown in color, and the fat is clear and still (no sound of bubbling or cooking). Strain through a cloth and press the fat from the pieces for a second quality of fat. FAT FROM COOKED MEAT, THE SOUP KETTLE, ETC.

When the liquid is cold, remove the fat to a saucepan, add part or a whole cup of cold water and let cook slowly, until the water has evaporated and the sound of cooking has ceased, then strain through a cloth. Much of the flavor and odor of the fat passes off in the water during its evaporation. Slices of raw potato may be used instead of water to clarify fat. It is probably the evaporation of the water in the potato that is responsible for the clarification.

HOW TO TREAT FAT AFTER FRYING After the frying is finished, remove the fat to a cool place and let it settle. Crumbs or flour, left in fat and reheated with it, will burn long before the fat is hot enough for frying, and spoil the fat. When the fat is cool, pour it carefully from the sediment in the bottom, through one or two folds of cheese cloth laid over a colander or sieve, add cold water or slices of potato and clarify as above. Wipe out the kettle with soft paper, wash and dry, and when the fat is again cool, return it to the kettle. A round-bottomed Scotch bowl (iron) is the best utensil for frying.

FATS AND OILS USED IN THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD Fats and oils may be used to advantage in the preservation of many kinds of food; these by excluding air prevent the drying or decomposition of the food that is covered with them. After a bottle of olives or pimentos has been opened and a part of the contents used, the remainder may be kept as long as the oil remains in good condition -- often six months or longer -- by simply putting into the bottle or can a few spoonfuls of oil that may float -- a thin layer of oil -- on the top of the liquid. So a layer of oil over fish -- as sardines -- preserves them for a long time. Potted meats and pate-de-foie-gras are kept by means of lard or butter, which is melted and poured over the articles, when they are put up. Of course all articles preserved in this way should be stored in a cool place.