I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
"saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
batter - not watery, etc)

1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
fried food is low in the bad fats

A related question
2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
to be fried.

I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...

Thanks,
Al

"Al" > wrote in message
om...
> I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
> oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
> "saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
> batter - not watery, etc)
>
> 1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
> fried food is low in the bad fats
>
> A related question
> 2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> to be fried.
>
> I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
> foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
> the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
>

Actually, cooking at too low a temperature results in greasy food. Mixing
water and oil is a recipe for disaster. Many people advise against using
paper towels to remove fat from fried food, and recommend that you put the
food on a wire rack instead. Fried food should be eaten in moderation.
There isn't any way to make fried food particularly healthy.

Al > wrote:

> 1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
> fried food is low in the bad fats

There shouldn't be much oil obsorbed if you do the frying properly.
The way to properly fry depends on the food you are frying, but usually,
the best way to reduce oil obsobsion is to fry hot and fast, but not
hot enough that your oil smokes.

> A related question
> 2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> to be fried.

No! Adding water to hot oil will cause spattering. The water will steam
off and it can burn you.

> I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
> foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
> the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...

The best practice, from a health standpoint, is to eat deep fried
foods only ocassionally. As an alternative to feep frying, you can
try oven frying. You simply put the food in a baking dish, then
spray it with non-stick spray or drizzle with your favorite oil
and bake until its done.

Fried foods taste good because:


1. Oil tastes good.
2. Oil reaches very hot temperatures and that, for some reason, makes
food taste good.
3. Crunch (which is actually related to the 2nd reason in that the
crunch comes when the temperature is just right).


The logic behind removing the oil after frying is an attempt to cash in
on the last 2 benefits while removing the 1st. There are better ways.


Saturated fats reach higher temperatures before smoking than unsaturated
ones. In fact, that's a good easy way to tell how saturated the fat is.
Ask yourself how solid it is at different temperatures. Lard is solid
at room temperature. Butter is still fairly solid but starting to melt.
Olive oil is liquid.


You run into a conundrum. Fry in lard, and you get hotter temperatures
which means the food absorbs less oil which means the food tastes
better. Or you could fry in safflower oil which doesn't get as hot
which means the food doesn't taste as good and you probably get more oil
of a less health threatening sort. (Which oils are really good or bad
for you is the subject of a whole 'nother debate.)


So you could fry in less saturated fats to start and take care to get
the oil exactly the right temperature. Use a thermometer.


I believe the commercial food producers are using dry heat under
pressure, not removing the oil after using it.


Hot water + oil = Bad Idea. Third degree burns are far worse for you in
the short run than heart disease in the long run.


--Lia

On 17 Jun 2004 19:05:31 -0700, (Al) wrote:


>2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
>to be fried.

I suppose you never had a few droplets of water on a utensil you stuck
into frying oil. The effects can be almost volcanic.
>
>I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
>foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
>the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...

A centrifuge, maybe?

modom

Cat litter.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

On 18 Jun 2004 17:02:29 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

>Cat litter.
>
Works in the garage, anyway.

modom

Hark! I heard "kilikini" > say:
> "PENMART01" > wrote in message
> ...

> > Cat litter.

> Which is preferred, used or fresh?

Depends on whether you want the striking taste of ammonia on your
fried foods. If anyone is interested, my cats have plenty of the used
stuff to share... ;-)


--
J.J. in WA (Change COLD to HOT for e-mail)
~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

Al wrote:
>
> I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
> oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
> "saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
> batter - not watery, etc)

Frying at a lower temp seems to encourage absorption of oil.
>
> 1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough.

We use pads of newspaper placed under the paper towels. More absorbant
than just paper towels. Letting it sit on a rack is also used.

Is
> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
> fried food is low in the bad fats

Considering I've had greasy crisps (potato chips) in the US, tempted to
say the 'commercial guys' don't take away any more oil than you can.
Why would you think frozen fried foods are low in 'bad fats'? There are
no laws yet in the US requiring labelling foods as to trans-fat content.
The locally-made tortilla chips we have list total fat, saturated fat
and cholesterol in the nutrition facts section. However, since they are
made with and fried in a mix of oils, including partially-hydrogenated,
there are trans fats too. But not listed separately.


>
> A related question
> 2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> to be fried.

Doubt it. If the water is mixed with the frying oil and heated, it will
boil off before the oil is hot enough to fry properly.

>
> I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
> foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
> the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
>
> Thanks,
> Al

The easiest thing to do is not eat a lot of fried foods.

Michael Odom wrote:
>
> On 17 Jun 2004 19:05:31 -0700, (Al) wrote:
>
> >2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> >to be fried.
>
> I suppose you never had a few droplets of water on a utensil you stuck
> into frying oil. The effects can be almost volcanic.
> >
> >I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
> >foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
> >the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
>
> A centrifuge, maybe?
>
> modom

ROTFL! Was envisioning one of our lab ultracentrifuges being put to use
to remove oil from fried foods. Probably end up with a dense pellet and
a layer of oil floating on top.

Al wrote:

> I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
> oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
> "saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
> batter - not watery, etc)
>
> 1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
> fried food is low in the bad fats
>
> A related question
> 2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> to be fried.

DO NOT MIX WATER AND OIL. The resulting burns may be more of a health
problem than too much fat in your diet.

>

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:44:01 -0600, Arri London >
wrote:
>
>Michael Odom wrote:
>>
>> On 17 Jun 2004 19:05:31 -0700, (Al) wrote:
>>
>> >2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
>> >to be fried.
>>
>> I suppose you never had a few droplets of water on a utensil you stuck
>> into frying oil. The effects can be almost volcanic.
>> >
>> >I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
>> >foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
>> >the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
>>
>> A centrifuge, maybe?
>>
>> modom
>
>ROTFL! Was envisioning one of our lab ultracentrifuges being put to use
>to remove oil from fried foods. Probably end up with a dense pellet and
>a layer of oil floating on top.

I've had those.

modom

Al wrote:

> Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food?

Yes, it could be done. Frying oil will be soluble in a number
of solvents, many of which have very low boiling points and
can be removed completely. A lot of good candidates would
be problematic due to their ozone depletion factor, flammability,
suspected carcinogenicity, or cost. Considering all of these,
carbon dioxide would probably be the best choice. It's
principal drawback would be the high pressure needed
to keep it liquid. It has been used commercially for defatting
peanuts, though it's been many years since I've seen that
product offered for sale.

If you ignore flammability and don't care about contributing
to air pollution, propane or butane would be good candidates.
The pressure needed to keep them liquid is much lower.
As soon as the food was brought out of the pressure vessel,
all of the propane or butane would quickly evaporate from
the food, leaving no residue.

Al wrote:

> How do
> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy

I don't know, but centrifugal force like a salad spinner might do
for home use. Unfortunately you'd want to do it immediately
after the chips come out of the oil, while they're still hot, and
a plastic salad spinner might not tolerate the temperature.

A small hobbyist honey extractor might work. They're made
out of metal, and have two metal screen baskets. By cranking
a handle, they can be spun at high speed. Normally, a honey
extractor is used to extract honey from honeycombs after the
wax caps have been cut off with a hot knife.

Michael Odom wrote:
>
> On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:44:01 -0600, Arri London >
> wrote:
> >
> >Michael Odom wrote:
> >>
> >> On 17 Jun 2004 19:05:31 -0700, (Al) wrote:
> >>
> >> >2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
> >> >to be fried.
> >>
> >> I suppose you never had a few droplets of water on a utensil you stuck
> >> into frying oil. The effects can be almost volcanic.
> >> >
> >> >I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
> >> >foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
> >> >the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
> >>
> >> A centrifuge, maybe?
> >>
> >> modom
> >
> >ROTFL! Was envisioning one of our lab ultracentrifuges being put to use
> >to remove oil from fried foods. Probably end up with a dense pellet and
> >a layer of oil floating on top.
>
> I've had those.
>
> modom

LOL! Hey no eating in the lab!

kilikini wrote:
>
> "PENMART01" > wrote in message

> > Cat litter.

> Which is preferred, used or fresh?

Ha! Long ago and far away, I worked with this guy whose mother was
complaining about his car leaking oil on the driveway. I told him,
I've heard you can soak it up with kitty litter. He looked at me
like I was nuts. I don't have a cat! he said. I started laughing
and said, they don't ask for proof of cat ownership to buy it. I
think he thought cat litter meant cat poop.

nancy

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:37:53 GMT, "Vox Humana" >
wrote:

>
>"Al" > wrote in message
. com...
>> I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
>> oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
>> "saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
>> batter - not watery, etc)
>>
>> 1. Is there any way to remove absorbed oil in fried foods after they
>> are fried? Using paper towels helps a bit but it's not enough. Is
>> there some kind of process or product that can say 'aerate' the fried
>> foods and take away most of the oil absorbed by the fried food? How do
>> the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
>> fried food is low in the bad fats
>>
>> A related question
>> 2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
>> to be fried.
>>
>> I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
>> foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
>> the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...
>>
>
>Actually, cooking at too low a temperature results in greasy food. Mixing
>water and oil is a recipe for disaster. Many people advise against using
>paper towels to remove fat from fried food, and recommend that you put the
>food on a wire rack instead. Fried food should be eaten in moderation.
>There isn't any way to make fried food particularly healthy.
>
except for fried Turkey Vox! My Doctor says eat all the fried Turkey I
can...

Bill

Bill wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:37:53 GMT, "Vox Humana" > wrote:
>>"Al" > wrote in message
.com...
>>
>>>I understand there are some good practices of reducing the impact of
>>>oil on one's health in home fried foods (e.g. Frying with a less
>>>"saturated fat" oil, Frying at a not too high temperature, Using dense
>>>batter - not watery, etc)

Frying at "not too high" a temperature will lead to
greasy food. The oil temp must be high enough to cook
the food in a reasonably short length of time, or the
water in the food boils off and leaves the food to
absorb the oil.

In a proper deep fryer, the oil is new (old oil won't
cook at as high a temp) and the temp is high and the
water in the food steams, creating counterpressure
holding the oil at bay. To counteract this, most
fried foods are battered or otherwise treated to allow
a layer that will be soaked with the boiling oil and
then kept next to the food. Some foods - like potatoes
- provide this themselves. A dense batter defeats this
purpose, all it does is insulate the food so it cooks
slower and then provides a nice reservoir for the oil
to soak the food to a nice greasy turn.

At any rate, if you fry, change the oil frequently and
use as high a temperature as the food will tolerate
without burning.

>>> How do
>>>the commerical guys do it - e.g. potato chips are never greasy, frozen
>>>fried food is low in the bad fats

They don't do it - try putting some chips in a paper
bag. It will soon be translucent from oil. However,
if they are properly fried in fresh oil at a high
temp, they don't get soaked, the oil just clings to
the outside where it holds the salt, and the overall
grease level is much lower. Ditto for frozen fried
food.

>>>A related question
>>>2. Can mixing water and oil help in reducing oil absorbed by the food
>>>to be fried.

No, but it's a good way to badly hurt yourself. The
oil will float on the top while the water reaches the
boiling point and begins to spatter the oil around
the kitchen. God help you if that oil is hot.

>>>I feel if we have a easy process of removing absorbed oil in fried
>>>foods, then it would be one more best practice to reduce substantially
>>>the amount of oil consumed and hence have a lesser health impact...

Oils are unjustly maligned.

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