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cefreeman_gw

Do You Yahoo? Er, ahh, Do you FRY!?

CEFreeman
10 years ago

Yes, fry!

I was in someone's house recently. They had obviously fried some din-din recently. Or maybe not so recently.

I realized it's been so long that I've fried something in my home that I don't think I've ever done it. Definately not in this house (been here 12 years) and definitely never deep fried. I don't even have a greasy kitchen on the few times a year I get around to realizing it might be time to dust.

I remember early on I came home and DH was trying to cook crab chimichangas from a recipe his friend made. I spent the next month being disgusted with the smell of oil in the house. That might have been the last time.

Do people fry things anymore?
Do those French fry cookers stink up the house and make the air and kitchen heavy with grease?
Who fries chicken? I realize someone must, since it's so delicious. Then, how do you get rid of the heavy air?

Or, are you used to it like people get used to cigarette smoke or (I'm guilty here:) cat litter?
So. What do you fry?
What do you fry in? Pans or oil type?
What do you fry?
[whisper] is it delicious?

Comments (37)

  • debrak2008
    10 years ago

    I fry but not everyday. I fry chicken, eggs, hamburger, pork sausage, etc. in a pan on the stove. How else would you cook this stuff? I use Coconut or olive oil, or butter. I have made crullers in lard. I would love to get a deep fryer.

    I turn on the range hood when cooking so the smells travel outside.

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ok. I'll bite:
    chicken: I don't know how one does that.
    eggs: since I scramble, you must be talking about those things that stare at you. My dad made those, but it was in a tiny bit of butter, just so they didn't stick. Then they invented Teflon.
    hamburger: broil or grill
    pork sausage: grill, or for jambalaya or spaghetti, I nuke it in a colander over a bowl to cook out the grease.
    etc: that's why I'm asking! :)
    crullers: OMG. Delish. You can buy lard? Or do you save it from roasts, for example?

    Range hood; Doesn't the grease land on things, anyway?
    BTW. I'm not being obtuse. I really have no idea how one deals with the by-products of the method, although I've partaken happily of the end results!

  • tea4all
    10 years ago

    My first choice would be to use the outdoor gas grill (but it has been too snowy and/or cold here in the Midwest). Second choice is to broil. If I am too tired, my third choice is to fry using canola or extra virgin olive oil.

    Last week I made an adaptation of Rachel Ray's Caccatorie Burgers. I use a wonderful splatter screen that has an odor absorbing filter inside it to cover the skillet. My son gave me that at Christmas 2012. The first time I used it was with frying fish. It is a marvel how it captures smells so they do not linger. In fact, the only way anyone knew I was making fish was when smells escaped when I lifted the screen to turn the fish over. The screen is dishwasher safe but I usually hand wash it. My vent is a recirculating one. :( That is one of the things I will most enjoy changing when we can reno our kitchen!

    I am having difficulty getting the URL to properly copy for anyone interested in the splatter screen. Just go to bedbathandbeyond.com and search for Splatter Screen 13-Inch Odor Absorbing with Collapsible Handle. It is a keeper.

  • nmjen
    10 years ago

    I too Fear the Fry. I almost never deep-fry anything, for three reasons: 1) the oil can make a big mess; 2) the oil can be stinky; 3) if I felt more comfortable frying, there's a good chance I would make fried foods at home every single day (doughnuts, samosas, chicken, loukoumades, sopaipillas, egg rolls...).

    We have friends who own a deep-fryer, though, and one night recently, they brought it over for a churro party. It was delightful, and I don't remember it stinking up the house too badly. It definitely was nice to use something with a built-in thermometer and grease containment device.

    Of course, yesterday, after I told my son he could choose any meal he liked for getting a good report card, he asked if it could be dessert, any dessert he liked. I said, sure, whatever you like. He paused and said, "well, I might need to buy you a deep fryer..." Not quite sure what he's got planned but I like the way he thinks!

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    I have never deep-fried anything.

    Types of things I fry, in either a cast-iron or nonstick pan:

    Hamburger patty. It goes straight into a hot pan, no extra oil. I like the regular kind of hamburger because it tastes good. There's some grease splatter on the stove top. Since I have a white enamel stove, it's easy to clean up. Range hood/fan pulls the airborne stuff and smells up up and away.

    Fried eggs, in butter. Over hard.

    Meat (chuck roast, chicken, pork chops, etc.) that need a sear but will be finished by a non-fry method.

    The occasional sausage.

    Lots of veggies, but I guess that's more of a saute.

    Edited to add: Bacon, but always in the microwave.

    This post was edited by linelle on Mon, Mar 10, 14 at 22:07

  • chesters_house_gw
    10 years ago

    Deep fry (not saute, not bacon or eggs or sausage):
    -chicken
    -shrimp
    -fish
    -samosas
    -these turn up often enough, others more randomly.

    A good hood helps. I don't do this often enough to save the oil for other uses. So it goes out.

  • leela4
    10 years ago

    The only thing I've fried in the last 30 years, and it was deep fat fried, were the chocolate chip cookie dough egg rolls I made last year (in May) for my friend's birthday.

    I still have the oil in the fridge-what should I do with it?

  • melissaki5
    10 years ago

    I generally fry once a year and that is on Thankgsgiving when we fry a few turkeys. We invested in an indoor electric turkey fryer a few years ago as the propane ones can be a little dangerous. However, even though the fryer can be used in the house we still use it in the garage. It leaves a lingering fried turkey smell in the garage for days but at least it's not in my house Sometimes we will do chicken wings in the same fryer, again in the garage. Other than that no frying, but I do saute pretty often and that can make a mess too.

  • Texas_Gem
    10 years ago

    Oh yes, I definitely fry, though rarely do I deep fry. The only time I have a pan full of oil is if my husband is making his beignets.
    I make egg rolls and wonton chips but I only put about a half inch of oil in my skillet to cook them, turning frequently to cook all sides and keeping the lid on in between to reduce splatters.

    I do sauté chicken and vegetables, especially for things like fajitas. My tortillas only take a quick spray of Pam to cook so they aren't fried.
    We have a wok that my husband cooks stir fry in.
    If it is to cold to use the grill outside, he uses the griddle inside to cook burgers. Thankfully our griddle has a fat run off area so the burgers aren't just sitting in their own fat while they cook.

    I also fry my grilled cheese sandwiches. To me, it isn't a grilled cheese sandwich if you haven't put some butter on the outside and tossed it in a frying pan.

    I haven't ever noticed a smell the next day and no one coming over has ever mentioned being able to smell anything so I guess I'm good.

    We do get splatters on the stove top which we clean off when we are done cooking but we try to minimize them by keeping a lid over the pan as much as possible.

  • Texas_Gem
    10 years ago

    I forgot to mention, any time we are cooking where there is even a remote possibility of splatters, we wear our aprons.
    Also, bacon. How could I forget bacon!?!

  • blfenton
    10 years ago

    i don't fry anything. It just never appealed to me So I wok. bake, or grill. I remember as a child my mom deep-frying doughnuts and corn fritters. Ohhhh - they were both so good.

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I never considered a grilled cheese or bacon to be fried, but I guess they are! And a grilled cheese with butter. Is there any other way to make that?!?

    I saw a restaurant sign in Annapolis yesterday. It said, "We have bacon and we're not afraid to use it!"

    Far from original, but I burst out laughing.

    By the way. Cookie dough egg rolls!? Are you HOLDING OUT ON US?

  • Texas_Gem
    10 years ago

    I know, at first I thought the same thing but technically frying is just cooking something in fat or oil.

    Do others really NEVER use fat or oil in their pan before they throw their meat or veggies in? I can't imagine cooking without the extra tastiness!!

  • andreak100
    10 years ago

    Goodness...I suppose I "fry" quite a bit. Really, I guess it would be more correct to say that I saute a lot.

    Tonight - I used a bit of flour that I seasoned well to coat chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces, put in a a bit of coconut oil in a fry pan and seared chicken before it went into a pot of slowly simmered diced tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, and onion with a bunch of spices. But yeah, that chicken was sauteed.

    I don't use teflon pots or pans really. So, a small amount of oil of some sort is often called for when cooking.

    Now my bacon, oddly enough, I don't fry. Instead, I bake it in the oven. Oh yeah, and I save the fat that was rendered off while baking it to use a bit of it when cooking to add flavor also.

  • Texas_Gem
    10 years ago

    I don't use Teflon either.
    Most people don't know it but if you read the fine print on Teflon pans they give a warning about birds. The fumes they produce can kill birds. I had a pet bird (who has since passed away) when I purchased my pans so I made certain to purchase all stainless steel cookware. Combined with my grandmothers saladmaster pots and pans from the 60s, I have never had a need for Teflon.

  • bbstx
    10 years ago

    I pan-fried a couple of steaks recently. We were living in a rental condo while our house was being built. It had a microwave vent hood (totally worthless, unless LOTS of noise is your goal!). Even though it was cold outside, I had to open doors and windows to get the smoke and the smell out. The smell took days to completely dissipate.

    Generally, if I have to fry something like sausage, I do it in an electric skillet on the patio, or on the side burner of the gas grill (both were in storage when I had my steak-cooking episode). Bacon gets cooked in the oven. You still get the smell of cooking bacon in the house, but it is not as strong as it is when bacon is cooked on the stove top. Plus, the splatters are contained in the oven.

    I bought the same vent hood for the new house that I had in the old house. I have the Zephyr Typhoon -850 CFM. It does a good job of drawing smells and grease out of the house.

    FWIW, I read somewhere that your vent hood will be more efficient if you turn it on about 5 minutes before you start cooking.

  • illinigirl
    10 years ago

    I guess it depends on what your definition of fry is. If it is sauteing onions in a tbs of oil for soup or curry or stir fried veggies also in a Tbs of oil, then YES, all the time! There are many many things I "fry" starting with a shallow pan and a Tbs of oil. When I make pad thai or chicken curry I even fry the meat (brown) also with a small amount of oil (Tbs or less). I fry (brown) the meatballs for sauce. Same for baked penne (italian sausage and peppers get fried/browned up before going in the bake). many others.

    As far as deep frying, with inches of oil in a pan.....maybe once a year for the super bowl or something.

  • debrak2008
    10 years ago

    Wanted to add I do use a splatter screen. I consider putting anything in a pan on a heat source to be frying. Without without added oil.

    How would you cook ground up hamburger or pork sausage. Not patties but ground up? Yes you could use the MW but it comes out much better in a pan and I don't need to add oil.

    Lard. Had a hard time finding pure lard. I found a sausage/meat company that butchers hogs for their meats and then renders their own lard. I buy it from them.

    Lard is actually not bad for you. You have to google but you can find the story about how lard got a bad rap all because crisco wanted in on the market and developed "shortning".

  • Elraes Miller
    10 years ago

    I love home fried potatoes and they were a standard for breakfast. Fried eggs in butter and bacon. Grew up on lard, my kids on fried food. Nothing really deep fried. Except when I got into homemade doughnuts years ago. Most meat is oven roasted and thankful for barbeques in all seasons. Recent events have changed my appeal for anything fried. I do love and use butter on my veggies though.

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I don't have any Teflon, either. Back in the day (I hate that expression) it was a Godsend, though.

    I don't add any fat to meet. And hamburger in the pan I've always known as "browning." Now, if I do chopped onions first, I do add some butter, but that's "softening" or "sautéing."

    The aroma of bacon in a house is heaven. I don't cook bacon. I buy it in a bag at BJ's. but then, I don't have a need for strips, just crumbles.

    Coffee, espresso and bacon smell far better than they taste. I adore both, right up there with Reese's cups and cookie dough, but the aroma is far better. Getting to consume them is just a bonus.

  • Awnmyown
    10 years ago

    Deep frying?? Oh yeah.

    Big ol'strong range hood right over the fryer seems to do the trick. My range hood pulls enough CFM it can seal the doors shuts, so not much oil and grease is getting into the house (and my father made sure I installed vents with minimal ridging to minimize accumulation, and my range hood also has built-in, replaceable (and washable) filters. So I just pop those out every so often and replace/clean. Makes a huge difference.

    My old house, you could tell they always deep fried on the stove top and there was no range hood...ceiling yellowed over time.

    And my deepfryer (T-fal) also has a built-in filter from where it vents. I've got that covered. ;)

    What have I deep fried??

    Fish in a crispy batter, I can make those amazing donuts you find at the fair all covered in cinnamon and sugar, I deep fry regular donuts stuffed with jam fillings, fry french fries (from home grown potatoes with the skins on...amazing). Deep fry chicken wings (amazing). Sometimes we deep fry perogies (little cheese and potato filled dumplings). We've made home-made chips in the deep fryer...hash brown patties that taste like McDonalds. My mom loves to batter asparagus and deep fry it....Corn dogs of course. These 'cookies' we call 'nothings' that are light and crispy and covered in icing sugar...Onion rings. Gawd deep fried onion rings are amazing....

    Sorry to say, you're missing out! You may outlive me, but I'm a happy, happy woman ;) (and thankfully me and the DH are those freaks who never put on any weight...I swear we should be a thousand pounds the way we cook!)

  • leela4
    10 years ago

    Christine- lol - I did think of you when I posted about that last night. I'll link that thread below.

    We're vegetarians, but I do saute many things as illinigirl describes above. I'm glad we now have a functional hood above the range to deal with that.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Eggrolls

  • Cloud Swift
    10 years ago

    We saute or stir fry often, shallow fry sometimes (e.g. making latkas or a potato and chickpea chat in a half inch of oil). We deep fry occasionally - mainly to make falafel, occasionally a fritter or doughnut.

    None of that leaves a lingering odor - we have a good vent hood that we turn on whenever we fry or saute. That takes care of most of the grease - put the filter baffles into the dishwasher occasionally to clean.

    Any splatters are easily wiped up from the rangetop front and the quartzite counter. I usually use a large wok when I deep fry and most of the splatters stay within the wok.

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    awnmyown, oh, pleeeeeeze. Live longer? HEALTH!?

    You must be (relatively?) new 'round here or you'd know I am renown for living months at a time on espresso and Reese's Cups. Last 2 months it was espresso and tubs of cookie dough. I never, ever, mentioned anything about health or living longer. THE last thing on my list.

    I recently had something interesting happen tho. Reminds me of that statement, but is a tangent in itself.
    Because I've taught yoga for decades, people assign their own stereotypes to me. Although I'm comforted to know the principles are ingrained in my being and psyche, more physical assumptions just don't fit. Students assume I must be veggie. (Was for 10 years for fat reasons. Until my dietician said, "Oh, that roll is the low fat belly of the 90s.") Gave that up for fat reasons.

    I go to Longhorn every Friday for years and have an 18oz Ribeye (RARE!), mashed taties with bacon, sometimes a salad with bacon, and a glass of wine. If I'm feeling frisky, maybe two. Then I go home. No life with 3 jobs.

    Other assumptions about made about anyone who long-term practices yoga I debunk are: I drink a little wine. If I remember correctly, I used to like sex. I wear high heels. I do not carpool. I recycle only if it means burying paper in the garden for lasagna gardening composting. I hate to sit still. "Relax" is not in my yogic vocabulary.

    My own reasons for not doing junk food (other than listed above) fast food (I will love it) or snack food are kind of "eh". But, I also don't smoke anything, don't do drugs, don't jump out of planes or spelunker are simply because I don't care.

    I gotta die of something.
    I just don't like the heavy air and stench of grease inside.

    leeeeela4.
    Speaking of health, my jowls are watering over that recipe. (Did I just use the word "Jowls?") I might have to make this at a friend's house. So mine doesn't smell like oil. We'll have to make extra, 'cause I'm gonna eat the cookie dough. It's inevitable.

  • Linda
    10 years ago

    "Stench" of grease?? LOVE the smell of home-made French fries and home-fried chicken!!! Don't make it too often, but yes, I do fry (sometimes in Fry-Daddy, mostly in just a little oil in frying pan. Yum! Colonel Sanders can't compare!

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    legallin,
    you can't tell me you've never walked into a house and been hit in the face with old grease smell.

    There's a difference between delicious cooking smells (bacon and coffee, for example) and old grease. Particularly when it's hot inside, the air is heavy, and it's thick to breathe with the smell.

  • bbstx
    10 years ago

    I'm with CEF on the smell thing. While it's cooking and while I'm eating the finished product, the odors of cooking don't bother me...not even cruciferous vegetables. But once I leave the house and come back in, I do not want to smell stale odors from cooking.

    I read once that if you were trying to get rid of cooking odors, you should put a saucepan with 1:1 white vinegar and water on one of the eyes to simmer. I've done that. All I discovered was a different cooking odor. Like someone was making salad dressing and warming it on the stove. It wasn't great, and sure beat the smell of fried food, but it was pungent in its own way.

    Edited to replace !:! with 1:1

    This post was edited by bbstx on Wed, Mar 12, 14 at 6:38

  • Awnmyown
    10 years ago

    CEFreeman, I think you're my NEW best friend!! Omg, I love reese and since my new oven went in, it's cookie-dough from the bag as I *try* in vain to get it on that cookie sheet and into the oven. Oh so many fails ;)

    But like Legallin, I actually love the smell of french fries in the deep frier and such. But I grew up with my mom doing that all the time. I guess those range hoods always pulled the "stench" out enough for me, and I maybe it's a little cultural?? What we grew up with, so it smells like home?

    Or maybe these folks aren't rotating their oil enough?? I always filter mine before storage (if I'm reusing), refrigerate and replace often. We also only leave the oil out long enough to cool and then place it in glass jars. I like to think all of that helps...

    Certainly no grease stains on my parents' ceiling after 25 years in the house and my mom fries daily at least.

    Or the type of oil?? We've always been a canola oil family, so maybe it's lower odor??

    ...wonder what deepfried cookie dough would taste like?? ;)

    ...especially if it was wrapped around a reese peanut butter cup... ;)

  • Evan
    10 years ago

    Never deep fry, but my wife sautes, pan fries, and browns pretty often. We have a splatter shield that works really well to prevent mess. It also prevents odors since the grease doesn't get in the air.

    My wife is an excellent cook, but I have no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen. One Saturday right after Julie and Julia came out my wife was out of town and I decided to make Juila's Boeuf bourguignon. The recipe is about 5 pages long and requires browning virtually every ingredient in butter and bacon fat. It took me 6 hours, I think I used every dish in the kitchen, and there was grease on EVERYTHING. Like so much grease that the floors were slippery. I also drank a martini while I cooked, and then another, and another (did I mention it took a LONG time to make this). By the time I finally sat down to dinner at 10:30, I was drunk as a skunk and covered in grease.

  • bbstx
    10 years ago

    Oh, where is the LIKE button for edb2n's post. That was hilarious!

    My mom was never much of a drinker. She would sip on the same Tom Collins from New Year's Eve until the following Christmas. One day she decided she wanted to see what everyone else saw in alcohol. She proceeded to get plastered and nearly burned the kitchen down cooking supper. I don't think Daddy told the insurance folks exactly how the fire started. (To make this relevant, I'm sure she was frying something. She fried everything!)

  • crampon
    10 years ago

    Our electric turkey fryer stays in the garage with the garage door open, and if I deep fry anything other than a turkey (I have a killer recipe for curried deep fried won-tons), it's outside, on the side burner of our grill.

    I pan fry in our kitchen fairly often, but that doesn't make much smell / spatter compared to deep frying. Good thing, because our wimpy recirculating range hood is mainly only good for making noise, as noted above.

    I should probably look into a spatter shield for our grill though, because it is a mess!

  • Mgoblue85
    10 years ago

    LOL on the post by edb2n - that is just too funny!!!

    Yes, I fry and saute. Not too terribly often - I hate the splatter and clean up. Even with the hood going full blast there is still grease to clean up, no residual smells though, which is good.

  • Evan
    10 years ago

    Incidentally, the beef was fantastic! It's my favorite meal now (though my wife cooks it instead of me). And I managed to sober up enough to clean up the mess before she got home.

    Bbstx: frying and alcohol don't mix! Although I believe Julia Child was known to take an occasional nip from the wine she was cooking with

  • CEFreeman
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    ROTFL.
    It reminds me of the chimichanga story of my ex-DH.

    there is no such thing as off-topic here. It involves kitchens, food, cooking -- or not -- how we do what we do and maybe even why we do what we do.

    I'm still dying over the being covered with grease.

    Do any of you actually remember learning how to cook? The things we take for granted, which make some of the stories all together more funny?

    Should I tell you the story of me making paella for the first time as a very young, just out of collage on my own girl? (No, I was never that young...) With the octopus? No grease or oil involved....

  • firstmmo
    10 years ago

    Totally related but definitely off topic...my dad uses the old oil for fueling his car. He has one of those old Mercedes that has been converted to accept oil as fuel. My sisters and I make fun of him and have re-dubbed his car "French Fry Mobile". He's a bit picky about his oil though....he gets it from some high end restaurant that cleans their oil every other day. He says that their oil runs cleaner and is better for his car. I don't deep fry but my dad certainly loves his oil.

    Another totally off topic about oil: do you ever Oil Pull? I just started and am intrigued to see if I feel any health benefits.

    Ah OIL, the deep dark lovely secrets of those who do or don't use it :)

    Man I really hijacked this thread now.......

  • scpalmetto
    10 years ago

    This is a hysterical thread. I think some of us are more sensitive to grease odors, I can't stand them myself and can always smell when someone has been frying. There is a local seafood place that is famous and I won't go in the door anymore because every time I have been there I came home smelling like grease. My clothes and my hair had to be washed immediately. We try and cook anything smelly or messy on the grill, the side burner is great. I even steam shrimp outside, it is not just greasy odors that bother me. Much as love to eat cookie dough and the cookies themselves, I hate the smell of them cooking. Go figure.

  • Evan
    10 years ago

    Hold the phone. You don't look the smell of cookies baking? Something is wrong with you. That's Un-American!

    CEFreeman, I would like to hear your octopus story.