Preparing fried food without being greasy or overcooked is essential for professional cooks. But this achievement is easier in theory than in practice.

This is because the frying process is delicate and demands attention, requiring not only good tricks, but also appropriate equipment to facilitate the work.

With them, you can lower production costs, facilitate the team’s work, increase sales and ensure customer satisfaction.

If you have or work in an industrial kitchen, read on and check out the tips that can help with this kind of recipe!

1. Choosing the right oil 

There are three types of fat:

• Saturated: fat of animal origin. For example: lard and butter.

• Unsaturated: fat of plant origin, such as traditional cooking oil.

• Trans: hydrogenated fat that is industrially manipulated to extend the shelf life of products like cookies, crackers and instant noodles.

The best choice for deep-frying food (when the food is completely immersed in fat) is vegetable oil. However, you need to consider the smoke point of each type.

What is the smoke point and what is its importance in frying quality?

Also called burning point, the smoke point is the temperature at which oil starts to burn and oxidize. Upon reaching that point, the oil darkens and loses quality, breaking down into free fatty acids.

When this happens, apart from taking on a bitter taste, the oil releases a carcinogenic substance called acrolein. For this reason, ensuring frying quality is essential to ensure good food preparation and the health of the end consumer.

For frying, cottonseed, sunflower and canola vegetable oils are the most suitable due to their high smoke point, which is necessary for frying as the ideal temperature is between 180 °C and 190 °C (356 °F and 375 °F).

Corn oil can also be used, but avoid soybean oil. Although it is of plant origin, it is not recommended because it leaves behind a strong smell and taste, not only in the food, but also in the kitchen.

Another important tip is to always use enough oil to envelop all the food and wait for it to heat up before you start frying. This keeps the final result from being greasy. Also, don’t forget to filter the oil every day before using it, to extend its service life.

Those who use professional fryers, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about temperature, because the machine indicates the right time to start frying the food.

Tramontina fryers, for example, work with maximum temperature of 190 °C (375 °F), which is helpful for keeping the oil. They also have a cool zone, which is the area at the bottom of the vat where the oil does not heat up and the residues accumulate. It is thus easier to keep the equipment clean during the process.

2. Amount 

Each kilogram of food to be fried requires 10 times that amount of oil. For example: if you are going to fry 2 kg of potato sticks, the fryer should contain 20 liters of oil to ensure that they stay light, dry and crispy.

If the amount of oil is more than this, the fat temperature may drop too low, making it take longer for the food to fry. Consequently, the final result will be oily and limp.

3. Oil temperature

In professional equipment like Tramontina Fryers, the temperature is set by thermostats (known as working thermostats), which read accurately and indicate when the oil is at the right temperature.

This thermostat makes sure the fryer always keeps the oil at the selected temperature, without exceeding 190 °C (375 °F). In addition, our appliances feature a safety thermostat, which turns off the heat if the fat level is too low or if the equipment is turned on without oil.

4. Holding

For this process, Tramontina has a equipment called a fried food warmer: a vat with a perforated bottom so that excess oil can drain away. It also features an infrared heating source that radiates dry heat to products that have just come out of deep frying.

This utensil helps maintain crispness and a temperature of 70 °C (158 °F) for up to 15 minutes. If you do not have a fried food warmer, the tip is to keep fried foods in a warm oven, off and with the door open. Do not cover them, to keep steam from making them soggy or soft.

Count on Tramontina Hospitality for your industrial kitchen. Besides having the necessary supplies for your production, our equipment facilitate the team’s work, increasing your restaurant or food service productivity.