Lesson Description & Goals

Frying is a dry heat cooking method in which foods are cooked in hot fat. It is a very versatile cooking technique since almost any type of food can be fried. When properly cooked, fried foods are appreciated for having a wonderfully crunchy crust on the outside, while still being moist and tender on the inside. Frying, however, has a bad reputation of being a very greasy and unhealthy cooking method and this is true, if it is done improperly.

In this lesson, you will learn how to minimize the negative aspects of fried food by understanding what happens to food during frying. You will learn how to choose the proper fat for frying and the proper cooking temperatures required to produce results with least amount of fat absorption. You will also learn the difference between shallow frying and deep frying and what types of foods are better suited for each technique. Finally, you will learn how to properly handle and finish fried foods prior to serving them.

Fried foods, when cooked properly, can definitely be enjoyed from time to time and still be part of a balanced diet.

• Describe what happens to food during frying
• Choose appropriate frying oils and fats
• Identify the proper temperature range for frying
• Define recovery time
• Properly heat, test and store oil for frying
• Define shallow frying and deep frying
• Shallow fry and deep fry a variety of foods
• Determine when to shallow fry or deep fry
• Properly handle, finish, season and serve fried foods

Lesson Topic Videos

• Intro to Shallow & Deep Frying (1:17)
• What Happens to Food During Frying? (2:37)
• Temperature of Oil for Frying (3:18)
• What is & How to Shallow Fry Foods (4:20)
• What is & How to Deep Fry Foods (5:13)
• Finishing & Seasoning Fried Food (1:18)

All Lessons in the Dry-Heat Cooking Methods Section

• Pan Frying
• Pan Tossing
• How to Sweat Ingredients
• How to Sauté
• Searing
• How to Bread & Batter Foods
• How to Shallow Fry & Deep Fry
• Introduction to Stir-Frying
• How to Stir-Fry