Fried food is art, and fish houses, purveyors of fried chicken, and Southern gas stations have it making down to a science. But there is something deeply satisfying about transforming a pale tenderloin into a crunchy, golden chicken tender in the comfort of your own kitchen. It can also be messy, smelly, and intimidating, because hot, bubbling oil is an excellent vehicle for injuries.
I can’t do much about the stinky, sticky effects of vaporized cooking oil, but I can help you conquer your fears and quell your anxieties around burning yourself, so you can make a wide array of fried delicacies at home, without much emotional distress.
Get close to the oil
Getting your oil into the right temperature range—around 350 to 375℉—before adding food to it is the only way to ensure whatever you’re frying comes out golden on the outside and fully cooked on the inside. Too cold, and your food can come out soggy; too hot, and you end up with food that is burnt on the outside, but raw on the inside.
Placing parts of your body near a vat of hot oil seems foolish, but dropping food from far away will cause the oil to splash, and getting splashed with hot oil is painful, and potentially disfiguring. Get your food close to the oil before releasing it, and release it gently to minimize splashing. Also, don’t be ashamed to use tongs. They exist for a reason (to protect your beautiful hands).
Get the tools you need for safe frying:
Make sure the food falls away from you
When you’re dealing with longer foods, like fish filets, chicken tenders, or even tempura-battered asparagus, one end will usually make contact with the oil before the other. The last portion of food to hit the oil is usually the part you’re gripping with your fingers or tongs, and it can sometimes make a little splash. Minimize your chance of being popped by making sure the food falls away from your body as it hits the oil, and—again—try and get as close as is safely possible to the oil before (gently) releasing your filet, drumstick, or beautifully battered vegetable.
Watch for excess moisture
Water and oil famously do not mix, and things get even more contentious when the oil is hot. Water reacts violently with fry oil; it hisses, releasing streams of steamy bubbles, which is why there’s so much hubbub when you first add that piece of fried chicken to the pan. Once the moisture makes it way out of the batter, things calm down.
You can’t dehydrate a batter (or piece of chicken) before frying, but you can pat un-battered pieces of meat and vegetables with paper towels, to absorb excess moisture and minimize the hubbub.
Don’t overfill the pot
A full bucket of fried chicken is mighty fine, but a full pot of frying chicken is a recipe for disaster. One of the most dangerous things you can do when frying is to overfill the pot with oil (or food); you have to leave room for all the hubbub. Fill it too full, and the oil can bubble over—onto you or, worse, your gas burner (oil is also famously highly flammable).
To prevent this, make sure to use a large, nonreactive, high-walled cooking vessel, like an enamel coated Dutch oven or big ol’ stainless steel pot, and never fill it over 2/3rds full with oil, to account for the displacement that happens when you add your food (and the initial water-meeting-oil hubbub). Your entire goal should be to minimize the hubbub.