Frying foods...

[seawasp]

For Christmas a while back, one of the gifts we got was an electric deep fryer -- one of those that you fill with oil and has a built-in frying basket that drops down with a simple handle flex. I've tried using it a couple of times, and encountered a really Annoying Problem. Namely, when I try to do things like tempura, the #$%(@ stuff sticks to the fry basket and requires a hammer or something else to get it off the basket. Yet I **KNOW** that places like Chinese restaurants routinely manage to deep fry this kiind of stuff without having it stick. Is there a trick to it? Is this fryer really only useful for just non-battered stuff (in which case, what a pain for making fish and chips -- you can make the chips in this thing, but not the battered fish...)?

Comments

[melchar.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much the sum of the trick. Also - depending on the size of the cooker, you can cook more than one piece of food at a time - but don't let them touch each other when they are first introduced into the oil.

[You can get a real assembly line going.]

Also, I prefer to use a wire-slotted scoop to pull things out of the oil. It's shaped like a slightly bell-shaped spoon, so it provides a way to herd the cooking stuff around, as well as pulling out cooked bits. [and then put whatever on a few paper towels to drain.]

[k-kinnison.livejournal.com]

I use the wire spoon also, it is designed for frying