Frying is cooking by immersion in hot fat at a temperature of from 350° to 400° F. Lard, olive oil, beef suet, beef drippings, or some commercial forms of fat may be used. The fat should be so hot that it will instantly coagulate the albumen on the outside of the article, forming a coating to keep the fat from soaking in. All articles which do not contain egg in sufficient quantity must be rolled in fat-proof coating. Lard boils at 585° F., so for cooking purposes fat does not boil. The ebullition which takes place is due to water in the article fried being converted into steam. Too many articles should not be placed in the fat at one time, as they will cool the fat. The articles should not be too cold, as that will also cool the fat. All fried food should be perfectly drained by holding over the kettle of fat and L shaking gently, and then laid on brown paper. Raw potato absorbs the unpleasant odors or gases of fat, and collects some of the sediment, so a few slices should be put in both before and after frying. After using fat, allow it to cool slightly, then pour it through a cheesecloth put over a strainer. It may thus be used several times. When several articles are to be fried, fry them in the following order: potatoes, batter mixtures, breaded articles, fish.

Objections to Frying as a Method of Cooking

1. Articles may be grease-soaked.

2. High temperature necessary for frying splits fat up into fatty acid and glycerine. Fatty acid is irritating to organs of digestion. Glycerine is farther split up by heat into acrolein, which gives the disagreeable odor to hot fat and which is also very irritating to the mucous membranes of the digestive organs.