Uh-oh!

[TreasonousBastard]

I was in one of my favorite cooking gadgets store today and they had this huge stack of electric fryers sitting there.

That wasn't so bad, but the small $35 one was marked down to $20 and the more useful $45 one to $30. Then I started talking about frying with one of the women who works there. She's Polish and her eyes lit up when I mentioned fried pierogies.

It turns out I have no self control. I need an electric fryer almost as much as another waffle maker, but it is now sitting on the counter daring me to slice or shred a potato.

[grasswire]

1. you must not have watched Jamie Oliver this week...

....he buried the family's well-used fryer in the back yard when he visited a family in West Virginia as part of his "revolution" to encourage residents of Huntington to eat healthier. Huntington is the fattest, most unhealthy city in the U.S.

Watching that killed any thought I might have had about frying foods. :-(

[Phentex]

4. I saw him show the caskets on Oprah...

that was scary.

My brother was cremated last year because the casket for his size was too expensive. :(

Moderation is something we should all try to embrace.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Moderation is the key word. A certain amount of fat in the diet is a good thing,

but, like many other good things, it can be overdone.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Saw some of it, and gave up eating altogether after the family that could be...

put on a barbecue spit by mistake. The freezer full of frozen pizzas-- "snacks" thay say.

Anyway, I am well aware of the effects of fried foods, particulary foods fried in the less healthy, but often cheaper, oils. There is, however, little chance of getting away from fats in the diet when one likes stir-fry or picks at some fries. Or bacon. I don't live on fried food, but if I'm going to eat it at all, I might as well make it myself using healthier oils and knowing what's in it.

Calories can be watched, or worked off.

[Warpy]

11. The electric deep fryers have one distinct advantage

and that is keeping that oil consistently hot. The main reason deep fried food absorb oil is that the oil is too cool to form an impenetrable crust quickly.

My favorite thing for a deep fryer was chicken or fish coated in a savory fritter batter. Now you know why I got rid of it.

[Warpy]

10. I do deep fried stuff maybe once a year

and it's usually rice balls followed by tofu, both breaded in half and half cornmeal and parm. cheese. I use a wok and deep frying in it adds to the black seasoning layer nicely but I hate the cleanup. Deep frying should be a pain in the ass to do and clean up after. I had a deep fryer 35 years ago and was glad when it hit the thrift shop with a thump, it was too much of a temptation.

At least the people with the deep fryer he buried were cooking at home. Most of the people there seem to be running into serious trouble because they're not cooking at home, not even the fatty breakfast of bacon and eggs.

[Denninmi]

2. Geesh, I know that feeling.

I went into Target just before Christmas looking for a gift, and cruised the back of the kitchenware aisle where the clearance items are kept.

They had a pile of electric roasters left over from Thanksgiving and marked down from $50 to $20. My house overflows already with "stuff" and I have an unused small appliance graveyard out in the garage. Needless to say, I bought it anyway, used it on Christmas day, and was so impressed I went back and bought the last one they had as a gift for my sister.

The other sister and her husband came over on New Year's weekend to celebrate Christmas (late as usual, she's a nurse and usually has to work Christmas). What did she give me as a gift -- why, ANOTHER electric roaster.

Good thing I liked it. I'm just going to keep the second one in the box until the first one gives up the ghost (made in China, of course, how long can it last, anyway?)

[Phentex]

5. Target can be dangerous...

especially the clearance rows. }(

I've tried to be better about buying kitchen appliances. But when you cook, you really crave stuff.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. K-Mart had a bunch of those cheap roasters back then, and I was sorely tempted...

since a few times a year I cook mass quantities and that could double as a huge crockpot.

That time, I resisted.

(I have the same pile of broken or useless appliances in the garage-- I keep thinking the motors or heating coils on some of them are good and will be useful.)

[Phentex]

3. LOL! I have my mom's old electric skillet she bought from the door-to-door

salesman. Part of a set of pots that are the best things in the world. I don't fry much at all but when we made funnel cakes a few months ago, I dragged the thing outside and let my teen fry away. It's great for fried fish (once every two years or so!)

I still haven't attempted my fried circus peanuts, but when I do I'll be using this skillet. I just can't part with it.

Enjoy yours!

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Had an electric skillet and electric wok-- both ended up...

in the appliance graveyard.

They don't make 'em to last any more. And they often don't work too well before they die.

[grasswire]

12. fried circus peanuts??

Hahaha!

Really?

I never heard of that. What happens to them in the fryer?

[Phentex]

13. Don't know. Haven't tried...

I was trying to figure out how to make a graham cracker coating. I think they would be good....but I love circus peanuts.

Maybe it should be our next cooking challenge?! HA! :)

[kestrel91316]

14. I've never been tempted to do much in the way of deep frying,

perhaps because my mom had a 50's era deep fryer and occasionally made "french fries" in it. Limp, pale, soggy "french fries". Truly, unbelievably AWFUL.

If I want deep fried, I go to a restaurant or fast food place. That way I'm not tempted to make too much and thereby eat too much. And those frozen french fries and tater tots work just fine, too.

But for my health, I fry very little anyway. Sauteeing in a tiny bit of olive or canola is about it.

[tango-tee]

15. Home-made spring rolls and giant prawns in tempura batter..

that's all I've ever deep-fried. For both, I've found that you should only fry a few pieces at a time, so that the oil remains hot enough, preventing your food to soak up all the grease from too much time spent in the fryer in oil that is simply not hot enough, turning soggy in the process.

I read somewhere that you SHOULD NOT put the fried food on paper towels to drain because it turns limp, but rather on brown paper bags. I tried it and it actually works!