Cooking for Beginners: How to Use a Deep Fat Fryer

Last Updated on February 23, 2023

Learning how to use a deep fat fryer correctly means you can effectively cook a wide range of delicious meals, snacks, and treats for your family in no time. Deep frying is one of the tastiest ways to create your favourite meals at home, from fried chicken to golden brown chips.

Fortunately, for anyone who loves a little fried food from time to time, there are plenty of deep fryers on the market you can use in the comfort of your own home.

While deep fryers might look a little daunting at first glance, the reality is many are very easy to use. Home cooks can start making their own delicious onion rings and fries in no time with just a few simple tips.

Here’s your guide on how to deep fry chips or your favourite food.

How Do You Use a Deep Fat Fryer for Chips?

A deep fat fryer works by allowing you to submerge foods into very hot oil for a certain length of time until they’re perfectly cooked or deep-fried. When you buy a deep fat fryer, you have a wide variety of fried food alternatives to choose from, including chicken and onion rings, but chips are the most popular option.

Experimenting with chips in your deep fryers can be an excellent way to get your head around how to cook food in small batches before experimenting with more complex foods like fish and chicken. So, where do you get started?

Step 1: Choose Your Oil and Pour It In

Hot oil is the number one ingredient for anyone who wants to deep fry. However, choosing the correct cooking oil can be easier said than done. You can experiment with utilising oils like sunflower oil, peanut oil, and vegetable oil to get your dish the ideal cooking temperature.

What’s the Best Oil to Use in a Deep Fat Fryer?

This will often depend on who you ask, but most experts recommend choosing an oil with a high smoke point. This means the oil can be heated to a higher point before it begins to burn. Canola oil, olive oil, and rapeseed oil are common choices for deep fryers.

Make sure you don’t use too much oil and don’t go above the maximum fill line. To prevent oil splashing and spitting, you should also let the existing oil cool before adding any new oil to the mix.

Step 2: Turn Your Deep Fryer On

Deep fryers are usually quite straightforward devices. Most deep fat fryers will come with a simple button or dial you can use to turn them on and set the temperature for your fried food. Plug your device in and follow the instructions provided by your manufacturer.

Most deep fryers will come with instructions on the best deep-frying technique for different foods. Remember, different foods need to be cooked at different temperatures. Fried chicken and fries are more likely to need a higher temperature, while other foods might need a lower temperature for the perfect crispy interior.

Experimenting with small batches of different foods at different temperatures could give you a better insight into how your deep fat fryer cooks.

Step 3: Prepare the Food and Submerge It

As your oil starts to heat up, you can prepare the food you want to fry. Most experts recommend patting food like chips and chicken down with paper towels before placing them in deep fat fryers. This technique can reduce the risk of spitting oil and bubbles.

Place the food in the frying basket that comes with your appliance so you can submerge the food into the oil. You can use a slotted spoon to move things around gently and check for a crispy exterior later on. High temperatures will cause the oil and food to start sizzling and bubbling straight away, even if you’ve used a paper towel to blot your different ingredients, so be careful.

Do You Put the Lid Down on a Deep Fat Fryer?

The answer is yes. After you lower the food into the hot oil, placing the lid on your device will help to keep your oil at the right temperature until it’s finished frying. The lid will also create a sealed container, so you’re less likely to be splashed with excess oil from the fryer basket.

Step 4: Keep Track of Cooking Times

Suppose you’ve used a kitchen thermometer to check your oil temperature, and you’re following the instructions provided by your deep frying utensil. In that case, you should be able to expect a relatively consistent cooking time. A deep fat fryer heats your food at once, particularly if you fill the pan section with the right oil.

Trippppppppppppppple cooked CHIPS, almost!

Stage 2 // “cook” in a deep fryer @ 140° for 6 mins, then drain pic.twitter.com/vTqaQZ7Q4n

— ChefWayner (@ChefWayner) April 8, 2022

Fried chicken will only take up to 15 minutes to cook, while French fries can take 10 minutes. Your instruction booklet will offer some advice on how long to leave the pan to cook. Keep an eye out for any excess heat coming from the pan or smoke. Your deep fat fryer may have safety features built-in, but it’s usually a good idea to have a fire extinguisher nearby for safety reasons.

When you know that your food has reached the perfect temperature for a deep-fried finish, and the cooking smells are everywhere, you can turn your fryer off and carefully remove the basket from the deep fryer.

Step 5: Remove the Food Carefully

When you deep fry food, you’ll need to be extra careful not to get hot oil and food debris everywhere. Carefully raise the basket from deep fat fryers using plenty of patience, and place the food on a drying rack or a paper towel so it can get rid of any excess oil.

The food you remove from the oil may seem to continue frying even after removing it from the heat; the oils will still be extremely hot. Hopefully, your deep fryer will have a resting position for the basket so you can remove the food and allow it to drain without exposing yourself to the dangerous temperature of the oil.

Once the food cools to a reasonable level, you can dish it out onto your plates. You’ll need to wait until your oil is completely cool before you consider cleaning the fryer. Some oils can take a while to cool down, depending on the fill level for your deep fryer and the smoke point, so be careful.

How Often Should You Change the Oil in a Deep Fat Fryer?

Like any utensil, you’ll need to regularly clean your deep fat frying device to keep it cooking perfectly. Most experts recommend you should drain the pan of oil every 8 to 10 uses.

However, it depends on how much debris comes off your food and into the frying oil when you lower your food into the vat.

When changing the oil in your deep fryer, keep the machine switched off to avoid any hot air and oil, and follow the instructions provided correctly. Don’t assume you can clean your device while waiting for the basket to let your food dry. You’ll need to wait for the machine to fully cool after deep frying.

Using Your Deep Fat Fryer

Learning how to use a deep fat fryer correctly is a great way to create a wide selection of delicious meals. With a deep fat fryer, you can experiment with new kinds of cooking and reduce the amount you spend on fast food.

The good news is using a deep fat fryer doesn’t have to be as complex as it seems. Once you know what types of oils to use for certain foods and how long it takes to cook your meals to perfection, you’re sure to be using your deep fat fryer regularly.

Have you used your deep fryer recently? How was your experience? Tell us about it in the comments!