Deep Fry Breading Recipes

CRISPY BATTER THAT STAYS CRISPY (FOR A LONG TIME)

Steps:

• Place the flour/starch, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix everything. Only prepare your batter when you are ready to fry your food.
• Pour about 1 1/2 to 2-inch of oil into a stainless steel pot or Dutch oven. Preheat the oil to 330 F. It helps if you have deep-fryer thermometer if not, dip a stick end of wooden spatula, bamboo skewer, or chopsticks into the oil. If there are steady bubbles around it, the oil is most likely more than 330 F, but the temperature will drop once you put in the things you are going to fry. As long as it doesn't bubble vigorously, if it is, lower the heat a bit and test again
• Pour in the ice cold water into the flour mixture and use a chopstick to stir. Do not over stir with all-purpose flour. It's okay to have some lumps in the batter. If you over mix the flour batter, it will turn out gummy and absorbs too much oil. If you are preparing gluten-free batter, this is not an issue because cornstarch doesn't have gluten in it
• Coat the food with the batter and fry the food. Another important note is not to overcrowd and frying too many. If you lower the oil temperature too much, the batter will be greasy, soggy, and almost definitely will not stay crispy (if at all). This step is to cook the food inside the batter. Depending on what you are frying, follow the instruction on the time
• Remove from the oil to a rack. Let them cool down for at least 10 minutes before you go for the second frying. You can even stop at this step if you are prepping ahead. Keep the half-fried food in the fridge and do the second frying just right before serving, whenever that is
• Remove any crumbs from the oil and bring it back up to hot again over high heat. This time we need about 375 F. Use a thermometer if you have one. If you don't have one, again, use the stick end of wooden spatula, bamboo skewer or chopstick to test the oil. The bubbles will be steady. When it's ready, fry the food for the second time. This round should be quicker. The food will turn golden brown too. This step is to crisp up the food further
• Place the fried food on a rack set on a baking sheet. You can keep the rest warm in an oven at around 200 F and serve when you are done with frying all

THE BEST ALL PURPOSE DEEP FRY BATTER

Steps:

• Mix all dry ingredients, except the extra flour, whisk together.
• Add beer and only mix lightly.
• DO NOT over mix. If there are flour lumps just squish with the back of a spoon.
• You want the mix to be blended but not overmixed as it will not 'puff up' when deep-frying.
• For fish,shrimp, and 'meaty or wet' items I usually towel dry them and dredge them in the additional flour.
• Then dip and cover in mixture. Let the excess drip off and when putting any item in the deep fryer -- use tongs.and dip whatever you are deep frying in the oil for about 10 seconds, then release.
• This prevents the food from sticking to the bottom of the fryer. (Took us a while to learn that technique).
• When it comes to fish or something long or big -- I just put the first inch or 2 in and let it bubble for a few seconds so that I know it won't sink to the bottom and stick. (I truly hated that with deep frying).

DELICIOUS DEEP-FRYING BATTER

Steps:

• Mix thoroughly. I usually put it all in a jar and shake it.
• Use to dip chicken nuggets, fish, or any vegetable you want to deep fry. Remember to blot water or other liquid off the food before you batter it.

BASIC FRY BATTER/WING BATTER

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together.
• Add the water and whisk until almost smooth.
• Coat food item in batter and deep fry or pan fry as normal or until golden brown.
• Wings:.
• Deep fry chicken wings for 8-10 minutes at 350F.

BREADED FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Fill a large cast-iron skillet with 1 inch of vegetable oil. Heat over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, thyme, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk in another large bowl. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece in the flour mixture, then dip in the egg mixture, letting any excess drip off. Return the chicken to the flour mixture and turn until well coated. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet.
• Carefully add about half the chicken to the hot oil (do not crowd the skillet). The oil temperature will drop; adjust the heat as needed to maintain a temperature of 350 degrees F. Fry the chicken, without turning, until the crust starts browning, about 2 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue cooking, turning occasionally, until browned and crisp all over and a thermometer inserted into the breasts registers 160 degrees F and the thighs 170 degrees F, 13 to 16 minutes. Remove with tongs and transfer to a rack set on a baking sheet; sprinkle with salt. Let the oil temperature return to 350 degrees F before frying the remaining chicken.

PERFECT DEEP-FRY BATTER

Steps:

• Mix eggs and flour together, then thin with water to a consistency just thick enough to adhere to the food you intend to fry.
• If necessary, rinse or dip food to be fried in water.
• Then dip food into seasoned flour, then into batter, then back into the seasoned flour.
• For shrimp, onion rings, or almost anything else, you'll be able to gauge doneness by the golden color of the batter; the trick is to not attempt to batter-fry too-large pieces of anything.

LONG JOHN SILVER'S FISH BATTER

Steps:

• Sift dry ingredients.
• Add water and mix well.
• Use to coat fish or chicken filets.
• Cover the fish completely.
• Deep fry until a nice golden brown.