The audible, crispy texture, the unique flavor, and the golden outside is something we all crave from deep-fried food. But rather than going to a fast food place to get your fix, can you take your frozen food and pop them into a deep fryer at home?
Here is what I found out about deep frying frozen food items.
You can definitely take frozen food items from your freezer and place them in a deep fryer to cook. The issue with deep frying frozen food items at home is that the hot oil can be extremely dangerous in that it can cause grease fires or scalding burns. This means that if you’re looking to deep fry at home, there are certain precautions and safety guidelines you must follow.
What Happens When You Fry Something Frozen?
Even though frozen food items appear to be solid, they still contain quite a bit of liquid water due to the minerals and sugars present in the food. For instance, a frozen piece of meat is still going to have 7-10% of its water content remain in a liquid state despite feeling and looking frozen solid to the naked eye [1].
This means that when you pop frozen food directly into a deep fryer, the liquid water that is present is going to interact with the oil.
Unfortunately, oil and water are not friends.
When the water in your frozen food encounters the hot oil (anything close to 350°F or above), the water is going to evaporate instantaneously, causing superheated steam to rise. The steam is going to expand extremely quickly and because of the interaction between the water and the oil, the oil has a high likelihood of splattering or boiling over your deep frying unit.
If you take the right safety precautions, you will get food that will be completely steam-cooked on the inside, evenly cooked throughout, moist and tender on the inside, with a crispy and golden outside.
Is It Safe to Fry Frozen Food?
Yes, it is completely safe to fry frozen food regardless of whether you use a deep fryer or the pan/pot method. However, there are certain safety guidelines that you are going to want to follow since you are working with oil, which is extremely flammable and can cause some serious burns if you are splashed.
What Are Some General Safety Precautions I Need to Take With a Deep Fryer?
If you have access to a deep fryer at home, make sure to read through the owner’s manual before using it. If you are choosing to use a deep, heavy skillet or pot, do not use cast iron as this will break down the oil faster than other types of cookware. Other safety tips to follow include:
- Have a fire extinguisher ready in your kitchen.
- Only fill your deep fryer with oil when turned off & away from water sources.
- Wipe down all nearby countertops & cookware to ensure it is dry.
- Understand the smoke point of the oil you are using.
- Remove excess ice (freezer burn) from frozen foods.
- On thawed food, pat completely dry before submerging.
- Always look up approximate cooking times for the food you are frying.
- If using a skillet/pot/pan, do not fill the oil more than 2-inches from the top.
- Do not overcrowd the frying basket – this can cause under/overcooking or overflowing of the oil.
- Always remove food metal tongs or slotted spoons/forks. Never use anything plastic as this can melt into the oil.
Finally, make sure that when testing the temperature of your food, you remove it from the fryer first. When you are done using your deep fryer, turn it off and unplug it and allow the oil to completely cool down (takes about 2 hours).
What Are The Best Frozen Foods to Deep Fry?
The best kinds of frozen foods to deep fry are ones that are coated. Typically, frozen foods that are coated in a bread batter do best, since you can use an extremely high oil temperature without the risk of the oil seeping into the food.
The coating on frozen foods creates a barrier so that the inside of the food is cooked via the steam from the deep fryer, whereas, the outside of the food is crisped by the oil.
- French fries
- Chicken tenders/nuggets
- Fish sticks
- Onion rings
- Shrimp
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Mozzarella sticks
- Hushpuppies
- Ice cream
- Taquitos
- Corn dogs
All of the above are fantastic for deep frying from frozen.
Is It Better to Deep Fry Chicken Wings & Fries as Frozen or Thawed?
When looking to deep fry chicken wings, you can either thaw them out, pat dry, and then deep fry or you can pop them right into the deep fryer as frozen. The answer to which method is better is dependent on a few factors and preferences.
The method of freezing can have a major impact on the quality of your deep-fried chicken wings. If the wings are frozen in a bunch, stuck together, or freezer burnt, popping them into a deep fryer is going to result in a sub-par cook.
This is because the blood within the wings can actually crack the bones or cause the meat to come out as a grayish color. If you want to deep fry wings from frozen, protect them from air exposure and wrap them very tightly in parchment paper or plastic wrap and then again with aluminum foil.
If you prefer a crispy, wood-like taste to your meat and are patient with the thawing process, you can thaw your chicken wings out in the fridge first. If you choose to speed up the process of thawing by dunking them into warm water, just note that this will pre-cook the chicken and stretch the meat.
This method is preferred by those who do not want the risks of getting hot oil everywhere from frozen chicken – read safety measures above.
As for french fries, you do not want these to thaw out before popping them into your deep fryer. Keeping them frozen ensures that the surface of the potato (fry) is sealed by the outer coating, giving you a crispier outcome. If your fries are thawed first, this can lead to them absorbing excess oil, causing the fries to come out soggy and/or greasy.
What Happens If You Put Ice in a Deep Fryer?
If we draw on our science education briefly, we know that there are three states of matter, those being liquids, solids, and gases. We also know that these matter states will transition from one to another due to changes in temperature.
Temperature changes cause the matter’s molecules to vibrate faster or slower. The heat will cause the molecules to vibrate faster while cold will cause them to slow down.
When we take a block of ice, which has an extremely low vibration rate, and subject it to heat, the molecules in the block of ice begin to vibrate at a quicker rate.
This is what causes the ice to melt. If you continue to heat it at a greater temperature, it will eventually turn into a liquid state – water. If you continue this process, you can turn the ice (solid) from water (liquid) into steam (gas) by making it boil.
So, what happens when you place ice into a deep fryer? Since the oil and the ice are in completely different matter states, you end up causing a rapid transition where one state must overtake the other. There is a sudden temperature gap between the frozen ice and the hot, liquid, oil in the deep fryer, which causes a violent reaction as the molecules in the ice begin to rapidly vibrate in an extremely short space of time.
What does this look like? With a single piece of ice, you may get a small boiling reaction. But with a large volume of ice, this can cause the oil in your fryer to overflow or even burst into flame and cause a grease fire. The bottom line here is that you can end up with a very dangerous situation on your hands.
What Do I Do With Leftover Fried Foods?
If you have successfully deep-fried your foods and have some left, make sure that you refrigerate the leftovers within 1-2 hours of frying them. You do not want to eat food that has been left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature as it can be unsafe to eat due to bacteria growth.
Wrapping It Up
While deep frying frozen food is a great alternative to other cooking methods at home, it does come with some dangers if done improperly. Make sure that you read up on the safety guidelines when dealing with hot oil and deep fryers before using and always cook your food to the recommended internal temperature.