I thought I was being smart buying a cheap infrared gun off Amazon to check my deep fryer oil. Turns out those things only measure surface temp, not the actual oil temp inside the pot. I spent a whole Sunday trying to make crispy fried chicken and ended up with greasy, pale skin every single batch. After my third try I finally stuck my old candy thermometer in there and saw the oil was barely 275 when the gun said 350. Wasted about 15 bucks on chicken and another 8 on oil before I figured it out. Has anyone else gotten tricked by those infrared gadgets or is it just me being cheap?
Pulled that bird out of the oil after 20 minutes last Christmas and found the bag of giblets cooked solid inside the cavity, nearly ruined my brand new turkey fryer from Academy Sports.
I thought I'd be a hero and deep fry a turkey for the first time, but I ignored the rule about not overfilling the oil. It overflowed when I dropped the bird in and the whole deck almost went up in flames. Has anyone else had a close call with a turkey fryer that close to the house?
I used to just dump hot oil through a strainer into a container and call it good. Then my dad watched me do it last Thanksgiving and pointed out all the little burnt bits still floating around. He showed me how to filter it through a couple layers of cheesecloth while it's still warm (not hot) and man, the difference is night and day. Food tastes cleaner and the oil doesn't go dark after one use. Anyone else have a family member call them out on a bad habit like that?
Spent $8 at the dollar store on a mesh screen. Fried chicken for Sunday dinner. Oil went everywhere anyway because I forgot to dry the chicken first. Grease popped straight through the holes. Hit me right in the arm. Still have a little scar. Anyone else skip the basics and regret it later?
He told me he didn't pat the turkey dry before dropping it in, and the oil exploded up so high it hit the ceiling fan and caught the cabinet above on fire - took him 2 hours to scrub the grease off everything. Has anyone else had a close call with water and hot oil like that?
I was broke and needed a deep fryer for a party I was hosting. The $30 one from the discount store lasted exactly one batch of fries before the basket handle snapped off. Ended up grabbing a beat up old commercial model from a diner closing down on Elm Street for $75, and that thing is still going strong today. Anyone else ever gamble on a cheap fryer and regret it?
Was at the Franklin County Fair last August and watched this older guy drop a basket of wet-battered onion rings. Oil splattered everywhere and the rings came out like rubbery blobs. He just looked at me and said 'dry dredge never lies to you, son.' That one sentence made me switch and I haven't had a greasy mess since. Anyone else have a random stranger change your fry game?
For like 3 years I'd dump a whole pound of fries into my fryer basket and wonder why they came out soggy every time. One day a buddy watched me and said "dude you're crowding it, the temp drops too much." He pointed out how the oil stopped bubbling hard as soon as I dropped the basket in. So now I do half batches but it makes cooking for a crowd take forever. You guys think it's worth the extra time for crispier results or do you just pack it in and deal with soggier food?
I thought I could save $50 on a catered Thanksgiving by doing a 15-pound turkey in my home deep fryer on the back porch, but 4 minutes in the oil overflowed and set my neighbor's recycling bin on fire, and now my garage still smells like burnt plastic and poultry 6 months later, has anyone else ever had a garage fire from frying?
I was trying to fry chicken wings for game night. Oil temp got way too high, maybe 425. Dropped in some wet wings and poof. Huge flame shot up to the ceiling. Fire extinguisher made a mess everywhere. Took me an hour to clean up the powder. Anyone else have a close call with a grease fire?
He was talking about how he ruined 30 pounds of chicken wings because his oil was 50 degrees too low, and I realized that's exactly why my last batch of onion rings came out like greasy sponges. Has anyone else had a batch of food ruined just because the oil wasn't hot enough?
Was trying to make those crispy tortilla bowls for taco night on Tuesday. Dropped a wet tortilla in at 375 and the oil went everywhere including straight up into my ceiling fan blades. Now every time I turn it on it clacks and wobbles like it's about to fly off. Anybody got a trick for getting oil film off fan blades without taking the whole thing apart?
It was 3 years ago at my brother's house in Phoenix. I thought it was thawed but nope. That thing hit the oil and it erupted like a volcano. Oil all over the patio and my nephew's bike got coated. Has anyone else had a frozen food surprise go this bad?
My buddy said 'just pat them dry' and I ignored him, ended up with hot oil splattered across my forearm and a half-cooked batch of onion rings that looked more like charcoal briquettes, has anyone else learned this the hard way?
I was making fries for game night and dumped a full 2 pound bag of frozen fries straight into the deep fryer at 375 degrees. The oil boiled over so fast it hit the burner and sent a column of fire up to the ceiling. Has anyone else had a frozen food explosion that made you question your life choices?
Honestly, I thought I was saving money buying a no-name fryer basket for $25 instead of spending $50 on a good one. It came with this weird coating that started peeling off after one use. I lost 3 pounds of chicken wings and $15 worth of oil because the basket collapsed mid-fry and dumped everything into the oil. The handle got so hot I burned my fingers trying to fish it out. Has anyone else had a cheap basket just fall apart on them?
I'd been frying chicken at my place in Austin for like 2 years. Always got soggy breading. Then my buddy Tim used a laser thermometer on my oil. It was only at 300F instead of 350F. My cheap fryer's dial was off by 50 degrees the whole time. Did anyone else discover they were running low temps for months and ruin a ton of food?
For like 2 years I would just throw as much food in as possible, figured more surface area meant faster cooking. Then last month I dropped in a batch of hushpuppies and the oil temp dropped from 350 to 280 instantly. They came out greasy and raw in the middle, a total mess. My neighbor who runs a food truck saw it and laughed, told me you gotta fry in small batches or it's just a soggy disaster. Has anyone else stubbornly done this for way too long?
I dropped a frozen chicken wing in and it splashed hot oil all over the counter, the floor, and me. Cleaning that greasy mess plus the fryer basket took way longer than the actual cooking. Anyone else have a clean up that took forever because of one slip up?
I've been deep frying onion rings for like 15 years now. Always made them with beer batter cause thats what my dad did. They were fine but never really crispy. Last month I tried baking powder instead for the batter. Changed the whole game. The rings came out light and crunchy instead of that heavy greasy mess I was used to. I used about a teaspoon of baking powder for one cup of flour. Also added some ice cold seltzer water instead of beer for the fizz. Honestly felt dumb for not trying this sooner. Has anyone else switched up their batter ingredients and got way better results?
I mean how long does it take for water to explode in hot oil because mine was like 45 seconds and the kitchen greasy fog lasted 3 days before I figured it out from a reddit comment, has anyone else had a 'wait that's why' moment with their deep fryer?