Lifestyle

Fried Secrets: Sound Bites with Swetha Sivakumar


Why do baked goods never have the taste, texture, and aroma of fried snacks?

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(Shutterstock)

Temperature is not the problem. Ovens easily go up to 160 to 200 degrees Celsius, which is the range where most frying occurs. So what changes, when the heat is conducted by air (as in an oven) and not by oil (as in frying)?

Another way to frame the question, one that also suggests the answer, is: Why can we put our hands in a hot oven but not in boiling oil?

The answer is that the molecules in the air are not as tightly bound together as the molecules in liquid oil. As a result, although the ambient temperature in the oven can be 200 degrees Celsius, the food does not always experience these temperatures on its surface. This is why baking in the oven also takes longer than frying. (Long exposure to dry heat is also why ingredients dry out in the oven, leading to an unpleasant mouthfeel rather than the juicy taste of many fried foods.)

Of course, the big problem with deep-frying is the huge amount of fat that one is forced to consume. Interestingly, studies have shown that only a fraction of that oil, sometimes as little as 20%, soaks in while the food is soaking; Most are sucked in after the item is removed from the pan. This is why manufacturers use large metal rotating cages to “de-oil” their snacks. At home, this is why our parents spread out paper towels or put such snacks in a strainer to dry the drips as they cool.

Why is most of the oil absorbed after frying? To understand this, we must zoom in on what is happening in the pan. Since the temperature here is much higher than the boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius of water, as soon as the food is dipped in hot oil, the water inside begins to evaporate. Steam carries a lot of energy. It moves both inside, cooking the inner and outer layers, in the form of bubbles leaving small craters behind.

As long as the food is slightly moist, bubbles will continue to form. The jets of steam pushed away from the surface actually prevent the oil from entering. However, when the air bubbles stop, the oil on the surface is sucked in, in a process called vacuum absorption.

This is why snacks coated with a wet powder, such as bhajjias and bondas, absorb more oil than drier foods like papad. Watery pastes produce more steam, more foam, and more pores. You can almost squeeze the oil out of these snacks when they’re done.

Increase the amount of protein and insoluble fiber in the dough, and it immediately changes the amount of oil absorbed. For example, adding about 14 gm of high-fiber flour such as wheat or oat bran to 100 gm of refined flour for puris, oil absorption can be reduced by up to 20%. (The condition of the oil also makes a difference. Click herefor more on this.)

The worst thing a person can do is fry food twice (something increasingly common with everything from vadas to french fries, as a way to get extra crunch). With two cooling stages, maximum oil is absorbed in the food cooked in this way. Following the regular double frying method is enough and one can also simply sip the oil from the cup.

(To contact Swetha Sivakumar with questions or feedback, email upgrademyfood@gmail.com)

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