There are many different ways that you can choose to cook some of your favorite foods. You can bake, but you also have the option of frying. Even if you do not have a deep fryer in your home kitchen, it is still possible for you to fry foods using the shallow frying method. This is the frying method that is most used in home kitchens, because it requires is the use of a shallow pan. This means that you do not have to have access to actual deep frying kitchen equipment in order to fry. Before you try the shallow frying method out, it is important for you to be familiar with what this frying method entails. You also need to know what the pros and cons of shallow frying are. There is a lot more to shallow frying than meets the eye.
How is Shallow Frying Different?
What makes shallow frying so different from typical frying is the amount of oil that is used and how much the oil covers the food items that you are frying. When you deep fry food, you are completely immersing it in oil. However, when you use the shallow frying method you are not using enough oil to completely cover the food that you are frying. Only about a third of the height of the food that you are frying is covered. This is different from deep frying because in a deep fryer the entire height of the food is covered by oil. It is not the frying pan that is cooking the food, but the heat from the oil, which is why shallow frying is different from sauteing.
Oil is Key
The type of oil that you choose to use when you are shallow frying is key. You need to make sure that you choose a oil that will heat to the right temperature. This is the only way that you can be sure you will fry food items to the level of crispiness that you desire. You have to choose the oil that you fry in carefully.
Coating
When you are using the shallow frying method, you are also likely using some type of coating on the food. The type of coating that you use can range from flour or breadcrumbs to batter. The type of coating that you use to cover the food that you are frying is not as important as the type of oil that you choose to shallow fry it in. The foods that are often coated and then shallow fried are chicken, fish or vegetables. The meal possibilities when you are shallow frying really are endless.
Now that you understand what shallow frying is, it is important for you to learn what the pros and cons of this frying method are. There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages that can be seen using this method and you need to know what they are before you begin shallow frying in your kitchen.
List of Pros of Shallow Frying
All You Need is a Pan
One of the biggest pros to the shallow frying method is that all you need to have on hand is a shallow pan. Most cooks do not have a deep fryer within their home kitchen, this means that the shallow frying method is the only option that is really available. As long as you have a pan and some oil, you have the ability to fry just about any food that you desire without the use of a deep fryer. This simplifies the whole frying process for you.
Less Oil
Since the entire height of the food is not cooked in oil, the amount of oil that is absorbed by the food item that you are shallow frying is a lot less than if you deep fried this food item. This means that it is the healthier option to choose the shallow frying method because you can make sure that less oil is being used and that you are consuming less oils and saturated fats as a result. If you are trying to be a bit healthier with your cooking methods, you can choose shallow frying.
List of Cons of Shallow Frying
Longer to Fry
The main downside to shallow frying is that it often takes a lot longer to fry foods completely when you are using this cooking method. when you are using a deep fryer, you can simply set a timer and remove the food items once the timer goes off. However, with shallow frying you have to make sure that you are turning the foods that you are frying in the pan continuously. This is the only way to make sure that the entire food is getting fried. If you are looking to spend more time, shallow frying is best.