Everything You Need to Deep Fry At Home

Ever found yourself with a mixer full of cheesecake batter—but no springform pan to bake it in? Bought all the ingredients to make Super Bowl-worthy chicken wings, but don't know where to start? Welcome to Everything You Need, where the goal is to prevent these problems from ever occurring again. In this edition, we're giving you all the tips and tools for a deep-fried feast.

Even people who say they don't eat fried food can't deny the delightful pleasure of biting into a fritter, doughnut, or crispy chicken wing. It might seem easier to get your hands on a plate of French fries at a diner, but with the right tools, you can deep fry anything you please at home—and there's no need to buy a countertop deep-fryer. Here are the kitchen essentials to fry your way to a successful batch of apple cider doughnuts or buttermilk fried chicken.

Heavy-Duty Pot

A large, heavy pot is the foundation piece of the fry. Whether you're making onion rings or sweet potato fritters, it's important to have ample room for the items to fry, and working in small batches prevents crowding, too. Choose a pot made from or coated in a nonreactive material like enameled cast iron, which ensures even heating and cooking. Slow and steady is a good mantra to follow to avoid the splattering of hot oil, but the higher the sides of your pot, the cleaner the process will be.

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Neutral Oil

Deep-frying requires a high volume of oil, and vegetable oil tends to be the most cost-effective. Plus, the neutral flavor is important because you aren't trying to impart any specific taste to the item you're frying—you're just using the oil for its crispy cooking abilities. Peanut, canola, sunflower, or rice bran are other alternatives to vegetable oil—all of these are neutral options that perform well at high temperatures. To put into context, most recipes will call for oil to be around 350°F for frying, and vegetable oil has a smoke point somewhere between 440° and 450°F.

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Bamboo Skimmer

A skimmer, also called a spider or a strainer, is ideal for carefully lowering items into oil (and avoiding the painful splash zone), moving the frying ingredients around easily (so they cook evenly and don't clump), and shaking off excess oil when done (so the items aren't soggy and filled with oil). The hot oil is able to thoroughly drain through the holes and the bamboo handle stays cool during use. The skimmer can also been used for draining pasta and blanching vegetables.

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Thermometer

Important: follow the recipe's oil temperature. This is how you make doughnuts that aren't overly greasy and have the texture of a cloud, not a sponge. A thermometer like this one that attaches to the side of the pot allows you to easily keep an eye on the oil's temperature. Again, 350°F is generally the ideal temperature to deep-fry anything, but sometimes those 10 to 15 degree differences take a piece of dough from okay to amazing.

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Drying Rack and Paper Towels

Once you've fried your beautiful creations, the last step is still very important: drying. To avoid the greasy mess that you worked so hard to escape in your stirring and temperature monitoring, immediately place your items on a paper-towel lined drying rack after frying. This step should not be ignored, no matter how delicious that doughnut looks coming right out of the pot. Picking a drying rack with a grid design will help hold up many of foods you fry.

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Baking Sheets

You'll want to put the wire racks inside a baking sheet. This is one extra step for whatever your paper towel misses, or what seeps through. Make sure your baking sheet is the same size or bigger than your drying rack.

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