Gentle frying

Benefits

Low-temperature frying is useful if the frying fat scorches at higher heat levels (e.g. butter), or if the frying fat has flavor that the cook wants to preserve (e.g. olive oil). Overheated oils can produce unhealthy, even carcinogenic, compounds.

In starchy foods, frying gently gives the starch in the food a chance to migrate and caramelize, producing a sweeter outcome.

In fragile foods such as eggs, gentle frying prevents the food from scorching or falling apart.

Disadvantages

In deep-fat frying, if done incorrectly, low temperatures may substantially increase oil absorption, leaving the food greasy, soggy, and unappetizing. However, Cook's Illustrated developed a recipe where French Fries are left in cold oil for 25 minutes as the oil is slowly heated to 138 °C, and this was found to contain 30% less oil than French Fries cooked by the traditional method with oil between 163 and.

Bibliography

References

1. [http://fissler.com/en/cooking_tips_culinary_trends/culinary_trends/study_of_pans/brief_study_of_pans.html fissler.com] {{webarchive. link. (April 20, 2009)
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714224542/http://www.oceannavigator.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=085B84D47DCB48AA92CF3BA68087E174 oceannavigator.com]
3. "All British Food".
4. Nicholas Clee. (2007-09-21). "Blanching sausages".
5. (2014-10-10). "You Want Fries With That? The Science of Crispy Potatoes". [[Science Buddies]].
6. [http://www.udri.udayton.edu/NR/exeres/4BEACB52-0F59-4D82-8134-14CFEE5D2127.htm udri.udayton.edu] {{webarchive. link. (April 12, 2009)
7. (September 2012). "Oil Absorption". Guy Crosby.