Deep fat frying of foods: A critical review on process and product parameters

Deep fat frying process involves submerging a food in extremely hot oil until a safe minimum internal temperature is attained. Deep fried foods are hot and crispy on the outside and cooked safely in the center. Deep frying is very fast and, when performed properly, destroys bacteria. When water/moisture in food encounters very hot oil water vaporizes instantaneously turning into super-heated steam. It expands quickly and creates the crispy texture. Though this process has been used traditionally, the mechanism has not been described in literature and it does have downsides. The paper discusses the pretreatment methods, frying oil, frying characteristics and product quality along with the advantages and disadvantages of the process.