# draining fried food



## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I used to always drain my fried food on paper towels or brown paper bags. Then i got the idea (i don;t remember where) to drain on a rack. (I think i tried it when i had been given a wok with an arc-shaped rack that hooked on the edge, presumably for draining fried stuff. 

I think when you have to hold the fried food for a while - like when you have a lot to fry and it sits around for half an hour - it stays crisper when it's drained on a rack. 

So how come everyone I ever met drains fried food on paper? 

I don;t like to have to wash the rack, so i crumple up some aluminum foil so the food sits on the points that stick up and the oil drips down into the valleys, and it works fine. It just annoys me that I ate all that soggy fried stuff over the years when i could have had it stay crisp!


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I started using racks about a year ago, and will never go back. 

As it was explained to me, if you use paper towels or bags then the food is, in effect, sitting in a puddle of oil. Whether or not that's true, it sure sounds right. And the proof is in the draining: I've never had anything turn soggy since going to the racks.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I use a rack too, one that fits in jelly roll pan. Can keep it in the oven as needed to keep the fried food hot and crisp. 

Clean up in the dishwasher.


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

Chalk another one up for using a rack for fried foods.


dan


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## oliver b (Oct 9, 2009)

definitely on the rack if it's more than just a handful and if it's for more than just a couple minutes. The rack then goes in the dish washer. I might sometimes blot with paper towel too, if I suspect that oil on top of the food won't drip down but just puddle or soak in.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Ditto on using a rack. Go to your local fish and chip shop - mesh baskets work the shame as a rack. I picked one up second hard for my oil pot - I don't enjoy chips drained on papter towels - they go soggy.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Thanks for teaching me something new. I've always drained on paper towels without giving it much thought, I will have to try draining on a cookie rack for sure.

French fries however should be taken out of the fryer and placed directly into a brown paper lunch bag and tossed with salt. :bounce:


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

What i can't figure out is why i've never come across that in any cookbook - and i do read a lot of them.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I still prefer draining my chips in the basket above the hot oil, then they go into a st. steel bowl to be tossed with suitable salt/paprika/white wine vinegar, whatever tickles your fancy. Serve pronto.

The round chip/fries basket is good for a variety of things - obviously, deep frying is one. But its also good for blanching vegetables. Into the boiling water, blanch for required time, then out into suitably sized pot with iced water to shock, and take out to drain and dry. Then do with them what you will. Plus they look good hanging in your kitchen  (Alongside my silly wire fish bbqing cages....)

Haven't tried it for pasta yet - not sure how well it would work and if the pasta would stick to it, unless it had a spray of Pam etc before starting. Would be good for blanching anything really salty, say olives, if you want to cut down on the salt in a recipe. Another thought - for skinning tomatoes - you can get the whole lot out in one go.


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

I've always drained on paper towels, too. That's how my mother and grandmother did it so that's how I do it. I will have to try the rack the next time I fry something. I have seen racks at Dollar Tree that would probably work pretty well for this purpose. I have one but it's not very big....maybe large enough for a dozen cookies if they aren't too big. lol


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

DC, using the fryer basket amounts to the same thing. 

I prefer the racks only because it lets me get the next batch into the fryer a little faster.

One thing I found amusing is one of the celebrity chefs recommending that the rack be put in a sheet pan lined with paper towels to catch the grease. Hmmmph? Did he think that you still wouldn't have to wash the pan afterwards?


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

'Tis the same essentially, good point about using a rack to get the next lot on fast. At home, that hadn't occured to me as it is usually just a single batch.

Hmmm - maybe that celeb. chef *doesn't wash his pan after...nasty. Silly comment #650098 by a celeb chef....


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I use a rack, too.


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## jock (Dec 4, 2001)

I'm a paper towel user - or should I say I was a paper towel user. I never thought of using a rack. Good idea.


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

don't know. maybe they thought it was obvious or they were pros and tryng preserve a "secret".


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

A rack sounds good--I'll have to try that. Siduri's aluminum foil idea is a good one :chef:.

As a side note, there was a recent thread about frying bacon in olive oil. I remember reading somewhere that this actually makes it healthier. Here is the logic and it sounds reasonable to me: the bacon comes out covered with grease anyway--and if it's part olive oil and less lard, it's better for you. Plus, more of it will drain off because the olive oil is thinner. (I don't know if this is all true).


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_and tryng preserve a "secret". _

Gunner, I don't think that's really it.

Techniques, like everything else in the food world, run in fashions. That is, soon as one or two known chef's start doing something they all do.

This process just happens faster, in today's world of TV celebrity chefs and food blogging.

I suspect using a rack was one of those things. Paper towels have been used, and recommended, ever since they were invented. Fairly recently the rack thing hit the charts. Cookbook authors just haven't caught on to it yet.

Anyway, that's how I read it.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Jock;298143 said:


> I'm a paper towel user - or should I say I was a paper towel user. I never thought of using a rack. Good idea.[/Q


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Try using an iceing rack on a half sheety pan 1. it holds more product. 2. you already probably have these two items in the kitchen 3. can be used fo other things.


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

I would still rather dry them with the paper towels. It kinda gives the food a different crisp.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Don't know I could tell the difference blindfolded, but the rack seems to get more fat off the product. Plus, as an added bonus, if you have to keep it hot in the oven for a little bit (as in oops the veg aren't quite done yet  ), the rack would be the preferred option.


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## coulis-o (Jan 23, 2010)

it depends what i'm frying as to what method of 'draining' is to be used.

if im cooking something like prawn crackers or poppadoms i prefer to drain them on paper because the paper makes direct contact with them and absorbs the excess fat

anything else i would use a wire rack under a hot lamp, and as previoulsy mentioned many foods can be drained simply in the frying basket


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

I stopped using paper towels and switched to a rack over a sheet pan after watching an episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats". Now I skim the food out of the fat, briefly pause with the skimmer (or spatula or tongs) on a paper towel to avoid drips on the draining food, then take the food to the rack. The difference is amazing! No more steam to make the coating soggy. 

I'll never go back.


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

I put newspaper on the sheet pan. You still have to wash the rack and the pan, but the paper keeps a substantial amount of grease out of my drains. Grease not in drains can't cause drains to get clogged.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

That is a very good point.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I never let grease go down the drain, no matter what the source.

An oil-covered sheet pan can be drained into the appropriate container just as easily as a frypan or deep fryer. To me, lining it with paper of any kind, would just contribute to the mess.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

That's why it should be lined with parchment paper. No mess, no clean up.


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

The problem is that by the time you get to cleaning the pan, the oil is cold (and I fry with lard a reasonable amount, so it's solid,too). So you end up with quite a bit that won't drain into the grease jar, at least in the time I'm willing to wait. with a newspaper, you can just pick it up and toss it in the garbage or compost bin. Unless you've been frying a whole lot of stuff, there's not much mess.


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## derric (Jan 22, 2010)

Racks work amazing for deep fried foods. Also holding or even finishing in the oven does keep it crispy. Paper towels just pool up unless you have 6 layers or more, and frankly thats a lot of paper and money wasted. A rack can be used more than once because the oil just runs off. Pinch pennies when you can.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

It's amazing, Dscheidt, how much you can move with a spatula, and how quickly. 

Even when the oils are liquid I use one to squeege off as much as I can. 

But, as the poet said, different strokes for different folks.


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## natural honey (Feb 10, 2010)

Your idea in draining fried food is great. At home whenever I drained food stuff especially chicken, I use to drained it in a strainer. The plastic circle one. I put the food then and hang for a few minutes before frying.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I think that even with many layers, the food is sitting on something directly, which creates steam and makes it soggy. So while the rack is also cheaper and more ecological, the reason i thought of it is that it keeps the food crisper.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

About the question of draining the excess fat into a container - I never have that much fat dripping off that it would drain out of the tray under the rack. But it raised the question of what do you do with your leftover frying fat. A restaurant would have a truck come to recover the fats and reuse them industrially, but what about at home? Nobody's going to come and pick up a jar of oil for the occasional times i may fry, maybe once a month. 

On the principle that detergent emulsifies fats, I've mixed detergent in and added water, and then dumped them in the drain. I have no idea if this is ok or not for the drains in my hyouse (never had a problem) or for the drains in the world (ecologically). I imagine the amount of fats cumulatively washed off pots and pans and dishes in a city would be quite a lot, but being emulsified in detergent makes them able to be handled but i really don;t know. 
As for lard, that's easy, let it harden and then put it in the garbage. 

Anyway, do any of you know what is the consequence of mixing oil and detergent and dumping in the drain?


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Here's where I'd like if Luc_H shed some light.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

No. Do NOT mix the oil with detergent. If you have a garden, or a park nearby, use it for the birds. Mix it in a plain ol' tin/jar with some cooked barley/rice etc. Once you have a good tinful, sprinkle it out for the birds. But please, make sure the rice or whatever starch you use is cooked - or the birds will swell up and...uggh - it won't be pretty. But its a good method of recycling the oil, the birds benefit, and the environment thanks you.

As to pouring fat and suds down the drain - it clogs-coagulates- clams up the whole system. Whilst it is hot at first it looks like fine, it'll be ok. But then, it gets down into the sewer. Great big blobs of white fat that the rats just love. Give it to the birds iinstead. It is pretty much like cholesterol in arteries ('cept the rats can't get to it)


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

First off, having my own septic system rather than being on a sewer system, I don't want fats and oils down there at all---even if mixed with soap. The emulsified oil still has to go somewhere.

I use large recycled plastic jars as my waste-oil containers (letting the oil cool first, of course). Once full, the whole thing just goes in the trash.

_or the birds will swell up and...uggh - it won't be pretty_.

DC, I'd pay ten bucks to see that!

Seriously, this is one of the biggest modern myths to ever take off. Probably started by big-city sanitation people who didn't want to sweep up all that rice after a wedding.

Think it through. In the wild, birds devour dry grain. They're eating seed heads, and any domestic grain available. And if you buy commercial bird feed all it's made of is assorted raw seeds.

It would be contrasurvival for dry, raw seeds to have a negative effect on them.

It's just incredible to me the numbers of people who've bought into this idea.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I don't have a garden and i would love to see how people take to pouring grease in the local park. But i don;t mean hard grease, like lard, which, as i said, i can just let cool and throw in the garbage. I mean oil, frying oil, that never gets hard even when cold. Is it bad to emulsify it and pour into a city drain?


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Another option - put it in a jar once cold, put the top on, into the rubbish bin. Easy solution.

KYH - the dry grain thing - I can see the sense in what you are saying. It's just what is hammered into us here. Can't say I'd like to throw cooked rice at a bride and groom on their special day....welllll - depends on if I like 'em or not 

But, I am ashamed to say, I did have some tadpoles I gave dried breadcrumbs to. Oops - big time. They swelled up and burst. Could have and should have kicked myself


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_It's just what is hammered into us here. Can't say I'd like to throw cooked rice at a bride and groom on their special day...._

Don't know how it is down there, DC, but when this "don't throw rice" thing started in the States; must have been in the late '70s or early '80s, that was the rationale: that by eating the dry rice the birds would, as soon as they drank some water, swell up and explode. But the irony was that the experts were recommending that instead of rice you use---are you ready---bird seed.

Play that again?

One of the three rice bowls of the U.S. is the Grand Prairie, centered in Stuttgart, Arkansas. If those people are right, the Grand Prairie should be littered with parts and pieces of the millions of self-exploded birds who are drawn there for the free eats.


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

Yeah, you get a mass of grease down the drain somewhere. Pour it into a container. Put the lid on. Throw in garbage.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I know i CAN put oil in a jar and throw it out, but i have a shortage of jars, and those i have i use for jam. But i wanted to know what is the consequence of putting oil, not lard, with detergent, well-emulsified, into the drain. Would like some scientific knowledge here! Does it de-emulsify? I wouldn;t dump emulsified lard or chickenfat down the drain, they don;t leak through my garbage bags. Just plain oil. 

Or, i could make soap... got a recipe?


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Chicken-fat soap, now that would be something I'd just have to try . Just being silly.


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

There is a county sewage pump station in the corner of my front yard. A couple of summers ago, I was seeing the guys working on it several times a week which is unusual. Finally, I asked one of the guys if something was wrong (sure didn't want raw sewage backing up in my yard!) and he said they had been having issues with grease in the sewage system. It wasn't causing problems at the one here but was making the station about 3 miles away clog up and not run properly. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the tavern near us, between the substations had just re-opened for business after a fire and they sell a lot of fried foods. I don't know but I do know that they have a huge tank of what the guy explained was milk of magnesia and some type of acid running through the system now to try and keep it cleaned out. Based on that, I'd say it's not a good idea to ever pour it down a drain.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Yes, but you're talking about grease, not emulsified grease. I'd like some scientific explanation why this might work or not. If they dump straight grease down the drains, that may not be the same thing.


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## [email protected] (Mar 16, 2008)

Oils and grease -- people! -- remember vinegar breaks up a lot of oils and grease from your cooking fats. If your pots still have grease after emptying it, and want to use that pot again, pour a little bit of vinegar (I use cheap apple cider vinegar, whichever store brand I can find by the gallon) with a little bit of dishwashing soap. It is easier to wash the pot then...even with washing in the dishwasher, pour a bit of vinegar in the dishwasher before you shut that door. It makes a lot of difference. Imagine if you can do this method with one pot and pans or a whole dishwasher load...how much more can it do you good if you mix more vinegar with a batch of oil and grease you are going to throw away...

Just a thought....:talk:


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

The guy did say they tried detergents...something like Dawn and it did not work to keep the system cleaned out, but not sure how it would have worked if it was mixed with the grease initially. I don't really know a lot about this, just what the country sewage worker told me.


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## [email protected] (Mar 16, 2008)

I did mention that vinegar cuts through the grease??? Despite my long explanation, perhaps not....:blush:


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

Yes, I did see your post and if you read above, you will see that I was repeating what I was told by a country sewage worker in reply to a response from Siduri. Grease is an issue they face and in response to your opinions, I really believe if it was something as simple and inexpensive as flushing vinegar through the pipes, they would have gone that route instead of the one they chose.


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## [email protected] (Mar 16, 2008)

sorry, I jumped too quick. Forgive me???:blush:

This thread is really very helpful...I have read through it and I had learned a lot. Thanks.

:bounce:


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

Yes, you're forgiven!


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

I buy my oil in bottles. After filling the deep fryer I add what ever is left to the bottle I use for general use and save the empty bottle for the used oil. I have a friend who burns waste oil in his shop so he picks it up whenever I have a couple bottles.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Emulsified grease is bad because the emulsification breaks.

When your detergent and grease hit the sewer, they mix. The detergent thins out in suspension to the point it can't hold the grease in suspension any longer. The emulsification breaks.

Plus detergent itself is not particularly good in the waste stream. 

Grease also takes a lot to break down in the digesters.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks Phatch, however unwelcome your information is! 

I'm surprised that a lot of people are talking about restaurants just dumping or burning their fat. Here there is a service you can call that collects fat from restaurants and sells it to industries that use it for soaps etc. I'm surprised that doesn't happen everywhere. 

Again, i ask, any recipes for soap? potash and grease, right? and where do i get the potash? (not sure i'd like soap made from leftover fish frying oil though... maybe that's why commercial soaps are often so smelly with cheap perfume!). Oh, and your signature line - sorry, can't help it - the cake (of soap) is a lye?


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

Google it. Sodium hydroxide is preferred over potassium salts. I wouldn't want to use used oil for making soap, though.


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