Fried foods are nostalgic summer favorites. From fish fries and carnival fare to the classic picnic crowd-pleaser we all know and love (fried chicken!), the trick to palate-popping crunch, clean flavor, and kitchen efficiency is all in the oil, according to big-time fry fanatic Chef Ian Hughes.
Live & Let Fry
Born, raised, and trained in the South, Chef Ian jokes that he’s been frying his whole life. Fried food is, after all, practically a food group in Southern kitchens. Today he’s just as passionate about it as he was when he launched his culinary career at just 15 years old, running a restaurant’s deep fryer.
Fast-forward two decades in the industry, which includes a degree from L’Ecole Culinaire and his current role as brands manager and culinary specialist for Performance Foodservice-Batesville, and Chef Ian takes pride in sharing with others everything he’s learned about frying, oil, and getting the most out of a fry station.
I chatted with Chef to pick his brain on all things frying — just in time for summer’s peak season. Here he shares thoughts on oil types, filtering, calibrating, and the future of fried foods, this summer and beyond.
At a Premium
“If you’re using cheap oil, you might be leaving money on the table,” Chef Ian said. “Don’t think of oil as a commodity expense, think of it as an investment. Cheap oil doesn’t last as long as premium or blends, so you have to do the math over the long-term.”
The oil you choose is an investment in protecting what you’re frying, to maximize flavor. “Why offer a premium catfish but then fry it in cheap oil?” he asked. “I understand the pressures of cost efficiency, but if you’re putting out a high-quality product, it’s important to go with a premium oil.”
On Chef Ian’s list of faves is peanut oil, a high smoke point canola with neutral flavor, like Silver Source® Oils, and Brilliance® Premium Oils, which he said ranks high for smoke point versatility, flavor, and quality. He’s also a big fan of beef tallow — if it’s artisanal or house-made, for the fullest flavor.
Filter for Fry Life
Fried food tastes better when the oil is clean, Chef explained. “You want your fries to taste like potato, and your chicken to taste like the breading you’re known for. You don’t want food to taste like everything you’ve fried in the past week.”
For clean oil, change it on a regular basis — depending on the oil itself and the volume of frying you’re doing. Filtering is extra-credit to maximize oil shelf life and keep it cleaner to protect food integrity. “If you’re not filtering, the oil degrades, and sediment builds up and burns. That impacts food taste as well as the life of the oil.”
Chef Ian recommends a mechanical filtering system. Otherwise, he said you should at minimum be manually filtering your oil after every lunch and dinner service.
“A few extra days of oil life in a kitchen makes a big difference to your bottom line,” he said.
Calibrate!
When oil’s too hot, it burns out. When it’s not hot enough, more oil soaks into the food — wasting oil and giving food a greasy mouthfeel. “Make sure your fryer temperature is calibrated with an infrared thermometer,” Chef Ian recommended. “Don’t just rely on the fryer’s gauge, you need to know the exact temperature to get the best results.”
Frying Is Golden
Trends come and go, but Chef Ian says fried foods will always have a place at the table. “Fried foods are comforting and familiar. They’re a nostalgic, crispy-crunchy treat we look forward to. Like funnel cake or fried green tomatoes you ate as a kid.”
Among his current summer-fried faves are pimento cheese balls with jezebel sauce or bacon jam, Mississippi’s ever-popular chicken on a stick, and egg rolls — “because you can put anything in an egg roll” he said. He’s also known to deep fry candy bars and Oreos.
Need more inspo? For seafood people-pleasers, try a classic like Fried Rockfish Bites or the sensationally swicy Fried Coconut Shrimp with Thai Curry Hollandaise Dip. Or get creative with Perfectly Southern® Fried Chicken Tenders, marinated and lightly breaded whole-muscle breasts in either Original or Hot and Spicy — the perfect easy protein for getting your summer fry on.