Most kitchen appliances are made to aid healthy cooking, but sometimes you can’t beat the craving for deep-fried food! Instapots and pressure cookers can seemingly do it all. They can boil, broil, roast and even air fry. But can you deep fry in a pressure cooker?
You can not deep fry in a pressure cooker. Electric pressure cookers will not reach a temperature suitable for frying. Stovetop pressure cookers should never be used with oil. Attempting to deep fry in pressure cookers can be dangerous and is advised against. You can, however, Air Fry in specific models of pressure cookers.
With that said. There are options. There are plenty of things in your kitchen you CAN use to deep fry and soothe that craving for some tasty fried food. Let’s look at options for deep fry in your kitchen – Using what you already have.
Prepping The Area
Going into this, we should always take into account safety. Hot oil accounts for some of the worst kitchen injuries I have personally seen. There are several safety tips you can and should use to minimise any risk of using oil. These are especially useful if you deep fry regularly – We all know that the more you do something, the less careful you are.
Ensure your pans and utensils are dry
Keep people and pets away from cooking areas
Never leave hot oil unattended
Wear long sleeves and glasses if you can
Even for well-seasoned chefs (No pun intended), spitting oil can be pretty scary. Mitigate any risk by ensuring all your equipment is as dry as a bone before starting.
You will inevitably get the odd spit of hot oil once you put food in a fryer, especially if frying from frozen. Keep the kids, dogs and cats away from the cooking area – Just in case.
Wear long sleeves – In case of spitting (I have learnt this one the hard way)
With those out of the way. Let’s find the best way to deep fry home without a deep fryer.
Wok
My favourite method for deep frying. The beauty of deep frying in a wok is they heat up very fast and deliver consistent heat. Fill up to 1/3 of the way with vegetable oil, fire her up, and fry.
By only using 1/3 of the wok, you are leaving a fair bit of space and volume for any sloshes or spitting, which will happen—saving clear up and having far less splattered oil around your stove.
The beauty of woks, are they are cheap and designed to be beaten around. I have two “nice woks” I use for stir-frying, which I replace when needed – and a slew of old battered woks I don’t like to use for cooking but are great for using as boiling pans and for deep frying when needed.
Dutch Oven
I feel as though many people miss out on the old dutch oven, thinking they are for roasting and baking only. The truth is, a dutch oven works incredibly well on the stove for pretty much anything. Including DEEP FRYING!
The benefit to a dutch oven is these guys are sturdy, so any worrying about pans going over is eliminated.
You will want to fill the dutch oven no more than halfway with oil and fry.
The only thing you should be mindful of – Is oil in a heated dutch oven will take far longer to cool down. So leave it an extra hour than you usually would let any excess heat stored in the pan subside.
Stainless Steel Pan
The old trusty pan. For several reasons, I tend to steer clear of using stainless steel to deep fry. The pan and handles get RED hot, and sometimes deep frying in stainless steel can leave a strange discolouration on the bottom of the pan. It’s only cosmetic, but every time I pull a specific pan, I have previously used to deep fry in and out of the cupboard. It annoys me!
However, those aside. Stainless steel pans are perfectly equipped to handle deep frying. Just be aware of the above, and have a few oven mitts ready to handle the pan!
Everyone on earth will have a different opinion, and it’s all down to personal taste. Oils, when used for deep frying, can impact food taste. This is why I opt for oil with little flavour. I much prefer to use the deep frying process as a way to cook my food rather than having it add flavour to the food.
Canola Oil 9USD/Gallon
Canola oil is widely found and considered a “healthier” alternative to vegetable oil. However, you should be confident in the fact that no food which has been deep fried will count as “healthy” food.
Due to its smoke point (I won’t get too technical), Canola oil is perfect for frying.
Vegetable Oil 8 USD/Gallon
A slightly cheaper alternative. Vegetable oil has been used since the dawn of deep frying. Vegetable oil is my choice, as I use vegetable oil for 99% of my cooking, including bread, making a stir fry, deep frying and cakes.
The versatility of vegetable oil means I always have tonnes of it in storage, and I would rather only have one type of oil in the house for everything. Rather than hold different oils for different functions.
Peanut Oil 15 USD/Gallon
Peanut oil is the most healthy oil to deep fry with, which makes it a substitute for many looking for a different lifestyle. Peanut oil is considerably more expensive than the other oils on this list. The added allergen of peanuts means not many people will choose to use peanut oil.
Fun fact: Not all peanut oil contains allergens – But that’s a conversation for another day!
Corn Oil 11USD/Gallon
The only reason I add corn oil to this list as I used to swear by only having corn oil in my cupboards. Since then, corn oil prices have skyrocketed, making me flip to vegetable oil. If the truth is told, aside from the colour, there is little difference between corn and vegetable oil. I will happily go with either, based on the price.
You can not and should never attempt to use a pressure cooker to deep fry. Oil and a pressure cooker do not mix. However, there are many ways you can deep fry in the kitchen.
My suggested method is some vegetable oil in a Wok, and if you don’t have a Wok, a dutch oven or a pan will suffice.
When deep frying, you should be on the highest safety alert. Deep frying with oil pots must be cared for and watched at all times.
