We’ve been cooking food in oil since the 5th century BCE, in ancient Greece. Around the year 400, the cookbook written by Apicius offers a recipe for chicken fried in olive oil (Pullum Frontonianum).
The method’s evolution followed the pace of technology, since vessels for cooking at very high temperatures needed matching durability. It wasn’t until the 19th century that it was reborn as chicken fried in an oil bath, otherwise known as “fried chicken” – often cooked in cast iron.
Technological evolution led to the oil bath, and then to pressure oil-bath cooking. The latter is a newer method offering a number of benefits. Cooking time and cooking temperature are both reduced, and the crust – which acts as a coating meant to protect the meat – turns out softer and retains more nutrients.
A recent 2016 study published in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science shows that cooking temperature directly affects the flavor of food.
Important technological advances have been made to solve this dilemma. Frying is the fastest cooking method, but a relatively new invention is pressure frying in an oil bath.
The food absorbs less oil, the crust becomes far tastier and more tender, and cooking time is reduced along with the cooking temperature. What’s more, the oil itself can be reused up to four times longer.
Gastroart.ro and Dacris recommends pressure fryers with a 7-year vat warranty.
With the capacity to fry up to 11 kg of chicken using 25% less oil per kilogram, the Henny Penny Velocity fryer sets a new standard for performance and savings. And it’s no surprise. The Velocity series is a completely new fryer, designed from the ground up to drastically cut the cost of high-volume frying. How? This fryer automatically filters the oil after every cooking cycle, in roughly the time it takes to load the next batch. Oil level is monitored and automatically topped up, extending the oil’s lifespan by up to four times and improving product quality.
