Americans love fried foods. While this is not always good for us, it is a fact. There’s nothing we don’t love to deep fry, even ice cream. While the flavor is out of this world, it doesn’t necessarily have to be yours. So is frying better than frying and why? Will it help to grill our foods?
Which cooking method actually adds the least amount of fat to your food and are there any other surprises we need to know about?
Realistically, common sense says that adding fat to a deep fryer or frying pan is to cook something that is already fatty, namely meat, which is the most commonly fried item. The least amount of fat will be added when the food is broiled, as the flames, or electric broilers are going to strip the fat away from the food.
In a test done at the University of Pennsylvania the differences were quite incredible. Three samples were taken, one roasted, one lightly roasted and the third deep fried. The steamed sample of meat done under the broiler had about one percent extra fat, while the fried variety had almost double that, but surprisingly it was nearly identical to the deep-fried variety.
Where the problem comes is that we usually put too many fried meats and other things in the batter. Meat honestly doesn’t absorb that much fat on its own, but breading and other factors take up a great deal of it.
Now using a lean fat, we see that frying may not be as heinous as you really thought, but… and there is always a but in the equation, many of us are not satisfied with just frying. We pay little attention to the types of oils we fry with, many times buying the cheapest kind instead of the best kind for us.
There are good fats and there are bad fats. Butter can be taken in moderation and if you fry your food in it then you are asking for heart disease in your future. Vegetable oil, pure corn oil is probably the way to go if you are going to fry and forget the flour or breading. Fry without it to keep absorption of fat to a minimum.
Clearly, broiling is the best way to cook your food, provided you do it on the stovetop. Though some of us thought grilling our food outside was the answer. It cuts down on the fat but there are some considerations to factor in as well as grilling.
California scientist James Felton studied the effects of cooking on the traditional variety of barbecue coals and believes that some barbecued foods may actually cause cancer.
This can happen in two ways, but the most traditional way, according to Felton, is when the fat from the meat drips onto the hot coals, causing a chemical reaction on the flames to blacken the meat. If you move the hot coals to one side so that the fat doesn’t drip directly onto the coals it tends to prevent this. Cooking on a gas grill can also be of some help in this battle.
If you’re grilling over traditional coals and trying to use regular wood as opposed to charcoal to barbecue your meat, you might want to try cooking at a lower temperature.
If none of this appeals to you, the reality is that steamed foods taste best. First, the flame comes from above and the fat drips into a pan below, secondly, there is less fat than frying, and third, the grill can do things to your body that you’re not prepared for.
Do we need a better reason to cook your meat or fish?
Source by Bernard Duke
