Fundamentals of Food Technology

Fat as a medium of cooking

Sautering : This method involves cooking in just enough of oil to cover the base of the pan (greasing the pan) e.g. dosa. The food is tossed occasionally or turned over with a spatula to enable all the pieces to come in contact with the oil and get cooked evenly. Sometimes the pan is covered with lid, reducing the flame and allowing the food to be cooked till tender in its own steam. The product obtained in cooking by this method is slightly moist, tender but without any liquid or gravy. Foods cooked by sautéring are generally vegetables used as side dishes in a menu. The heat is transferred to the food mainly by conduction.

Frying : Two types : Shallow fat frying and deep fat frying.

a. Shallow fat frying: Here the food is cooked in larger amounts of fat but not enough to cover it. Heat is transferred to the food partially by conduction by contact with the heated pan and partially by the convection currents of the foods. This prevents local burning of the food by keeping away the intense heat of the frying pan.
e.g. paratha, chapatti, cashewnuts, potatoes, fish, cutlets and tikkis.


b. Deep fat frying : Food is totally immersed in hot oil and cooked by vigorous convection currents and cooking is uniform on all sides of the foods. Cooking can be rapidly completed in deep fat frying because the temperature used is 180⁰ – 220^oC. In most foods, this high temperature results in rapid drying out of the surface and the production of a hard crisp surface, brown in colour. The absorption of fat by the food increases the calorific value of the food. Fats when heated to smoking point decompose to fatty acids and glycerol followed by the decomposition of glycerol to acrolein, which causes irritation to the eyes and nose. Generally 10% of oil is absorbed but larger amount of fat is absorbed when oils are used repeatedly.
Samosa, papad, chips, poori, muruku, pakoda, bajji and bonda are made by deep fat frying.


Advantages

1. Taste is improved, along with the texture.
2. Increases the calorific value.
3. Fastest method of cooking.
4. In shallow fat frying the amount of oil consumption can be controlled.
5. Fried foods have greater shelf life.

Disadvantages

1. Sometimes the food may become oily or soggy with too much absorption of oil.
2. More attention is required while cooking and care should be taken to avoid accidents.
3. The food becomes very expensive.
4. Fried foods take long time to digest.
5. Repeated use of heated oils may produce harmful substances and reduce the smoking point.