A lot of people have never used a deep fryer but deep fried food is a wonderful treat that most of us love to savor from time to time. Deep-frying is actually an easy cooking method when you know how to do it and a deep fat fryer is the safest and cleanest way of deep-frying your food.

How a Deep Fryer Works

It is important to read the deep fryer instructions carefully because different fryers work in different ways. You will also need to have the correct oil to cook with because oils need different cooking times and the results vary depending, which oil you use.

Pour the oil into the deep fryer, keeping it well below the indicated max fill line. If there is no max fill line, check the instructions. You will need enough oil so your food is immersed but do not fill it right up because your food will displace some of the oil.

The machine will have a dial or a button for controlling the temperature. Your fryer might let you know when the oil has reached the correct temperature but, if not, you can use a thermometer or toss a crustless cube of white bread into the hot oil. If it goes golden brown in a minute, the oil is at the right temperature to use.

You might have seen the food pyramid on the wall at your doctor’s surgery or you might remember studying it at school or seeing it in your child’s homework. You might not have seen the new food pyramid yet however.

On the older version of the food pyramid, there are several main food groups, stacked on top of each other. The biggest food group, which is on the bottom layer, is rice, bread, cereal, and pasta. This is what you need to eat the most of. Next up are vegetables and fruit. On top of that are dairy, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and beans and right at the top is fats, which you should eat the least of.

The new food pyramid has vertical rainbow colored stripes to show the different food groups. It also tells you how many ounces or cups of each food group you should consume each day, rather than how many servings. A lot of people are unclear how big a “serving” should be.

Is it Important to Follow the Food Pyramid?