Hot Oil, Outdoors, Done Right
Fry
Sby SoCueCoDeep-frying over a propane burner or a bed of coals, outside where the mess and the smoke belong. Hush puppies, fried chicken, catfish, and okra all come from the same pot. The method is simple: enough oil, the right temperature, small batches, and the discipline not to walk away from it.
When to use it
- Hush puppies and cornmeal-battered anything alongside a barbecue plate
- Chicken, catfish, and okra when you want crust, not smoke
- A crowd, since a pot turns out batches fast once it is up to heat
Not the move when
- Windy days; a burner flame that blows sideways cannot hold oil temperature
- Anywhere without a flat, stable, non-flammable surface for the pot
- When you cannot give the pot your full attention start to finish
- Wet or frozen food going into hot oil; it spits and boils over
The Method
How It’s Done
Set up on solid ground, away from everything
Burner on level dirt, gravel, or concrete, ten feet from the house, the deck, and the kids. Pot no more than half full of oil; it will rise when food goes in. Keep the lid within reach and a box of baking soda nearby. Never water on an oil fire.
Bring the oil up slowly
Clip a fry thermometer to the side of the pot with the tip in the oil, not touching the bottom. Medium flame, and let it climb to your target: 350°F for hush puppies and okra, 325°F for bone-in chicken, 365°F for catfish. Peanut or another high-smoke-point oil.
Dry it, batter it, drop it away from you
Pat everything dry before it hits the batter. Lower each piece in with a spider or slide it in at the edge so the oil moves away from your hand. Small batches: crowding the pot drops the temperature and you get grease instead of crust.
Hold the temperature
The oil falls 25°F or more when a batch goes in. Nudge the flame up, then back down as it recovers. Turn pieces once when the bottom is golden. Fish out any loose bits of batter between batches before they burn and turn the oil bitter.
Drain on a rack, salt right away
Onto a rack over a sheet pan, never paper towels, or the bottoms go soft. Salt while it is still glistening. Chicken finishes at 165°F in the thickest part; everything else is done when it is deep golden and floats.
Shut it down safely
Kill the flame, lid on, and let the oil cool completely before you move the pot. Strain and reuse it two or three times, or let it set and bin it. Never pour it down a drain or on the ground.
From the pit
Pitmaster Tips
Avoid these
Common Mistakes
- Filling the pot more than half full
- Walking away from hot oil, even for a minute
- Wet food into the pot and a boil-over
- Crowding the pot and frying at 275°F
- Draining on paper towels and steaming the crust soft
- Reaching for water when something flares
Gear for this method
What You'll Need
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