What causes frying something to be crispy as opposed to boiling it?
In: 2042
Adam Raguesea has a good video on this. [Why we cook food in oil](https://youtu.be/ktVSavCov9Y?si=B0qds4iy_U4hUkGa)
Basically oil can heat to higher temperatures than water can (because water will vaporize at temperatures above 100C). Browning reactions happen at higher temperatures.
Simple answer, oil “boils” at a much higher temperature than water. You’re deep frying at 350-400 degrees typically whereas water can get to the max of 212. You need 300+ degrees (farenheit) to get browning and mallard reaction. In theory you could use super heated steam to “fry” something and get browning.
why does the world run away from real flames and stop ovens that use them?
only a real flame keeps the predators out.
The bubbling that you see in oil isnt the oil boiling, thats steam – water is being removed from whatever is being cooked.
Boiling = adding water
Frying / oven / air fryer = removing water
Because oil and water don’t mix, frying in hot oil turns the water to steam and it leaves your food.
Food with no water is the opposite of soggy, which is what food WITH water is.
Not everything gets crispy when fried. Mostly only starches do, and what we perceive as crispiness is just dried cooked starch. You can toss an unbreaded piece of vegetable into a deep fryer and it won’t get that crispy unless you overcook it. You can also toast breadcrumbs in a pan or in the oven and it’ll get similarly crispy when it dries out.
Obviously you can’t get dried cooked starch if you’re submerging the starch into water.
Water is an exceptional solvent, oil isn’t. I expect that’s the reason things get soft when boiled in water.
Try putting a cracker in a glass of water, then try putting one in a glass of pure rubbing alcohol. The one in the water will get soggy.
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