The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

which the oil actually catches on fire) can vary from oil to oil but are generally in the 375° to 550°F ran ...

BEER-BATTERED FRIED COD Serve with Thin and Crispy French Fries (here). NOTE: This recipe will work f ...

½ cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda Kosher salt ¼ teaspoon paprika ¾ cup ligh ...

splashes. Repeat until all 4 pieces are in the oil. Cook, shaking the pan gently and and agitating t ...

supermarket, or near the mustards and pickles. For a slightly sweeter sauce, substitute 2 table ...

FRIED FISH SANDWICHES WITH CREAMY SLAW AND TARTAR SAUCE NOTE: This recipe will also work for any flaky ...

SERVES 6 For the Slaw 1 small head cabbage, cored and finely shredded (about 6 cups) ½ small red onion, t ...

3 tablespoons mayonnaise, preferably homemade (here) 1 tablespoon sugar For the Sandwiches 4 cups peanut oil 1½ ...

large bowl. Combine the beer and vodka in a small bowl. Add the remaining ½ cup flour to a large bow ...

Onion Rings At their physical core, onion rings couldn’t be more different from fried fish. But at ...

browning and toughening of the main ingredient being fried (that would be the onions or the cod) while si ...

Not enough batter. When there’s too little batter, the onion is exposed to the full ravaging ...

The “split shell.” This occurs when everything appears to be going fine until all of a sudden, through so ...

The dreaded worm. This is the most heinous of onion ring crimes. It occurs when the onion ...

ring—the membrane will slip off. Onions have a thin membrane between each layer. Because of their ...

tedious process—about as much fun as trying to brush my dog’s teeth, and much less cute. Soaking the rings ...

Onion rings should have a crisp coating and break cleanly when you bite into them. EXPERIMENT: Gluten De ...

Just as in a kneaded bread dough, gluten—the network of interconnected flour proteins—can form in a heavi ...

crisp and tender. Lesson learned: do not overmix batter. ...

FOOLPROOF ONION RINGS ...