foods into the oil a piece at a time will also keep battered
items from sticking together in a large mass.
Avoid Crowds
Adding too much food to the hot oil in a single batch will
cause the oil temperature to drop rapidly, reducing the
effectiveness of your fry. Your food won’t crisp properly,
and batter-coated foods may lose some of their coating. A
good rule of thumb is to never add more than a half pound
of refrigerator-temperature food per quart of hot oil. So, if
you want to cook that 1-pound batch of fries, you’ve gotta
use a full half-gallon of oil, or go in batches (I suggest
batches). Of course, frozen food should be fried in even