Don't believe the anti-frying crowd

Posted Friday 10. April, 2026

Category: Personal  ✷  ▼ Download (.md)  

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*This article is a version of a post originally published 2022-07-27.

Growing up, I was told that frying -- deep frying, that is -- is so dangerous, difficult, and expensive that it is now even worth the hassle. Adam Ragusea would go on to publish a video on the subject, "Deep Frying at Home is a BAD IDEA", which finally made me confront this deep fear of the scalding oil. Could it really be as bad as I was led to believe?

It was finally time to try frying. I had nothing but success. I had been lied to. Not only were my french fries crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but the cost of raw potatoes, canola oil and heating were pennies (This was originally written in 2022 when the price of canola oil was high due to COVID-19)

Now I was left with a mass of unusable oily waste -- or was I? I was able to fry another batch a few hours after, and once the oil had cooled, able to successfully dispose of it in the garbage. No drains blocked, only arteries. That's one thing they didn't lie about, fried foods are for fat greasy pigs.

One of the big complaints I encountered online is that you will always end up with "one batch that has turned cold, and one batch that is piping hot". Here's a super secret tip for the at-home cook: You can just crowd the pot right before serving -- this will warm up the cold fries and keep the warm fries warm. It's really not that complicated.

Don't be like me and wait until embarrassing adulthood to fry delicious foods in a pot. Follow simple safety precautions, don't put anything containing water near the oil, and use common sense.

MARANATHA

Mathias L. Mayaan-Baruch

The original article had photographs of the fries. I have since lost them, so please imagine a pot of fries. This article has also been rendered useless with the advent of the airfryer, which started popping up in conversations and homes in Denmark shortly after.

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