8 Brilliant Tips On How To Keep Fried Food Crispy For Longer
How many times has it happened that you create a delicious crispy dish just for it to get soggy until it’s time to serve it? Well, you will be surprised to know how many commercial kitchens face this same problem. Soggy food just doesn’t have the appeal to them and sure enough, you won’t be serving them to a paying customer.
So is there any solution to this problem? Or we just have to deal with the wasted food; the answer is yes. There are several tips on how to keep fried food crispy for longer and we are going to explain them to you in this blog. Let’s get started.
Here’s How You Can Keep Fried Food Crispy For Longer
1. Transfer The Food To Wire Racks
Whether you are an established restaurant using traditional deep frying or a modern sophisticated cafe offering air-fried food if you want to preserve the crispiness of the food, transfer it to a wire rack immediately. Freshly fried food contains a bit of moisture when you take it out. If this moisture stays in, it makes the food soggy.
Wire racks provide a 360-degree circulation to the food, which allows the moisture to escape more evenly and efficiently. Rapidly removing moisture from the food is what makes fried food crispy in the first place and it is what keeps the food crispy.
2. Marinate To Make The Dish Crispier
While the primary purpose of marination is to make the food tender and tastier, it also helps to make the food crispier. Marinades contain ingredients like salt which helps to bring out the moisture for easier evaporation during the frying process.
Our world-class marinades are designed for the HoReCa industry to help chefs create the perfect blend of flavours and crispiness. If you are looking to maximise your dish’s crispiness, we recommend you use our breading marinades like, crispy cajun breading mix and panko bread crumbs (white).
Watch this Instagram video to learn how you can make the perfect marinade for the crispiest foods:
3. Wait Till Serving To Add Sauce
One of the common mistakes that inexperienced cooks make is adding the sauce while the dish is being plated. Sauces contain a lot of liquid, which can seep into the fried food, making them soggier over time. It is best to avoid using sauce if you want the food crunchier for longer.
And if you insist on having sauces with the dish, it is best to add the sauce on the side while serving it to the guest. This reduces the time the sauce has been in contact with the food, eliminating the risk of making it soggy.
4. Use Hot Oil And Remove The Excess Oil After Frying
When you use boiling oil to cook the food, it rapidly evaporates the water present in it. This gives fried food its unique texture and crispiness. On the contrary, if you put the food in low to medium-heat oil, and then increase the intensity of the heat, the food will not be as crispier.
Additionally, if you are looking for an answer to how to keep fried food crispy when transporting, the best idea is to absorb the excess oil from the food right after you take it out. You can use paper towels or go back to our first point of using wire racks to do so.
5. Use Containers With Ventilation
As an experienced HORECA product manufacturer, we understand that options like home deliveries and online orders necessitate the reliance on delivery personnel to maintain freshness. Every chef or cook has at one point wondered how to keep fried food crispy when transporting. Well, there are a couple of ways to do so.
To prevent sogginess from steam, make sure to use containers with proper ventilation channels. Effective passage of air helps to prevent steam collection on the top of the container, reducing the risk of sogginess. Remember, this is only useful when the food is steaming.
6. Line The Containers With Paper Towels
Paper towels are an efficient way to absorb the extra moisture. When preparing the food for take-out or delivery, if the food is dry, such as french fries or fried chicken, you can line the container with paper towels.
When the vapours rise up they get absorbed by the paper towels lined above. The paper towels lined below absorb the extra oil. This makes sure to keep the food crispy until it reaches the consumer.
7. Do Not Pack It When It's Warm
Another way of eliminating steam-induced sogginess is to cool the food before you pack it. Cooling the fried food removes the risk of steaming and condensation. While doing this is not an option for restaurants and cafes, it is a necessary thing to do for caterers who are transporting food for long distances.
Removing the steam from the food before packing it for a long journey, doesn’t just keep the fried food crispier, but also helps to keep them fresh and healthy. When packing the food, also ensure to not pack it too tightly or too loose.
8. Dry Reheat Using Oven
If you are looking for a way to keep fried food warm and crispy, without compromising its taste and texture, use a traditional oven to reheat it. Do not use a microwave oven, as it causes the water particles to vibrate, creating steam.
Instead, bake the food on high heat for ten to fifteen minutes. This reduces the amount of moisture that can enter the food, making it crispy again.
9. Use The Double Fry Method
In the world of culinary excellence, the double fry method is a tried and true technique for achieving the crispiest results without sacrificing efficiency. This method is favoured by many high-end commercial kitchens for its ability to optimise the cooking process. By incorporating the double fry method into their cooking routine, chefs can ensure that their customers are served only the best and crispiest foods.
Initially, you can partially fry the item in a batch and then let it rest in the fridge or somewhere safe. Frying it again before serving to the guest, ensures the food is served crispy and warm, without compromising the texture.
Conclusion
Serving warm and crispy food is a must for every restaurant, hotel, cafe, and caterer. However, there are several factors at play that cause the fried food to get soggy within an hour or so. While this is unavoidable, you can take measures to keep the food crispy for longer.
As a reputed food products manufacturer, FSIPL has helped a number of commercial kitchens deal with this problem with our specialised marinades. We also provide personalised kitchen staff training services to optimise your kitchen. Get in touch with us today to discuss further.
Piyush Chhaochharia
Piyush Chhaochharia is the Vice President of Food Services India Pvt Ltd. He has a great sense of entrepreneurship, steadfast commitment, and passion for quality in the food sector. Piyush has played a pivotal role in transforming Food Services India Pvt Ltd into a leading food products supplier, offering a diverse range of high-quality products and services to customers across India. With a background in organizations like PwC and True North, he has played a key role in growing the business and expanding the product portfolio. An avid reader and fitness enthusiast, Piyush continues to drive the company's growth and success.
