Tell Me a Story
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You have undoubtedly heard the stories
about how the colonel invented
his famous chicken. Maybe you've
even found that dreadful KFC recipe
on the Internet, you know the one -
it uses 6 cups of oil. Keep in mind
that KFC uses industrial, commercial
restaurant grade pressured fryers that
are designed just for this purpose,
they do not use a pressure cooker like
the one you have at home. As for that
"copy cat" recipe - it too
is for a commercial fryer - and not
intended for use in your little pressure
cooker.
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Dangerous Chicken Buckets
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 In
the 1970's several well
known companies were manufacturing
various kinds of "Chicken
Buckets", with both
stove top and electric models
sold for home use. All of
these products were discontinued
because they are unsafe,
and serious burns could
result under normal use
Many people own, and
still use these, old pots,
completely unaware of the
dangers they pose. They
are often sold at garage
sales, and online auctions.
Parts have not been available
for at least 10-20 years,
so the seals are unreliable.
If you, or someone you
know has one of these dangerous
"Chicken Buckets"
I strongly urge you NOT to
use it. Toss it out, but
make sure it cannot by used
by anyone else.
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Pressure Fryer Recipes
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If you already own a pressure fryer
stick with the amount of oil stated
in the owners manual, and
follow the directions
provided by the manufacturer. Do
not change the amount of oil called
for in the recipes provided.
You
can mix your own breading-coating ingredients
to suit your tastes, but
do not alter the amount of oil.
Pressure fryers are more costly than
pressure cookers. If you can't justify
the cost of purchasing a pressure fryer
you may want to try some of the safe
recipes
for making pressure cooker "fried"
chicken. My versions use very little
oil, and while they take a bit more
time, the results are very good.
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Not a day goes by that I don't get
a request from someone looking to turn
their pressure cooker into boiling oil
bomb. If you are reading this now, you
are about to find out that you absolutely
CANNOT
use your pressure cooker as a pressurized
deep fryer.
A pressure cooker IS NOT a
pressure fryer.
A pressure fry
pan IS NOT a pressure fryer.
Used properly, today's modern pressure
cookers are very safe,but even
small amounts of hot oil under pressure
will splatter and damage the gasket.
The same gasket that performs well at
250 degrees in normal use, may melt away
in 400 degree heat of boiling oil and
cause serious damage.
If you're thinking about trying to fry
in a pressure cooker please read the
warnings in your owner's manual. Unless
you have purchased a real pressure fryer
your owner's manual will have restrictions
against using any amount of oil above
1/4 cup.
Yes, there are some diehards that
insist that they have successfully used
their pressure cooker as a fryer for
30 years with no troubles at all. Hopefully
their lucky streak will continue, but
it's like a game of Russian Roulette. Just because you've "heard"
of someone who used their pressure cooker
to deep fry successfully, that does
not mean you will.
Using a large amount of boiling hot
oil under pressure is a potential for
an extremely, dangerous disaster. Unless
you invest in a pressure FRYER It's
not worth the risk of being burned,
or endangering your family, by exploding
boiling oil just for a $9 bucket of
chicken.
If you want to do
pressure frying then buy a pressure
fryer. Fagor
makes a pressure fryer, and so does
Magefesa.
Read carefully, because each of these
manufacturers make several different
models, but only one that is
made for pressure frying. Pressure
fryers have an additional safety
feature consisting of a heavy duty metal
bar that clamps and locks over the top
of the lid in case of an accident. Pressure
fryers also cook at a lower pressure
than pressure cookers.
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