Frying

Frying cooks food using hot fat or oil, either by immersing it or by cooking it on a heated, lightly oiled surface.

Heat transfer: The movement of thermal energy between objects or regions at different temperatures. Hot oil transfers heat rapidly to food by direct contact.
Cooking oil: A plant- or animal-derived fat used to cook food and transfer heat. It is the heat-transfer medium in deep frying and many shallow-frying methods.
Stir-frying: A fast cooking method that tosses small pieces of food in a hot wok with little oil. It adapts frying to high heat, continuous movement, and small portions.
Roasting: A dry-heat cooking method that cooks food in an oven or over a fire. It browns food without immersing it in fat or relying on an oiled pan.
Maillard reaction: A set of chemical reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars that creates browned colors and flavors during heating. It produces much of the browned crust and roasted flavor of fried foods.
Deep frying: A cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. Immersion is one of frying’s two broad ways of heating food.
Shallow frying: A method that cooks food in a thin layer of hot fat, often turning it during cooking. It offers a middle ground between pan contact and oil immersion.
Boiling: A cooking method that heats food in liquid at its boiling point. Water-based cooking transfers heat without frying’s high-temperature fat contact.
Water activity: A measure of the water available for chemical reactions and microbial growth in a material. Moisture moving through a frying crust shapes texture and limits crispness.
Pan frying: A method of cooking food in a pan with a moderate amount of hot fat. It uses direct contact with a lightly oiled cooking surface rather than full immersion.

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