A New Device for Studying Deep-Frying Behavior of Batters and Resulting Crust Properties

The formation and properties of a crust during and after deep frying are difficult to study. Batter pickup (the amount of batter adhering to a product) and core properties affect crust formation and properties of the crust in such way that it is difficult to compare batters of different viscosity or cores with different properties. Moreover, it is often difficult and laborious to separate the crust/batter from the core. Another problem is the poor reproducibility of many fried products. A deep-fried model (DFM) was designed, making it possible to study crust formation and crust properties without the difficulties stated above. Two different batter types and three cores have been used to test the system. Crusts obtained from the DFM were evaluated on several physiochemical properties and compared with crusts found around commercial deep-fried products. Results show that crusts obtained with the DFM system are comparable to crusts of commercial products. The good reproducibility of the DFM crusts resulted in low variance in analytical results compared with commercial crusts. This high reproducibility, the versatility of the system, and the ease with which the system can be used offer clear benefits for many potential applications.