Americans love fried foods. While it’s not always good for us, it turns out to be a fact. There is nothing we don’t like to fry, even ice cream. While the flavor is out of this world, it’s not necessarily good for you. So is grilling better than frying and why? Would it help to grill our food?
Which cooking method really adds the least amount of fat to your food, and are there any other surprises we need to know about?
Realistically, common sense says that adding fat to a fryer or pan adds fat to something that is already fatty, namely meat, which is the most common fried food. The lowest amount of fat that will be added is when the food is grilled, because the flames or electric broiler will cause the fat to melt and separate from the food.
In a test conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, the differences were quite incredible. Three samples were made, one grilled, one lightly sautéed and the third deep friend. The roast beef sample, made under a broiler, had about one percent added fat, while the sautéed variety had about twice as much, but was surprisingly almost exactly the same as the fried variety.
The problem is that we usually put a lot of fried meats and other things in the dough. Honestly, the meat doesn’t absorb that much fat on its own, but the breading and other factors absorb a lot of it.
Now using a lean fat, we see that frying may not be as excruciating as you thought, but… and there is always a but in the equation, many of us are not satisfied with just frying, we pay little attention to the types of oils with which we fry, often buying the cheapest variety instead of the one that is best for us.
There are good fats and there are bad fats. Butter can be eaten in moderation and if you fry food in it, you are setting yourself up for heart disease in the future. Vegetable oils, pure corn oil, may be the way to go if you are going to fry and forget about the flour or the breading. Fry without it to keep fat absorption to a minimum.
Clearly, grilling is the best way to cook your food, as long as you do it on the kitchen stove. However, some of us thought that grilling our food outdoors was the answer. It cuts down on the fat, but there are also some grill factor considerations.
California scientist James Felton studied the effects of cooking over hot coals, the traditional variety, and believes that some grilled foods can cause cancer.
There are two ways this can happen, but the more traditional way, according to Felton, is when the fat from the meat drips onto the coals, causing a chemical reaction when the flame is turned on to blacken the meat. If you move the coals to the side so the fat doesn’t drip directly onto the coals, you tend to avoid this. Cooking on the gas grill can also help in this battle.
You can also try cooking at a lower temperature and moving the coals around if you are going to grill over traditional coals and also try using regular wood instead of charcoal to grill your meat.
If none of that appeals to you, the reality is that grilled foods seem to be the best option. Firstly, the flame is coming from above and fat is dripping into a pan below, secondly, there is less fat than when frying, and thirdly, the grill may be doing things to your body that you are not prepared for.
Do we need better reasons to grill your meat or fish?
