I got a deep fryer and made some fish batter and deep fried some fish. The batter on the fish stuck to the basket and I had a heckuva time getting the fish off the basket, breaking it and separating it from the batter.

Next, I plan to deep fry some chicken, but fear that once again, the batter on the chicken will stick to the basket and I'll have to rip off the batter to get the chicken out. Any suggestions on how I can avoid this?

You can take the basket right out and slowly drop the fish in. If your going to use the basket don't put the fish in the basket and drop it down. Just take the fish out of the batter and slowly drop it in the oil.

Make sure the oil is up to temp 350-375 this is very important.

Well, that surely makes sense. I feel stupid even asking. Thanks, Charlie P!

DougMD,

Be sure to have your cooking oil up to the right temp before puting the meat in.

dog1

Why doesn't it surprise me in the least that you knew this one ?

when I deep fry anything,fish , shrimp or chicken ,I don't use the basket.I just drop it into the fryer and dip it out with one of those big wire scoops. works gerat every time.

If you fry them with a dry batter it will be fine. Any beer batter or "wet" batter will stick to the basket so you didn't do anything wrong. I made the same mistake myself but the directions to the fryer I bought explained this to me after the fact.

I have to disagree with you pike. I worked as a chef for along time believe me you can do beer batters and never have them stick. One restaurant I worked in had an all u can eat beer battered fish fry every Friday. We're talking about 100's of pounds of fish. It's all in the wrist.

Keep the basket submerged and long enough that the temperature of the oil comes back up. "slowly" slip the battered meat into the hot oil. Don't crowd them or you will drop the temperature down. After you see a nice brown developing you can raise the basket and give it a shake to knock off any droplets. Oh, don't forget to shake off excess batter before putting the meat into the oil!

as the cooks saying goes "Hot Pan Cold Oil Foods Want Stick".
take that for what ever you want it to mean.