Deep frying is a lot trickier than it looks. If the oil is too hot then it will burn and dry out the food. If it is too cold the food doesn't cook properly and comes out greasy. That is why I have come up with the following nine steps as a guide for deep frying.

Step 1: Prepare all ingredients and equipment
Frying is a very fast method of cooking so you need to have everything you will be using on hand. This includes having a frying basket and spider close at hand for removal of the food from the frying medium.

Step 2: Season the food
Food should be seasoned before coating to ensure the correct amount and balance is achieved.

Step 3: Coat the food
Some foods, like fish and meat, need to be coated prior to deep frying. This prevents the food from breaking up and preserves the shape and texture of the food. It will also make the frying medium last longer. Coatings seal in the juices and flavour of the food, and prevent it from absorbing too much of the frying medium.

Step 4: Preheat the deep fryer
The temperature of the frying medium must be hot enough, between 185°C and 195°C, to seal the outside of the food item being cooked. If it isn't, the item will absorb the frying medium, become soggy and thereby lose it's flavour. Too low a temperature will also cause the coating to break up.

Never overload the cooking appliance with large food items as this will cause the temperature to drop.

The temperature of the frying medium must not be allowed to become so hot that it smokes.

The deep fryer should be between half to two-thirds full with frying medium.

Step 5: Shake off any excess coating before frying

Step 6: Lower the foods into the frying medium.
There are two methods to put food into the oil for deep frying.

The first is the basket method. This method is best used for items that are dry coated and involves placing food in a basket and lowering it into the hot oil gently.

The second method is called the swimming method. This is used for all wet coatings and refers to gently lowering food into the oil and allowing it to freely move to the top of the oil. The food usually requires turning to brown both sides. A spider is used to lower, turn and remove food.

Never drop food into the frying medium as it may splatter and splash hot oil onto you and your fellow workers.

Step 8: Remove food.
Once cooked, food should immediately be removed from the frying medium. You will be able to tell when food is cooked when items rise to the oil's surface and the outside is brown all over. However, it is a good idea to sample some of the cooked food because, while it may look brown on the outside, it may be uncooked inside. The age of the oil or the thickness of the food can affect cooking times.

Step 9: Drain the excess fat.
After cooking, drain excess fat by placing food on absorbent paper. If you are not going to use the fryer any further then it should be set to its standby temperature, which is often 100ºC.