Fried fish - how much oil sticks to the food?

W_Stewart

I fried 5 ounces of fish today - about 4 hand-sized or smaller relatively thin filets. I used peanut oil and trying to figure out how much to factor into my calories.

I use a thin breading so there isn't a lot of oil that absorbs into it, and I pat excess oil off with a paper towel when removed from the skillet. I'm guesstimating...maybe a teaspoon soaks into the breading? So 4 filets means 4 teaspoons, or 1.33 tablespoons.

Ever estimated this and have a different number?

galgenstrick

If I eat fried food, it's usually a cheat meal for this reason.

W_Stewart

I will make it fit into my daily net calories, but just want to know so I can log it. Heck, even if I go over I want to log it

galgenstrick

Just do a quick experiment then, if you know how much breading you used, put that same amount of breading in a pan at medium heat. Keep adding a measured amount of oil until the batter is saturated and can't hold any more oil. That will be the best estimation, otherwise you have to just guess, log it, and move on.

BTW, I have no idea if that experiment will work or not. I'd just log 2 tsp. per fish fillet and move on.

PopeyeCT

I would assume all of it does. But if you want to be exact, weigh the amount of oil that you use. They after it's all done pour off what's left in the pan and weigh that. The difference is what's left on the fish.

You don't really need oil to fry a fish. Just use a non-stick pan. You can use some zero calorie cooking spray if you want.

W_Stewart

The way I do it involves a 1/4" of oil and it fryes one side of the fish at a time. Most of the oil remains when done, but it also gets a lot of the breading in it so you can't really weigh it before and after.

mathandcats

Try to scoop most of the breading out and look at the volume of oil left behind, then. If you're losing, I'd go with overestimating if unsure.