About Chef Glen L. Davis II Expertise I can answer almost any question about food. Food is my passion, if I don't know an answer I will find out and give you the best answer possible!
Experience I am a classically trained Chef. I have been the manager of several restaurants. I have been cooking LITERALLY since I could stand! I strive to learn new things every day and I enjoy helping people and I often assist my mother with a cooking class at her church.
Education/Credentials Trained with several chefs, and I have attended Culinary School. I have also worked every position in a restaurant setting from washing dishes to Kitchen Manager/ Chef. I also teach cooking classes and teach private lessons.
Question Where can I ger information on mass cooking of Pickles, fried snacks?
Answer I have never had to cook (in volume), fried pickles. However I have made them in small batches. This is how I do it, I will also include a few "websites" where you may be able to find other recipes.
When I cook fried pickles, I like to let them "dry" in a colander or strainer for AT LEAST 30min. I prefer to let them "dry" over night. If in a rush I will simply press them in-between some paper towels (I find Bounty or any other good quality, highly absorbent ones). I then use a "simple breading procedure" to coat them before frying.
S.B.P.
1. After the pickles are "dried", coat evenly with "seasoned" ALL PURPOSE or BREAD FLOUR
I season the flour (4 cups) with 1-2 tbsp. black pepper, 1-2 tbsp KOSHER or SEA SALT, 1 tsp ground mustard (dry powdered, prepared will not work!), 1 tsp white sugar, and 1 tsp granulated garlic.
2. Dip the "floured" pickles into a "tempura" or "beer" batter immediately before frying.
"tempura/beer batter recipe follows
Cooking
1. Place the "battered" pickles into a 360F pre-heated fryer, being careful not to place "battered" pickles on top of each other and being careful to not burn your fingers/other body parts!
2. Cook until the pickles float and have a light golden color (be sure to "flip" them over at least once to achieve even cooking/color)
3. When finished cooking carefully remove the pickles from the hot oil, place them onto a "bed" of paper towels, to remove excess oil, and season with KOSHER/SEA SALT (taste one first to see if they need salt!). Then serve IMMEDIATELY!
Like all fried foods, if they are not served/eaten within a few minutes of removing from the oil, they will become "soggy".
TEMPURA/BEER BATTER
Roughly 2 cups of ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, 1 cup RICE FLOUR or 2/3 cup CORN STARCH (rice flour is better but both will work), 2-3 tsp BAKING POWDER (baking soda will not work!), 1 cup "brown ale" (I like Red Hook or Sam Addams) for "beer batter" or 1 cup club soda/Sprite/tonic for "tempura batter". Depending on the humidity of the air and the flour you may need more/less beer/"soda". You are looking for a "batter" just a little bit THINNER than pancake batter. If it is to thick add liquid a FEW DROPS at a time! If the batter is to thin add flour 1 Tbsp AT A TIME!
A few good websites that should have other recipes for fried pickles are
www.allrecipes.com
www.foodnetwork.com
And you can type FRIED PICKLES into Google's search engine and find some good recipe links.
I hope this helps, if I can be of further assistance please let me know! Good luck and most of all HAPPY COOKING!
