Air fryers seem to work better
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
10 points (91.7% liked)
CheapHealthyFood
910 readers
1 users here now
This is a place to share ways to eat inexpensively - whether that's with recipes, finding coupons, or preservation techniques like freezing or pickling.
PLEASE NOTE: What is considered "healthy" or "cheap"? This will differ for every person. Please take this into consideration when reading and commenting.
All nutrition suggestions/advice should be taken with a grain of salt, as it's best to consult with a medical professional and/or reflect on your own personal eating habits and budget prior to taking advice from friendly strangers on the internet.
Diet- or budget-shaming will not be tolerated. Some people may prefer organic food, others may have food intolerances, some may be vegan, vegetarian, or keto.
Bottom line: be kind, considerate, and aware of advice from strangers on the internet.
Thank you!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
This is the way. I’ve had good luck cutting it into small pieces, coating in oil (or ghee), and then air frying until you’ve gotten your preferred level of doneness.
Thanks, yeah I think maybe this is what I’m missing.
I don't think cauliflower has the sugar or the protein to crisp up on its own with just fire, you would probably need to rely on some form of coating that includes sugar or deep fry it with some batter in which case the textural element would come from the batter and not the cauliflower. Maybe I could offer some more specific advice if I knew what was the context of you making this.
I'm not entirely sure tho.
I can't say I've ever tried to crisp it, I have cooked the shit out of it and can't really think it if crisping. Even coming out brown in an oven or a skillet I still don't think I'd say it's ever crispy, you'd have to put something heavier in the breading, I'd try panko?
I would actually consider:
-
Not cutting up florets and cut it with as much surface area as you can so there's surface area to hit your pan/ grill/ baking sheet.
-
Maybe consider a simple syrup solution applied to the cauliflower and then browned. The sugar on the surface ought to provide the required texture.
Maybe consider a simple syrup solution applied to the cauliflower and then browned. The sugar on the surface ought to provide the required texture.
That is actually something I planned on trying. I often fry chicken and add some balsamico and honey or lately sweet chilli sauce to glaze it, and I thought of trying this with cauliflower for a change.
Interesting. Hadn’t thought of simple syrup. I love ordering crispy cauliflower bites when I am out and now that I’m thinking about it they do tend to often have a glaze.
Maybe try searing it on high heat until it gets brown and crispy-ish on the outside and then put it in the oven? Breading it might be another option, but in both cases you're only going to get it semi-crispy on the outside - I think it has too much water content to crisp all the way through.
Edit: Haha, searched for "crispy cauliflower" and that's what came up: https://minimalistbaker.com/quick-crispy-cauliflower/
Yes this is one of the recipes I tried. Perhaps I need to make some adjustments and try again.
Raw cauliflower is pretty crispy
I would call it crunchy vs crispy.
Truly, it’s only downhill from raw.
Air frier gets it crispy.
The oven is not the friend of crispy cauliflower, neither is submerging it in oil.
I do not own an air fryer but I’m starting to think I may need to invest in one.
If you use a wet batter you will get a crispy coating with tender cauli insides. It's wildly delicious.
Do you have a good batter recipe for cauliflower? The one I tried didn’t work out too well.