Vacuum and pressure frying fruits and vegetables

[@burnhamaj]

Your videos are always great. Fun quote: "I started by removing the handle and all the safety features."

[@nemod3338]

So what? He removed what was meant for standard use, but added other specialised safety features. And is working in a controlled environment. The pressure gauge is one of the most important tools in this experiment. He knows his limits.

[@РоманГогешвили]

I like how a slice disappeared at 2:22 and a chewing sound was inserted

[@fluffycritter]

I love how many of Ben's videos involve lines like "I removed the handle from the lid and all of the safety features."

[@RimstarOrg]

Cool! A vacuum fried banana slice disappears at 2:18 and at 2:37 there's a smacking of lips sound. We can tell from that which is your favorite. :)

[@AeScarydark]

Ben, I began watching your videos many years ago in undergrad. You are such an inspiration, I built my own vacuum system and attempted dry-freezing my own foods at home. You were a part of my critical thinking development, and now I recently received my Ph.D.. Thanks for being such an inspiration! Much love and respect, keep it up!

[@robfletcher8762]

"I removed all the safety features from the pressure cooker" NSA computers went wild

[@pvc988]

(use TV style) Welcome to... Cooking with Ben! Today we're going to do some vacuum fried bananas. First prepare a vacuum pump, denaturated alcohol and some dry ice. If you're out of dry ice you can substitute it with liquid nitrogen or liquid helium... Haha... nice. It was suprisingly interesting. I have to try this out. And I wonder about those pressure fried fast food chiken.

[@blabby102]

These kind of videos are the reason why I subscribed in the first place. Awesome video.

[@picvan]

At my age and state of ADD I can follow most of your videos, but I hope you archive them because when I'm 50 I know both my attention and technology will allow me to do this stuff at home. Really it would be an even bigger service than your videos already are if all of this was saved for the Home Brew type of people!!

[@clemenceronald]

GREAT IDEA!! I always had to deal with compromise between crispiness vs tenderness. This method also prolongs the oil usage

[@MrMotchel]

I love your videos Ben! As a chef who doesn't have any experience with induction heating on a stovetop or otherwise, I hope you DO take one apart someday and impart your knowledge and findings on(to?) the youtube community! Thanks again for all your intriguing and awesome projects! I've learned so much from you over the years!

[@Clearpost]

You have child's curiosity teamed up with scientific genius. Love and respect for you.

[@abcvideoyoutuization]

You have a very eclectic thirst for knowledge. Your videos are always excellent.

[@JerryBiehler]

Get a small wet/liquid ring vacuum pump. They are designed for pumping wet, dirty things. They are often used in the food industry.

[@gilgameshismist]

Hi Ben, you could enhance the Maillard reaction by dusting the bananas with baking soda just before vacuum frying. This way the low temp bananas will have a more intense caramelisation than your current batch. (this effect is well documented and used in the modernist kitchen)

[@USWaterRockets]

You never finished the explanation for why they use that method to fry chicken... based on a little extrapolation, would the reason be that the pressure fried chicken fries faster than atmosphere fried chicken, or does it have to do with keeping water in the chicken by lowering the frying temperature so it is more moist?

[@AppliedScience]

You're right. Pressure-fried chicken has a crispier and crunchier crust, while the interior is still very moist. This is desirable for breaded, fried meats, but not for fruits. I don't think the total cook time would be affected much, but the temperature differential and moisture differential between interior and exterior will be different. The higher pressure means that the water will have a higher boiling point, and will stay inside the meat instead of getting boiled out.

[@USWaterRockets]

Thanks! One more thing... don't be afraid of inhaling water with that Harbor Freight vacuum pump. We've got the same one and we use it to prime irrigation pumps. We have had many accidents where it drew water. The pump is oil filled and so the water mixes into the oil and starts to foam up and gets trapped in the oil. If you are quick you can dump the oil/water out before it make a mess. Give the water time to separate out of the oil and you put the oil back in and it works fine. You can't break that finely built machine!

[@RonJohn63]

Applied Science Can we mention the company started by the white-haired old gentleman from a certain Appalachian state who perfected the technique?

[@nRADRUS]

+USWaterRockets , some bacterium dies under temperature more then 120 C.

[@hg2.]

+Applied Science Thank you.

[@hellwroughtangel]

Never stop doing what you do :) and sharing, don't stop sharing!

[@piranha031091]

Great, now you've made me hungry for vacuum-fried bananas... Still love your videos though!

[@TheFlacker99]

I look forward to seeing you take apart the induction cook top!

[@TheDrunkenMantis]

I wish I was this excited to learn about random stuff back when I was in school... heh.

[@minecraft2048]

Valve dev I love you! Now build a chemical vapor deposition chamber and make some diamonds for us

[@wesleybecker834]

2:19 hahahaha, love how the chip suddenly disappears.

[@Urganite]

+Wesley Becker - I completely lost it as soon as I saw that. My neighbors are pissed. :(

[@alexandervangraff8475]

"I removed the handle and all the safety features" Yep that's the same saga as huge portion of my makeshift equipment too lol

[@AlexBlate]

A trick used with, e.g., French fries is a two-step frying process. The first fry is at ~300F and cooks the potato through -- there is some dehydration of the exterior, but the temperature is too low to cause browning. The second fry is at ~400-450F and it produces the "golden brown and delicious" crispy exterior. If you watch the way they make fries at In-N-Out, where fries are made from scratch, you'll see that they follow this process. The key with frying foods with a large cross-sectional area is cooking the center without burning the outside. You do want browning (the legendary Maillard reaction) but not, as you say, charcoal. With fruit, you have the added challenge of a high sugar content -- making burning that much easier. For starchy products like bananas and plantains, another option is to slice them thinly and just run the high-temperature fry -- a la making potato chips. The Cubans call these "tostones" (sp?) and they are a personal favorite. If you haven't done so, you should pick up a copy of Harold McGee's "Science of Cooking" -- I think you'd enjoy it. :)

[@davidhoekje7842]

One point. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the claims, but I've seen demonstrations showing that properly deep fried foods retain remarkably little oil. The concept presented is that so long as the food is expelling water vapor at a sufficient rate, there is no opportunity for oil to soak in. Temperature of around 350 F is critical, and removing the food before it's too dried is as well.

[@bhazbell]

Hey, Ben, thanks for another neat vid, and I am eagerly anticipating your teardown and analysys of an induction cooktop. I recently bought one through Amazon, which was so poorly designed as to be about useless for anything other than boiling H2O, and which therefore quickly got returned. Looking forward for your description of how a good cooktop should function.

[@omnirath]

really one of the best channel on KZbin,thanks a lot !

[@DanielBrownsan]

"The seal didn't quite work, so I just whipped up a stainless-steel spring." I have a thoroughly unequipped workshop for cooking.

[@johnnylima1337]

I believe the temperature sensor is probably a thermocouple in contact with the glass. It is necessary to prevent the temperature of the glass cooktop from being raised high enough to fracture the glass.

[@GianniLaschi]

Cool project, as always well done. Ben you have all the capabilities to build a Keshe plasma reactor, you should have a look at these technologies.

[@ixamraxi]

I thought he mentioned discussing how this relates to cooking chicken at restaurants, but then it never happened. Sad Panda. Good video regardless!

[@marcfruchtman9473]

Wow, great info. I am curious if "freeze dryers" include cold traps too.

[@GodHasBeenGracious]

This is a cool video and I'm enjoying your channel, thanks! I am curious to know if you used fresh oil each time. Food browns better in oil that has already been used, though of course your results were so dramatic I doubt it would make much difference.

[@crazyhans]

Can I adopt you as my super cool uncle?

[@AlexBlate]

Ken: are there any particular safety issues when working with oils under pressure or vacuum? For example, do the combustion characteristics change? Also, did you have any issues with the oil breaking down (becoming brown and/or more viscous) to a greater or lesser degree in these experiments? Cheers, Alex

[@garethbaus5471]

Pressure has the explosion risk.

[@uthzx]

This is awesome!!! I'm always leaving your channel impressed and ready to build something!!!

[@kaizen5881]

dude your videos are the best, science is interesting watching real results. I would like to see with animations or simple draw the explanations you tell us that will help, ty. keep doing videos with food+science.

[@MsHojat]

Great video. I really like vacuum fried food (fruit and vegetables), but they're really expensive compared to traditionally dried/cooked products. You guys should try vacuum fried pineapple - it's pretty awesome. I've always wanted to make a DIY vacuum frier, but I guess I now see why it's not easily viable (powerful pump and cold trap). Before this video, I've only heard of one person who did this before, who also converted a pressure cooker. ***** Applied Science What about using a pump that is water-tolerant? It would probably mean not using a vacuum pump though and hence not get enough vacuum though? or do water-tolerant vacuum pumps exist? What pressure is "as low as my vacuum pump could handle"? -29 inHg? That's around 3 KPaa, right? That sounds pretty good. Oh aparently vacuum frying can be closer to 1 KPaa, but I would think -and based off your test- that 3 works pretty well too.

[@NevinWilliams71]

Would you be willing to fry potatoes under vacuum and pressure? Not having any experience with frying bananas, I don't have a frame of reference to apply this experiment towards.. It needn't be a full video, or even any video; perhaps just your opinion on what method makes the better French fry...? How about popcorn?

[@31173x]

As much vacuum as you could manage, 29.5 inches Hg aka about .2 PSIA... That's a pretty good vacuum if you ask me.

[@markbell9742]

Hi Ben: Try pressure cooking under argon, less oxidation, less browning and maybe less burned taste. Cheers, Mark

[@markbell9742]

Hi Daniel: Yes possibly all the darkening is the result of the Maillard reaction in which case the argon would probably have little effect. Ben noted a burned taste (charcoal) which might indicate the extreme temperature end of the Maillard reaction. The burned taste could be the result of pyrolysis (i.e. oxygen not involved) however, it might also be due to some oxidation. But I don’t know. If Ben has the time and thinks it’s interesting maybe we will find out. Cheers, Mark

[@BlackandChrome]

IDEA: Heat the oil to ~130C+. Throw the bananas in and THEN pull a big vacuum. I would hope for something like puffed rice but I think the inside temp would still be too low to flash boil when vacuumed.

[@ninjasteve1987]

I've always wanted to try a setup like this.

[@awantman]

Hey Ben! Great video. I just returned from Vietnam where vacuum frying bananas and other fruits is super popular. I would like to be able to make them at home and I’m wondering if you have improved on this method since your first go? Any help/tips are appreciated :)

[@spinafire]

Science is awesome. I hope to do cool stuff like this one day!

[@markbell9742]

" . . . one day" has occurred as many days as you have been alive minus 1. Today is the current "one day". Start small and simple - Have Fun - Go For It! Cheers, Mark

[@thaisdiniz3386]

I need to watch your video about the vacuum pump . How do you do this? I am very interested in vacuum frying shiitake mushrooms.

[@rapunkill]

They all look good and now I want some

[@catsadilla324]

Try Shitake Mushrooms.They taste AMAZING after being vacuum fried.

[@semegraph]

If you had a more purpose-built seal, couldn't the vacuum be prepared before the bananas are dropped into the grease, and the pump disconnected? Then probably a little dessicant would be enough to protect the pump, right?

[@nattsurfaren]

I have been looking for a saucepan that wouldn't require so much oil when frying. I think a can size would be perfect but then I would need to attach a handle to it. Also a common electric stove wouldn't be optimal because the hotplate will be to big. So I would either have to use bunsen burner to heat it up or mount an electrical heater to it. Just bouncing ideas and thoughts with you guys. It is just nuts how much oil a commercial fryer would require. I know it probably is meant for several uses but after one use the oil doesn't look appetizing for the next time use. Would be smarter to construct something that could save oil.

[@julianchoque7402]

for a healthy option you should keep the temp below 180 centigrade, to use healthy oil like coconut or olive, i think you could attain that BECAUSE of your air vacuum..

[@TheBaconWizard]

Did you keep the banana-water?

[@taylorbarnes8373]

TheBaconWizard and dont forget the lemon-wind

[@yeohcheikxian8235]

Hi Applied science,thanks for this amazing video.I just watch the Astronaut ice cream video and that ice came out from the cold trap after the process.How about this,does it become ice as well?or that's other thing?

[@chathurangaabeysingha7072]

Great video... could you tell me how to make the cold trap?

[@nomstopbite8594]

Hi! Did the banana absorbed much oil since the process is vacuum frying? I've tried it using apple but the end product is not that crispy as i thought. I also used potato but there are blisters with oil inside. Can you explain the reason behind it? Thank you from Phils. :)

[@nuntius91]

I would think the thickness of the slice has a large effect on how much water is removed from the fruit. It's hard to tell from the video, but it looks life the slice thickness increases from the low to high pressure tests, which could be skewing the results.

[@combatplayer]

if you could somehow make the pressurized versions in a none scorched fashion, i think that would be really tasty. maybe by starting at a high pressure to give them the bloated form and then finishing the actual cooking in vacuum. though that might likely just collapse them back into the original shape, or close to it.

[@Jenny_Digital]

Dammit!! Now I have to run out and buy bananas and stuff now. (Drools...)

[@thisnameisalreadyful]

What would happen if you tried to make some pop-corn under low pressure? Would they pop faster and get bigger?

[@crisian76]

Can you do a Kickstarter to get this Vaccum Pressure Fryer mass produced for home use? I'm ready to donate...

[@redtails]

I really liked the video, and pretty much your "material and methods" section, though you're changing too many variables to get any solid conclusions out of this, to be honest

[@nik12937]

To be honest, I think you're wrong.

[@redtails]

nik12937 mind expanding on your statement? The banana cooking variables are pressure, time and temperature. He changes all three between the three groups. If you want to make solid conclusions, you need to keep 2 constant and change one of them, otherwise you cannot attribute your findings to any one particular variable. This is science 101.

[@692Caboose]

***** There's a relationship between pressure and temperature(science 101) , which he was accounting for. This is stated at 5:55 . Also, he was really only testing the differences between cooking under different pressures and wanted to see how it affected the food and if it cooked the food "better". By better I mean if the bananas could be fried in a way that made them tastier/more appealing. If he were to cook them for the same period of time some would've ended up more charred, which would be an inaccurate representation of how the bananas COULD have been. So, he eye-balled it and pulled the normal bananas out early because they would've burned. However, I do agree that the pressure fried bananas could have been an inaccurate representation due to the fact he was unable to eye-ball if they were being charred. Basically, the variable he is changing is pressure, and the dependent variable he is testing for is if the banana tastes better. Pressure is altered because of temperature/pressure relationship. Time is changed in order to not over-fry or under-fry the banana due to the fact the bananas fry at different rates under different pressures. I understand that your viewpoint is due to the way science is taught in school, but that is precisely what is wrong. In school, science is so structured and formal that it causes you to think of science in such structured ways. For example, you're under the impression that all science experiments MUST have 1 variable that changes, which caused you to completely miss the point of this experiment. The point of this experiment was to see which method produced more tastier bananas, which isn't even a variable you can numerically represent.

[@redtails]

692Caboose The relationship between pressure and temperature is the gas law and does not apply to liquids in a one-on-one fashion. Changing the temperature of frying oil does not change its pressure. The setup he's using cannot be used to determine whether the change in the boiling point of water (due to the difference in pressue) is the culprit of the changes being observed. And I'm sorry, I just don't agree with you. If you fried bananas at the 3 different temperatures for different periods of time at the same pressure, you might have seen the same result, despite the pressure being identical in all three. I maintain my viewpoint because my viewpoint is the only correct one. When your setup does not allow one variable to be changed at a time, it does not mean the whole fundamental nature of science is wrong, it means your setup cannot be used to answer your question. I don't disagree with you that you can have several variables change to see which method works best, I disagree with you that you can attribute the outcome to any of your variables. The only conclusion is that "using this very specific method which I have used, the bananas taste subjectively better", aka the whole concept of generalization is dismissed the moment you can't isolate variables.

[@highnoontoday]

Could an adequate vacuum be pulled using two modified pressure cookers linked together? Bring the cooking unit with oil to temp. Then bring the second unit with water (small amount) to boiling. Then when everything is at target temp, bananas go in, everything gets sealed and water unit goes in an ice/cooling bath. Condensation and cooling in the second unit would lower the pressure in the whole system.

[@wongwanchap]

Does the oil vaporize in vacuum? If that is true, I don't think the oil will have high enough temperature to "cook" the food. It is just like you try to boil water on high altitude.

[@KillianTwew]

Do I need a ColdTrap if I have a roughing pump with a Gas Ballest? Tbh, kinda annoying that smaller cheap pumps don't have em

[@bradallen3634]

this is great. gives me ideas for my own science cooking adventures

[@MauroTamm]

could banana potentially get more puffed up if cooked at decent pressure and then suddenly released,causing water vapors to escape?

[@jennifermunar3563]

is it work also with crackers or chips made from mostly flours??? knowledgeable video for students like us

[@CAMSLAYER13]

You can pressure fry anything

[@PatrickHerd]

You have probably thought of this but be careful playing with hot oil and compressed air... Unintended compression ignition would be bad.

[@250kent]

The oil in your vacuum pump absorbs the water like it is supposed to, and should be removed and replace with dry oil regularly.

[@b2gills]

Perhaps you could use a self priming water pump instead of an actual vacuum pump. Then there would be no need for a water trap. It might have other problems since it won't actually be pumping liquids.

[@piyushasthana5996]

IS the slice thickness of bananas were same for all the three types of frying. I am also much curious about the moisture and oil content of all the three types of products. please share the data.....

[@skammeh]

Are you sure this pressure cookers seal is meant for oil? I know there are only a few pressure cookers that are still made that are ok to use with oil.

[@Cas1O]

The bananas don't appear to be the same thickness. Were they cut this way or is it an artifact of the cooking methods?

[@Scottidott]

Vacuum potato chips is probably awesome!

[@kistuszek]

Question, does the vacuum fried banana tastes better than a vacuum dried one?

[@yoppindia]

Thumbs for trying the experiment. But there is a simpler way...you have to use the banana which is not ripe and the right verity banana to make a good chips. Have you tried same experiment on potato...

[@geoffgeoff143]

A very unusual item to cook but I guess the high sugar content gave dramatic visual effect. I've never heard of anyone cooking banana before

[@keenanpepper]

You've lived a sheltered life then. Go to a Cuban or Puerto Rican restaurant and eat some tostones and maduros. They'll blow your mind.

[@faresmurr7537]

What do you recommend? to build a machine from scratch? or buy a ready Vacuum fryer? I am talking about going commercial with 15 batches a day, with 300 kg of fresh product with each batch. Also, is there a way of getting in contact with a professional person who knows how to build a good VF from the bottom up? thank u in advance.

[@970357ers]

Best words in science: "Removed all safety features"!

[@RonJohn63]

If water-oil replacement happened, why are the vacuum-cooked bananas crisp instead of oily?

[@lightdark00]

The vacuum fried banana chip can be both crispy and oily. The crisp part comes from airspace and no water. Without that airspace, which was the pathways for the exiting water, it would be harder to crack. Being oily comes from not allowing the oil to drip away while the oil was still viscous enough to do so. Fried foods only become oily once their outward water pressure is not enough to impede the oil flow inward. This is why frying with very little oil is possible. The oil is used to create a passageway so water may continue to exit. Without using oil, you would end up with a hard dried outer surface that acts as a barrier to more water that could come out, and thus something that'll puff up with steam until it finds an exit. Maybe you already found that out in the time waiting 😄

[@IpelengMotsatsi]

love your videos. what happened to the hybrid rocket

[@havenbastion]

Still watching but all i really want to know is which one tastes the best. My guess is vacuum.

[@ThixWhix]

is the vacuumed banana oilier or the pressured one?

[@TheSenorTuco]

I see what you did there, snacking between the cuts :)

[@lakobrep8601]

so whats the exact temp. did u use for that vacuum fried and the duration?

[@heriveltonalmeida5924]

Hi hi good night you can give me more information about this equipment what makes it how many liters of oil leads in every frying how many pounds of frying does per hour

[@orionas7]

which was the case with less total energy consumption?

[@jonilarsen-haikarainen8733]

Fascinating :)

[@harrickvharrick3957]

@Applied_Science I find the way you explain lacking. (For instance: 230 °C ? Haven't we all learned that we should keep the temperature as low as possible, deep frying - preferably keep it at 170, but certainly not go over 180 or 185 as an extreme because otherwise the toxic compound acrylamide forms ? And the pressure makes that extra heat even more exaggerated, isn't the trick that you need LOWER temperature under pressure ? Also as you already have that pressure, I think contrary to what you say you just bluntly more or less 'burn' that water you talk about or of the food. But that as it may be, I sure would have wanted a bit more elaboration on the vacuum part, a bit more talk in detail about the cooking process, why that lower temperature !) Kudos for making it take place at all though.

[@metrologic5000]

Warning the following video voids warranties but creates yummy fried bananas.

[@soonpaomeng]

Amazing!

[@kepgreenie]

Hi there! I am very interested in someone building one of these for some lab testing - would this be something you would be interested in doing?

[@keithfork8663]

Looks way better than sous vide

[@aserta]

Fried bananas. Well, that does it. I've seen everything. All i need to get now is a cucumber based cooked food.

[@yoppindia]

In India fried banana chips is very famous...but we use the unripe banana for it. Also cucumber is also used for food preparation!

[@MrThumbtack]

Love the info in your videos, but I think you really need to work on your editing. Most of the video was just shots of the three groups of bananas with narration over it. Very cool technique though, I'd love to see how it works with other foods.

[@karlboll]

You ate that banana slice at 2:20, didn't you :-)

[@ZeexPT]

Yes he ate the banana. Thus, disarming the enemy!

[@josipzlk8019]

I saw that too .

[@cosmic-uncertainty]

Hahaha you caught him :)

[@christophermoore5924]

Presto! Disappearing banana slice at 2:19.

[@nicky5185]

I tried to do the very same thing with mum's pressure cooking pan. In no time I got her yelling and screaming at me. My applied science days were over that very same moment

[@lovemovement8808]

how does making a vacuum not suck up all the oil?

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

I was looking at the e-mail and I was like "Who the hell is applied science"