ATK baked onion rings - not so great

[Duer 157099]

I'm posting this because it's shocking when I try one of their recipes and it's not outstanding. In fact, this is the first, I believe.

I'm not even sure why this didn't work for me, but I'm sure it didn't.

Basically it has a batter of buttermilk, egg, salt, pepper, cayenne, flour. Then dipped into a fine crumb of a mixture of potato chips and saltine crackers.

Put onto a baking sheet with oil that had been heating in a 450 degree oven, so the onion slices sizzled when you put them on the sheet.

Anyway, not sure why I'm detailing the recipe while saying that it didn't taste so great! LOL, but whatever, FWIW.

[AwakeAtLast]

1. The potato chips would turn me off

not even sure about the saltines.

Panko bread crumbs popped into my head as being a better alternative. I may have to try that, because the rest doesn't sound bad!

[Warpy]

4. That's just what I thought

"EEW! Why didn't they use panko?"

The only other things I might do to the batter are use a little paprika and a teaspoonful of sugar.

[hippywife]

2. Yep.

As soon as a recipe includes potato chips and/or saltines, I pretty much move on. I don't think every ATK recipe is necessarily the best way to make something. I don't always care for some of their methods.

[pengillian101]

3. Onion Rings.

batter of buttermilk, egg, salt, pepper, cayenne, flour

That batter most likely works great!

Dip in plain flour first so the batter sticks.

Deep fry onion rings a few at a time.

Then drain and keep warm in a 250 degree oven while you deep fry the rest.

If you want to keep them after that, then - freeze them. Then baked to warm is ok.

[eleny]

5. I saw that on the tv recently and wondered. Thanks for the review!

[Tab]

6. Also, what kind of oil did you use?

I don't know what issue it was in, and I'm about two issues behind on my reading, and can't find my current issue anyway (it's somewhere in my mail pile and I didn't find it at first glance).

In general, and I've worked more at home with french fries, peanut oil is best. Canola is weird and gives them a flat taste. Olive oil would not be recommended due to its low smoke point. Oil type definitely affects the taste. I don't know what they recommended. Also if you pre-fry one in a little saucepan, and then incorporate that used oil into the other oil, you'll get better results (has to do with the science of oil, which we covered in another thread somewhere). It's been decades since I've worked in a restaurant with a fry-o-lator, so I don't remember what kind we used there, but at home (and I have a mini deep-fryer, which I haul out about once a year), I always use peanut oil.

Also if you are re-using oil that you cooked some other kind of food in, it could impart the taste of that food. Usually you should try to segregate the types of foods to different oil supplies. Not all food - I guess that mixing french fries and onion rings are okay, but I know that cooking, say, chicken strips in the same oil that you do french fries in, gives the chicken a weird taste. I know a movie theatre near me that does that (they serve dinner with the movie) and all their crap tastes like everything else they cook. I also remember that - when I did work with a fryolator - certain foods (generally breaded clams (whole or strips)) would impart a nasty taste to everything else, so we also did those separately.

Anyway, just some thoughts on possible alternative problems that may have messed up your experience. Or it could just be a lousy recipe, don't know, but if I find the issue I'll check it out.

- Tab

On edit: I just found the article (thought you were talking about Cook's Illustrated). They suggest vegetable oil. I suggest you try peanut oil. If it still sucks, then turn your attention to the coatings as others have mentioned.

[Duer 157099]

7. ATK=Cook's Illustrated, same difference (and Cook's Country)

They're all the same gang, they don't fool me with their cutsy country song, hah!

Yeah, the oil. I do know that peanut oil is the best, but didn't have any on hand; used veg oil.

I'm more inclined to think it was the crumb mixture. It did remain crispy, which was one of their main goals, but I just think it somehow compromised something in the taste.

Course, there's always the chance that it was the brand of chips or crackers I used... can't rule anything out really.

[Tab]

8. It is the same group

but they intermix the terms and I was thinking of the magazine, Cook's Illustrated, not the ATK website or show (which I don't think I get).

There is a big difference between veg oil and peanut oil.

By the same token, they explicitly said vegetable oil, probably just trying to use ingredients most people would have, which would imply that they got there results with veg oil. You might have better results with peanut oil, but based on the recipe, yes, that's what they suggest, so it must be something else.

To my mind, there's only one kind of Saltine cracker, so unless you have a generic brand, or one of the variations of the original (like "low sodium" or something) then it's probably something else, most likely the potato chips. I do note that they specified "kettle cooked" potato chips, of which there are still a zillion brands, but they're a lot different than, say, traditional Lays or Ruffles or whatever. If you didn't key on the "kettle cooked", that would have a big flavor difference. It's a different style of chip, with a different flavor and texture. Companies make a point of pointing out the "kettle cooked" when they offer it, so you can get them easily in any major supermarket. Most major brands now offer some version, and a trip into the natural food aisle will get you lots of smaller, but often better, versions. Cape Cod brand is one of the earlier ones and very good, but a lot of them are very similar.

The only other things that come to mind are whether or not your cayenne is fresh, or 10 years old like so many unpopular spices in my cabinet, and did you use fresh ground pepper or just whatever was in the pepper shaker (which will never have as strong a bite, although it is more finely ground (which is also why it won't have as strong a bite)).

I'd start with that - double check the chips, your spices (or at least rub them between your fingers before you add them, to open up their flavor), and if you're curious, experiment with the oil. If you have traditional saltines, then that's probably not the culprit (again, of course, unless the recipe simply sucks).

- Tab

Oh, and on edit - as a subscriber to Cook's Illustrated they sent me a sample copy of Cook's Country. Personally, I thought it sucked and wasn't worth the money, and would accumulate and never get read.

[Duer 157099]

9. Now that you mention it, I do recall them specifying the chip

but when I watched that episode I just thought, eh, I'll just use the same chip that I like to eat (using the "cooking with wine" argument about cooking with what you like to drink). So I used Ruffles, plain. So yeah, that could be it.

As for the cayenne, I'll have to check, but it's recently acquired (not that that really means anything)

Black pepper I always grind per use.

Saltines -- not even sure of the brand, that's how rarely I buy saltines (or even look at the box) - but I did buy them quite recently, with this recipe in mind.

So many variables. Sigh. It sort of takes things full circle for me because if nothing else, I have learned over and over again that I should trust ATK and never mess with their recipes even one iota - because that's what THEY do! (doh!) But I didn't think I was messing with their recipe, until now that you start mentioning things like kettle cooked chips...

[Tab]

10. Well, hopefully it's as simple as that...

You can get the full recipe on the ATK website if you want to check any other omissions, but I'd say using Ruffles instread of kettle-cooked chips would be a significant variation.

Let us know what happens!

- Tab

[hippywife]

11. And after all the speculation

it could just be that onion rings were not meant to be baked. :shrug:

[Duer 157099]

12. LOL, good point - although, honestly I don't think that's it

The texture was good, the onions themselves nicely softened and tasty.

It was something else. Probably my fault.

:hi: