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I find myself getting hit too much by boiling oil. Even when I keep my face really far from the pan it hits me.

Are there any general guidelines or best practices to avoid getting hit by boiling oil?

Debbie M.
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Bar Akiva
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  • What's the setup here? Are you deep frying in a pan on the stove? Frying things with moisture that splatter a lot? – Cascabel May 15 '16 at 14:17
  • @jefromi that usually happens when im either adding veggies for a saute or when I place and flip chicken breasts. Not deep frying. – Bar Akiva May 15 '16 at 15:55
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    Possible duplicate of [Cooking steak in frying pan, problem with oil splatter](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/61927/cooking-steak-in-frying-pan-problem-with-oil-splatter) – Catija May 15 '16 at 23:09

1 Answers1

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In a hot pan, the oil droplets jump off for three reasons usually:

  1. When you add oil to a hot pan that is not completely dry yet (i.e some water present in the pan). This residue water will boil, turn into steam and splatter oil.
  2. When you are adding wet food to the hot oil. The water turns into steam and splatters oil. Solution: Making sure the food is fairly dry before putting in oil. E.g. drying vegetables with a paper towel.
  3. When you are turning food. Solution: as @Wayfaring Stranger said, flip to food towards the opposite end, not towards you.

Another thing might be that you are using a very shallow walled-pan, but mostly, splattering oil is due to water being present.

Ron
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  • I would also imagine using less oil to be part of the solution – Throsby May 15 '16 at 23:29
  • Yeah, drying food before you add it deals with 95% of spatter. If there's more than that, I tend to cover it with a pan lid. – Steve Cooper May 16 '16 at 09:43
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    @SteveCooper : normal lids can actually be dangerous -- moisture escapes from the food, then condenses on the lid. When you lift the lid, you shake the water back into the oil, causing it to suddenly spit just as you lift the lid. Look for a 'spatter screen' (sometimes 'splatter screen'), which is a metal mesh mounted on a ring that you can set over the top of the pan. Water vapor can still escape, but it greatly reduces the oil escaping. – Joe May 16 '16 at 15:40