Which is healthier, grilled, grilled or fried?

Which is healthier, grilled, grilled or fried?

Americans love fried foods. It may not always be good for us, but it is a fact. There's nothing we don't like to fry, including ice cream. Although the taste is out of this world, it's not necessarily good for you. So frying is better than frying and why? Would grilling our food help?

Which cooking method actually adds the least amount of fat to your food and are there any other surprises we need to know about?

Realistically, common sense says that adding fat to a deep fryer or skillet is adding fat to something that is already fatty, namely meat, which is most commonly fried. The lowest amount of fat added is when the food is grilled because the flames or electric broiler causes the fat to melt away from the food.

When tested at the University of Pennsylvania, the differences were incredible. Three samples were made, one grilled, one lightly sautéed and the third deep girlfriend. The grilled meat sample, made under a broiler, had about one percent added fat, while the sautéed variety had about twice as much, but shockingly, it was almost exactly the same as the fried variety.

The problem is that we generally put a lot of fried meat and other things in the batter. The meat doesn't absorb that much fat on its own, but the breading and other factors absorb a lot of it.

Now if we use a lean fat we see that frying might not be as hideous as you actually thought but... and there is always a but in the equation there isn't, many of us are not content with just frying, we pay little attention to the types of oils we fry with, often we buy the cheapest kind rather than the best for us.

There are good and bad fats. Butter can be taken in moderation and if you fry your food in it, you are asking for heart disease in the future. Vegetable oils, pure corn oil, may be the way to go if you're frying and want to forget about the flour or breading. Fry without to keep fat absorption to a minimum.

Frying is of course the best way to cook your food, assuming you do it on the kitchen stove. However, some of us thought that grilling our food outside was the answer. It does cut down on the fat, but there are also some considerations for the grill factor.

California scientist James Felton studied the effects of cooking over charcoal, the traditional variety, and believes that some grilled foods can actually cause cancer.

There are two ways it can happen, but Felton says the most traditional is when the fat from the meat drips onto the hot coals, causing a chemical reaction as the flame flares up to blacken the meat. Moving the hot coals to the side so the grease doesn't drip directly onto the coals tends to prevent this. Cooking on the gas grill can also help in this battle.

You can also try cooking at a lower temperature and moving the coals around if you want to grill over your traditional coals, and try using regular wood instead of charcoal to grill your meat.

If none of that appeals to you, the reality is that grilled foods seem to be the best choice. First, the flame comes from above and the fat drips into a pan below, second, there is less fat than frying, and third, the grill can do things to your body that you are not ready for.

Do we need better reasons to fry your meat or fish?