Frying Donuts

Source: Anne Charles, The Food Allergy Kitchen, Yahoo Group

When making doughnuts, melt fat for deep fat frying in a large, deep pot. Have fat 3" to 4" deep. Heat to 390 degrees (when a cube of bread browns in the fat in 40 seconds). The fat cools some when doughnuts are dropped in--it should be about 375 degrees when doughnuts are frying. If fat is too hot, doughnuts are brown but have not cooked through. If too cool, they become full of grease.

Cover board (big enough to hold about a dozen doughnuts) with pastry cloth and sprinkle flour on pastry cloth. Turn dough to lightly cover it with flour. Roll out dough 1/3" thick. Cut with floured sharp doughnut cutter. Take board with cutout doughnuts close to frying pot to transfer them into pot easily. Use wide flipper to lift doughnuts and slide quickly into hot fat. Fry as many doughnuts at a time as there is room in the pot to turn them over.

Turn the doughnuts over when they rise to the surface of the fat and show a little color. Fry about 3 minutes to completely brown on both sides. Lift from fat with a slotted spoon. Do not prick doughnuts. Drain doughnuts over pot. Place doughnuts on folded paper towels.