I love fried food, and I love to make it myself at home, but I hate the smell it leaves behind.
A few years ago my sister got me an amazing gift – a personal deep-dryer.
It holds one gallon of oil, and has baskets that I can lower into the oil. Basically it’s a miniature version of the huge deep fryers they use in restaurants. I can make deep fried chicken or shrimp, crab rangoon, or deep fry an entire burrito. I have an entire cookbook of recipes just for the fryer, and I am trying to make them all! As I said, there is a problem with the indoor air quality. Cooking food in bubbling, boiling hot grease and oil leaves a foul impression on the indoor air quality, one that permeates the house for days afterward! Opening up the windows for natural ventilation is one way to fight this, but it has been so hot and humid lately it seems like too much trouble to leave the windows open. I talked to my regular HVAC tech about installing some new ventilation equipment in the kitchen, possibly a range hood or exhaust fan. Even if I don’t cook greasy foods very often, better ventilation in the kitchen is something I have needed for a long time. Most ovens come with a range hood to pull the foul odors up through the ductwork and out of the house, but mine doesn’t have one. The price estimate wasn’t too expensive, so I plan to have the HVAC tech come back next week and improve the ventilation in the kitchen.