I can't seem to make zucchini fritters for anything

[Dennis S]

I've tried a dozen recipes and winged it a dozen times bu it never works out. This time I grated the zucchini, grated some onion, added bread crumbs, added an egg, added a dash of milk, and added seasoning. I fried them in corn oil after squeezing the water out three times wih paper towels.

My post-mortem is I should not have used milk and added some flour.

[Z]

Maybe try a dash of vodka in there instead of milk? Granted, the article is talking about fried chicken, but the same theory applies to tempura or fritters if you've got any flour in there.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/four-...icken.html
HOW IT WORKS
Adding vodka to your marinade mixture helps create a crust that stays light and crunchy instead of heavy, greasy, or leathery. How does this work?

As chicken fries, liquid evaporates and the breading dehydrates. After that, proteins in the marinade and flour will set and start to brown, giving the crust flavor. The more surface area you have, the crunchier the crust and the more flavorful the bird.

Vodka helps in both of these realms. First, it's much more volatile than water (which is the main component of buttermilk, pickle juice, or pretty much any other fried chicken marinade you'll be using). As such, it evaporates much more rapidly and violently. This helps drive moisture off the crust of the chicken faster, while also creating bigger vapor bubbles, adding surface area to the crust. Both of these things mean crisper, lighter fried chicken.

Finally, vodka also inhibits gluten formation. Gluten is the protein network that is created when flour and water are combined. This is important for things like bread and pizza crust, where a stretchy, chewy structure is desirable, but for crisp crusts, you want to minimize gluten development.

[Ombligo]

or just drink enough of the Vodka that you don't care if your fritters are crispy.

[cbelt3]

My zucchini recipes all start with "Throw the zucchini out". The veggie I love to hate !

[OWC Jamie]

corn meal instead of bread.
lose the milk

paper towels likely aren't absorbing enough water either.

[Dennis S]

billb wrote:
corn meal instead of bread.
lose the milk

paper towels likely aren't absorbing enough water either.

Yeah. I think I was thinking about meatloaf when I added the milk. Next time I'll let them drain on paper towels in a collander.

[OWC Jamie]

Dennis S wrote:
[quote=billb]
corn meal instead of bread.
lose the milk

paper towels likely aren't absorbing enough water either.

Yeah. I think I was thinking about meatloaf when I added the milk. Next time I'll let them drain on paper towels in a collander. You need a bowl almost the same size as the collander with some a lot of weight in it to press the excess water out.
When I can't find th cheesecloth ( which is always) I take a towel, put the grated zuke in the center, bring up the corners kinda like a poultice and keep twisting the ends so that the zuke gets squeezed like in a press. Squeeze the heck out of it and then a little more. The dryer the zuke the less slimy/messy the fritter will be. Seems to stick to the pan less too if you're a little stingy with the olive oil or butter.
My worst fritters are always from too wet zucchini.

[M>B>]

You have to wring out zucchini like this...

[OWC Jamie]

M>B> wrote:
You have to wring out zucchini like this...

perfect illustration



and don't pour the juice down the drain if you don't want to drink it ( add to apple juice or simple syrup/seltzer/soda and your favored intoxicant )
or water a plant with it.