The Freezer Hack For More Structured Deep Fried Oreos

The exact origin of deep-fried Oreos is shrouded in mystery. In 2008, a treat trailer manager at Jack's Fries in Florida, George Barnard, told the Calgary Herald that he'd invented it in the 1990s while "messing around one day" at a fair in the United States. In 2015, Terrence Neuzil, a former radio show host, told the Iowa Press-Citizen that he and his brother created the deep-fried Oreo in 1995 while tossing things into a deep fryer during a morning show. A different story credits Syrian-born immigrant Charlie Boghosian. Foodbeast reports that Boghosian began working at the San Diego County Fair as a youngster, and by the 1990s, was operating a food truck there. Before the 1996 fair, inspired by McDonald's fried apple pies, he began experimenting with frying sweet treats. "The Oreo cookie ended up being the best-tasting one," he said.

However it all started, unsurprisingly, the fair-food staple has caught on, and recipes for homemade fried Oreos have found their way onto the internet and into kitchens. Unfortunately, this popularity may have created a different mystery for home cooks: How do you keep deep-fried Oreos from getting too soft? If there's one disappointment with this treat, it's probably that the cookie can lose its firmness after being dipped in pancake batter and hot oil. But The Gunny Sack says there's a simple hack to help address that issue.

According to NPR, deep-frying causes water close to the surface of the food to evaporate. In the case of Oreos, the batter surrounding them expands and traps water underneath. Meanwhile, frying changes a food's underlying structure as oil enters air pockets. That makes it easier for moisture at the center of the item to migrate toward the surface and potentially make foods soggy as they cool off. While describing how to recreate the deep-fried fair fixture at home, The Gunny Sack says freezing Oreos first will help the cookies retain some firmness. Unfrozen cookies will yield softer results. Gunny Sack also says it's OK to use a skillet instead of a deep fryer, but skillet-fried Oreos will have a less-puffy batter coating.

Some might argue that freezing the treat after it's fried can have benefits. Last year, Country Corner, a New York State Fair vendor, debuted "Holy Oreo." According to CNYCentral, prior to frying, the Holey Oreo is gets wrapped in bacon strips. After coming out of the oil, the bacon-wrapped Oreo received a coat of milk chocolate and is covered with sea salt and powdered sugar. Then it's frozen. "The cooling makes it more refreshing and brings out the flavors," Patrick Reeves of Country Corner told CNYCentral.