The effects of initial moisture content on sample temperature,moisture loss and crust thickness are shown in Figure 12. The centre temperature decreases with initial moisture content because in creased evaporation in a higher moisture food reduces the energy flow to the centre. Moisture loss increases significantly with initial moisture content because both surface evaporation and subsequent internal evaporation are much higher for a high moisture food. The crust thickness increases significantly with decreesing initial moisture content . For an initial moisture content of 1.55 (d.b.), the crust can form shortly after frying.