2.3. Frying conditions
10 slices per sampling time were deep-fried in 8 lof hot oilcontained in an electricalfryer (BeckersModelF1-C, Italy) at each of the three temperatures (120, 150 and 180 1C) and the two pre-treatments mentioned. Potato-to-oilmass ratio was maintained as low as possible (0.0035) in order to keep the frying temperature constant (71 1C). Slices were fried at different times according to the oiltemperature until reaching finalmoisture contents of 1.8 g/100 g (wet basis). Previously, the total frying time for each oil temperature and the corresponding sampling intervals were determined experimentally. For each selected sampling time, the slices were drained after frying over a wire screen for 5 min and allowed to cool to room temperature before texture, moisture and oilcontent analysis were done. The oil was preheated for 1 h prior to frying, and discarded after 6 h of use (Blumenthal, 1991). Experiments for texture development and oil uptake were conducted in triplicate.