Wound up making 3 bags (36oz) of croutons. Should be enough for the soup.
They’re so evenly browned. What setting did you use?
Deep fried in canola oil @ 360°F for 4m15s (agitate every minute to ensure even cooking).
My peasant air fryer method can’t compare
You are correct, air fryers are trash. Thankfully, you can undo your mistake on the cheap. Countertop deep fryers are less expensive. (My first one was $30 USD before I realized “holy shit I’m good at this,” and upgraded to a larger $65 unit.)
It’s easily the second-best purchase I’ve ever made.
#1 is the OXO Mandolin (largely used for prepping French fries).
Edit: accidental Markdown.
You make perfect croutons and aren’t terrified of mandolins? You sure you’re allowed in the *dull men’s club?
I’m extremely afraid of mandolins, which is why I bought the brand specifically designed for arthritic geriatrics.
I also have a big “oops boiling oil” scar, which chicks dig (I’m told).
I’m allowed in the dull men’s club because I deep fried bread for three hours.
What soup are you making?
We have a family recipe for escarole soup. The closest commercial approximation would be Progresso Italian Wedding Soup. Making it from scratch means rolling a carpal tunnel amount of meatballs, each the size of a marble. Then making an impossibly large and thin omelet, cutting it into strips, then hand rolling and chopping those strips. Then you have to make soup.
(I’m not the one making the soup, it’s completely out of my wheelhouse. That task falls to a team of mother/daughter pairs. Deep frying the croutons is the only way I can meaningfully contribute.)
It’s Monday. Thanksgiving is all the way on Thursday. In my house these would clearly be snacking croutons. They’d never see the soup.
We had a Thanksgiving where there weren’t enough croutons to go around and now it’s one of the perennial stories told between courses. “Do you remember when the kiddie table didn’t get enough croutons?!” There isn’t a person at the kiddie table under the age of 30, and we have long memories.
Now that it’s my responsibility, I won’t let “Remember that time @[email protected] didn’t make enough croutons,” become the next generation’s casual dunk.
Yep. Looks like it.