10 tips to make perfect churros and do not explode

Info.

Easy
30 minutes
For 8 people
0.2 € / person
360kcal per 100g.

Ten tips to get perfect churros

“We sift flour into a deep, wide bowl. We bring water, oil and salt to a boil and pour it over the flour. Mix until you get a hard and homogeneous paste with which to fill the churrera. We fry in abundant oil. ”

This is, broadly speaking, the recipe for churros . We do go into detail, as it does not have much more to explain, as it is a basic recipe in terms of ingredients that does not require any complicated culinary technique.

However, getting perfect churros, although it is not impossible, is not easy either.

To get some churros or porras without a flour flavor, well cooked, without unnecessary excess fat, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, it is necessary to be patient, practice a little and put these tips into practice.

The ratio of water and flour is key in ensuring that the dough acquires the proper consistency. As a general rule we have to use the same amount of water as flour. However, this may vary depending on the brand of flour we buy, the humidity of the environment and other climatic factors that are beyond our control. That is why it is convenient to do various tests of proportions or try different types of flour until we find the one that works for our churros.
Oil in the dough yes or no? As with the proportions of water and flour, the issue of adding oil to the dough is optional. Each teacher has his booklet and there are people who add it and people who do not. The oil helps to make the dough more malleable and this is appreciated when we work the steakhouse and we want the dough to come out, which is quite hard and difficult to handle. If we opt for using oil, it better be extra virgin olive. A tablespoon for every 250 grams of flour and 250 grams of water will be enough, although we can go up to a tablespoon and a half. No more.
You have to follow the recipe to the letter. If it says “we bring water, oil and salt to a boil” we have to bring this mixture to a boil. Heating is not enough. No. It has to boil. The same with the flour, it is necessary to sift it so that it blanches when adding the boiling liquid on it. With this we pre-cook it and prevent our churros, if we fry them properly, they taste like raw flour.
The mixing and kneading point is very important. Do not underestimate. If we do not get a homogeneous mass, the churros will deform with frying and, but still, they will explode in the oil. That is why it is great to use a mechanical mixer, but if we do not have one we do the process by hand. We start with a wooden or silicone spoon and mix, mix and mix until homogeneous. The dough is very hot (we have added boiling water so that the temperature is around 100ºC), but as soon as we can handle it with our hands, we grease it with a pinch of extra virgin olive oil and knead it by hand. We look for a smooth and soft dough, as soon as we reach this point we stop kneading.
We fill the churrera with it, pressing tightly so that there are no air bubbles inside, otherwise our churros will explode when frying and we will end up putting the kitchen in a shell, with oil and dough everywhere. Not to mention the danger we ourselves run from burning ourselves. If we don’t have a steakhouse, we can use a pastry bag with a star nozzle.
The frying oil must be very hot and abundant. Do not scratch when filling the pan well, the churros have to float in it. If you give us to save our churros they will be equally rich, that’s for sure, but the star shape will be rare and they will not look as beautiful as they should.
Better if we use extra virgin olive oil. Yes, we know, it is more expensive than any other variety traditionally used for frying, but it is that extra virgin olive oil gives the churro a unique flavor that is not achieved with any other.
To keep the oil warm, let’s not fill the frying pan with churros, so finish as soon as possible. With this we only manage to lower the temperature and absorb too much oil. So better three in three, four in four or the right number for the capacity of our container.
During the frying process, we turn the churros so that they are browned on all sides equally, the dough is cooked well inside and they acquire that crunchy texture that we like so much about the churros.
Finally, when removing the churros from the pan we let them rest for a couple of minutes on absorbent paper so that they are not greasy and, of course, we pass them through sugar. The latter gives our churros the crisp and sweet touch that they lack to become the perfect churros.