Attempting to fry wet food

According to Decoding Delicious, when you add food to a deep fryer (or, for that matter, a pan) and it immediately begins to spurt sizzle, and bubble, what you're hearing and seeing is the naturally present moisture quickly evaporating in contact with the hot oil. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, so when you heat oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, it's no surprise that the moisture in a given food will quickly heat and turn to vapor when the two come into contact.

While water is present in all foods - from a raw potato wedge on its way to becoming a French fry to the beer batter on your fish for fish and chips - deep-frying food that is too wet is not a good idea. Not only will batter or breading not adhere to wet food but if it isn't patted dry before diving into hot oil, the splatter and sizzle from wet food can easily burn you.