There is no doubt that fried food like deep-fried Oreos or fried chicken is really nostalgic. But what do we do to oil after all the frying? This blog post is about a critical ingredient in any foodservice operation and that’s fryer oil. We’ll be sharing three practical tips that will improve the life of your oil, enhance the quality of food and save you money.
Let’s get started!
1 Pick The Right Oil
Choosing quality oil like cottonseed oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil or canola oil can give you a better fry life and a higher smoke point. You might think higher quality oils will cost you more money but in the long run, you are probably going to save money. Premium oils like cottonseed oil will give you up to 40% more fryer life in addition to higher performance, less waste of oil and food, a neutral flavor and an added bonus of resistance of flavor reversion which means your Deep Fried Oreos tastes like exactly you expected.
#2 Protect Your Oil
You can protect your oil by keeping water salt and high heat away from it. We all know that water and oil do not mix. Water can actually dilute your fryer oil and reduce its capacity for frying and make it burn out more quickly. So if you have time, try to thaw everything ahead of time so that it fries better. Also, never salt your food over the fryer because salt and oil do not mix either and salt reacts chemically, creating the flavor of soap.
(Note: In the case of Oreos, Freeze the pack of Oreos before dipping them into the batter and frying. Let them freeze for 2 to 3 hours.)
The simple method is, bring your fries or anything you are frying well away from your fryer, put it into the drain pan and season it on the side not on the oil. This way, high heat essentially wears out your oil and causes a quick breakdown. So, do not crank up your fryer right before service thinking you will reach the temperature faster. Oil performs best and lasts long at 370 degrees. If your oil is smoking, it means it’s probably been compromised from water, salt or high heat.
3 Regularly Filter Oil
Filtering your oil is the fundamental practice to improve the life of your fry oil and your food. Whether you filter manually or with an automated filter system, what matters is regularly incorporating this step whenever you are frying food at home.
The primary purpose is to make it zero sediments. Whenever you deep-fry anything in a pan, it often leaves a dark color that gets blended in the oil and leaves little tiny particles. The mindset of zero sediments can greatly increase your oil. If left unfiltered it turns brown and starts to smoke when it’s in this state. Things might be cooked but they are actually not.
