How Often Should You Change the Oil in a Deep Fryer?
Have you ever paid attention to your deep-frying oil? How many times have you been reusing it? Changing deep-frying oil is undoubtedly a highly ignored kitchen practice in every part of the World. However, what people don’t realize is that by not changing the deep-frying oil, they are not ruining the taste of their fried foods, but their health is also at a huge risk.
Deep frying requires a lot of high-quality oil in an abundant quantity. Therefore, many home cooks or professional chefs might be tempted to reuse it for much longer than they should. This common kitchen practice might help them save a lot of their time and, of course, money. However, what they don’t know is that reheated cooking oil can raise inflammation, cholesterol and acidity levels to a great extent.
Therefore, to keep the taste of your fried foods fresh and your body protected from increased cholesterol, acidity, and inflammation levels, it s necessary to change the oil for deep frying after some time. Now, you might be wondering how often to change the oil used for deep frying? Well, it depends on many factors - what type of oil you are using, what food you are frying, how frequently you filter the oil, how many times the oil has been used and at what temperature the oil is heated.
Scroll down to find everything you need to know about keeping the deep-frying oil clean and healthy.
What are the best oils for deep-frying?
Deep frying is all about high temperatures. The food needs to be fried at high temperatures for the perfect crunch and crispiness. However, not all oils are best suited for high temperatures. Oils like canola, sunflower, and vegetable oils have high smoke points. Therefore, they are best suited for high temperatures.
Deep frying in oils with low smoke points will not only result in less flavorful fried, but the oil will also become rancid after 1 to 2 uses. Not sure which oil to deep-fry your chicken wings in? Here are a few best oils for deep frying:
- Canola oil
- Sunflower oil
- Corn oil
- Peanut oil
- Avocado oil
If you want your food not to have a distinct flavour, it is better to stick to the first three oil options. However, if you don’t mind your fried food having a unique peanut or avocado flavour without any addition to the recipe, deep-fry them in peanut or avocado oil.
How often should you change the oil used for deep-frying?
Have you wondered how often the deep-frying oil should be changed to avoid getting a burnt taste in your foods as well as getting sick due to consuming rancid oil? Well, it depends on many things. First of all, foods that are fried in it significantly impact its quality.
For example, if you frequently fry breaded foods in the oil, you must change it after 2 to 4 uses. It is because the food crumbs use a high temperature to fry. Therefore, the oil can go rancid easily. Similarly, for non-breaded food, you can reuse the oil 6 to 8 times. However, the usage also depends on how the oil is maintained after frying.
If you don’t strain or filter the oil after the frying process, the oil will get contaminated by the excess batter within a short period. To help you better understand, here are simple points to remember to avoid reusing oil more than its intended period:
- For french fries and other vegetables (non-breaded food items), change the oil after 6 to 8 uses.
- Change the oil after 2 to 4 uses for breaded, poultry, meat, and crumbly foods.
- For breaded fish, change the oil after 2 to 3 uses.
Signs of rancid cooking oil
Cooking oil can become rancid for many reasons. From wrong storage to overheating, the cooking oil can easily become contaminated and unhealthy for consumption. When the oil is heated at high temperatures, it becomes dark in colour and thick in consistency, indicating signs of rancidity.
Therefore, if you don’t change the oil you use for deep frying frequently, you are exposing yourself and your family to many contagious diseases.
Here are a few signs of bad oil that need to be changed right away:
- Pungent smell
- Adding burnt or stale taste in the fried foods
- Darker in colour and thicker in consistency
- Gives out more smoke than usual
- Foamier when heated
3 Health risks associated with reusing deep-frying oil
Reusing the deep-frying oil is completely fine. However, reusing it for longer than it should be used cause life-threatening diseases. Therefore, you must not take the matter of changing the deep frying lightly.
Here are a few major health risks associated with the consumption of rancid oil:
Cancer
Reheating the oil more than it is intended to makes it carcinogenic, and consuming anything that is carcinogenic has the possibility of causing cancer. Many health reports back up the fact that aldehydes (toxic elements) are produced when oil is reheated. Therefore, the more you reheat the oil, the more aldehydes are produced.
Consumption of rancid oil can increase free radicals in the body, resulting in inflammation. The rise in inflammation will eventually reduce your body’s immunity and make it more vulnerable to infections and diseases.
Heart diseases
Food fried in oil that is overly used and reheated can increase the levels of bad cholesterol in the body, increasing the risk of developing many contagious heart diseases. As a result, often fried food lovers are diagnosed with heart diseases. However, the real culprit behind these diseases is not fried food. Instead, it is the rancid oil used in the frying process.
Therefore, if you are fond of deep-fried food too, make sure to change the oil frequently. Otherwise, you may not know when you fall victim to heart disease, stroke, and chest pain.
Bloating
Do you often feel bloated after eating deep-fried food? Many people may blame it on fried food. However, the real culprit behind the burning sensation is the reheated cooking oil used in the frying process.
Often people complain about having acidity and stomachaches after eating roadside deep-fried food. It happens because these local vendors do not frequently change the oil to save money. Therefore, it is better to satisfy your deep-fried food cravings at home.
How to make your deep-frying oil lasts longer?
Deep frying is a cooking technique in which the food must be submerged in abundant oil to get crunchy and crispy. However, considering the rising cooking oil prices, it has become quite hard for people to dispose of it after 6 to 8 uses ( in some cases 2 to 4) and pour new oil into the pan.
Many people may consider reusing the oil for much longer as an economical option. However, what they don’t realize is that they will have to pay double the price later for treating the diseases caused by the consumption of rancid oil.
For people looking for an economical option, here are a few ways through which they can increase the lifespan of the oil used for deep frying without causing any harm to their health:
- Always strain or filter the oil after you are done using it. If you use the oil daily, you must filter it thoroughly twice a day to prevent any excess batter and impurities from settling.
- Store the oil in a tight lid container to avoid any outside particles falling into it. If you use a deep fryer, keep it covered with a cloth when it is not being used.
- Keep the oil thermometer with you while deep frying to keep track of the temperature. Frying food at an extremely high temperature cannot only burn your food but also make your oil rancid.
- Add salt to the fried food after deep frying. Otherwise, the salt particles in the food will negatively impact the quality of the oil.
Conclusion:
Changing the deep-frying oil after a few uses has remained an ignored kitchen practice for a longer period. However, now that people have turned more health-conscious, they are paying a little attention to it. Many home cooks and professional chefs pay too much attention to finding the right balance between spices and cooking at the right and healthy temperatures that they often forget the most important aspect - changing the deep-frying oil.
Therefore, you must not trust any fast food restaurant or cafe when it comes to deep-fried food. Whenever you crave deep-fried food, grab some Southern Fry Kings’ Chicken Fry or Seafood Fry Mixes and prepare a mouth-wateringly delicious fried food for yourself right at your home. Satisfy your cravings without putting your health at risk! Southern Fry Kings - An ultimate choice for homemade fried food!