Comments on: Cut the Fat in Frying

By: Dental Modesto

Dental Modesto — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:58:44 +0000

This is an interesting post, at the same time, very informative. I think we can't really stop ourselves to be delighted by the fried dishes or snacks. It is still better to have a balanced meal. If you have fried meal, then you must have vegetables as a side dish if not, a fruit must be your dessert. I think this is a better way to have a healthy diet, just don't over eat, of course.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:03:05 +0000

For frying, I use a 50/50 mix of olive oil and canola oil. The canola lessons the strong flavor of the olive oil while minimizing the smoking effect. I fry foods in moderation. It seems that no matter how you prepare food, there is always going to be something or someone telling you that it has to potential to cause cancer. Keep your bad habits to a moderate level…enjoy your life and the foods you eat.

By: Sandi W

Sandi W — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:03:06 +0000

Mary,
Deep fry with peanut oil.
Sandi W

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:01:02 +0000

Oil is not the culprit. Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid (asparagine) during certain types of high-temperature cooking, such as frying, roasting, and baking. High starch foods like potatoes and grains (and coffee, oddly) form acrylamide when cooked at high temperatures.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:59:06 +0000

I am sorry to burst the people’s bubble who think that using olive oil for frying or stir-frying is a healthy choice. It is well understood (by chemists at least) that oils are delicate and heat damages them. You do not have to reach the smoking point to create carcinogens and destroy some of the healthy substances found in oils like olive oil. Even just heating it for a short amount of time will make this happen to some extent. If you want to be safe, do not cook with oil, or at least use some more stable forms like coconut oil, but definitely not olive oil! Also, I know that oven fries taste great and are healthier than fried foods, but acrylamide (a very potent carcinogen) still forms. The browner the fries the worse. I am not sure why this has not become a big subject yet in the health community in the US, but if you go to europe, they have been aware of this for years. I guess the main research about this comes from germany… but people who are interested in their health should try to find information about this. To be honest, I wish these things were not true. Cooking just becomes so much harder when you are restricted in so many ways. I love food and cooking and the deeper I dug into the real science of it (I am a biochemistry graduate) the more I hated having this knowledge. But once you let go of these ways of cooking and try to find other ways of making food, you will discover that there are so many ways of cooking or simply preparing foods that dwarfs the food you have eaten in the past (foods you thought were healthy). I use my dehydrator a lot and sautee things in broth. I try to think outside of the box and create delicious sauces (by pureeing nuts, seeds, vegetables etc) and interesting dishes…

By: Kathy Rector

Kathy Rector — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Hi everyone, I use peanut oil only when I deep fry, the trick is to put only a few pieces in at a time, as you don’t want to put to much in at a time, as it will lower the heat, which will cause the food to absorb the oil. If done correctly, they will come out crispy. I’ve been cooking for 45 yrs, and have experimented with different oils. I to use evoo for frying and saute’ing up food, and it comes out fine. Remember your stove doesn’t get as hot as a commercial stove does in restaruants, as the burner is smaller then theirs. If you notice orientals cook with peanut oil, as it has a high tolerence to high heat and doesn’t smoke like other oils, it is very light compared to all the other oils. You can try using a little bit of it when baking fries in the oven, plus you can even put the fries on a cookie rack and set on cookie sheet to bake. I cook everything with Evoo, except when deep frying, I do use peanut oil.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:14:23 +0000

Hi Dana – I think I found a way to bake sweet potato fries and keep them crispy… my family loves them more than the fried version, so I must be doing something right. once you coat the cookie sheet with pam and place the slices on it, drizzle about a 1/3 tbsl (per sweet potato) used over them and about 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper – I just use my best judgement. Put them in the oven at 350 to 375 for about 40 minutes. good luck and enjoy!

By: Frank Glover

Frank Glover — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:51:39 +0000

I USE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TO FRY SWEET POTATOES—— -(FRYS). WHEN I’M I’M GRILLING-I LIKE THEM EXTRA CRISPEY -IF DONE CORRECTLY THEY TASTE A LOT LIKE FRENCH FRIES.

By: RB

RB — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:02:43 +0000

Re: Olive Oil — because of the lower smoke point, cooking at high temps you will indeed get smoking — and also risk undercooking the interior of meats, esp bone-on chicken (outside nice & crisp, rather quickly, inside raw — ugh!) — those that disagree with the olive oil comment are sauteing, not deep frying, by their own admission. Here’s a little copy & paste info on recommended high temp oils:
The oil or fat you use for deep-frying should have a high smoke point — the temperature to which it can be heated without smoking. Butter and margarine have low smoke points, so they aren’t good for frying but work for light sauteing. The best oils for deep-frying and high temperatures are refined safflower and sunflower oils, peanut, safflower and soy oils. Refined almond, avocado and cottonseed oil are also great if you can find and afford them, and canola oil is usually not a problem either.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:46:24 +0000

Please beware!! I’ve recently been reading that many restaurants and food producers are following the trans fat ban by replacing hydrogenated fats with other oils/fats – often palm oil or palm kernal oil. The problem is that the “new” oil/fat is very high in saturated fat. Keep an eye out, remember your best bet is monounsaturated fat.