Accounting for Frying Oil in Recipes

Airliner

Just wondering .. does anyone here have any suggestions for how to account for the oil absorbed during frying and estimating the calories?

For example, my wife makes delicious egg rolls. No problem calculating the calories based on the recipe and ingredients .. but WAIT! ... THERE'S MORE!

What about the oil used to fry them? The only idea I had was to weigh the oil before frying them and again after it cooled down after frying them. Then I would add the calories for the "missing" oil into the recipe.

Anybody have an easier way?

loriannmartin

hmmm interesting question.... i want to know that as well...

Des92

I always account for the amount of oil put in, that way I know it's safe. But if you want to be really precise, the way you suggested could probably work

earthsember

I don't know the answer, but I would love to. I generally just put everything into the recipe option, including all of the oil, and then base the calories off of that. Better over than under

murmbeetle

I just logged in to ask the same question. It seems like your work-around would be accurate, if time consuming (and you’d have to calculate around burnt bits left in the oil and whatnot). But “what percentage of oil is absorbed in frying/deep frying” seems like a question dieticians should have answers to!

neanderthin

That would probably be the most accurate. It takes a second to weight, so I really don't have a better/easier method that would be remotely as close. Possibly weight the egg rolls instead of the oil. Of course, there is the theory that regardless of how vigilant someone is, the likelihood someone has accurately counted their caloric intake, is pretty remote and to weight oneself and gauge over time if you're losing or gaining and make the adjustment to either add or take away food consumed at that point. Cheers.

acpgee

The suggestion by @neanderthin to weigh an egg roll before and after frying is a good idea, but you might need one of those scales that drug dealers use for it to be accurate enough.

But weighing is probbly the only solution as there are so many variables around oil absorption such temperature of the food, temperature of the oil, absorbency of material that is fried (ie aubergines or mushrooms vs peppers or green beans).

soulo_ridah

Find something similar at a store in a frozen food section and see what the package says. Use this for worse case scenario.
I know this is not what you are looking for BUT either dont do fried food OR take it as a once a while "treat" and be done with it.
Weight yourself weekly and see if its stable, going up or down and adjust either calories or exercise.

LifeChangz

so - to consider ~ single one-time fry displaces some of the water. a 2nd fry displaces more water, makes wrap crispier (think kettle chips). perhaps there's an article someplace about the impact of frying and 2nd frying.

seems I read something about that, and there was a bit of information that many restaurants now receive foods that have been pre-fried prepped and frozen when they receive an item, then they thaw and finish with a 2nd fry at restaurant - effectively the fry was evaporating the water in the wrap away.

you would think restaurants that provide nutrition information would take oils used in preparation into account for their numbers. or maybe the difference between regular and kettle fried chips.

edit to add - wow, this is an old thread/blast from the past,

SafariGalNYC

I use olive oil or avocado to sauté quite a bit. If I use 1 teaspoon.. I add the whole teaspoon to my diary. I know some of it coats the pan.. but I’d rather over estimate.

Oil always racks up the calories for me…so I try to count it as much as possible.

oregonmiss

Allrecipes.com estimates 10% of the total amount of oil used is absorbed during frying. Of course, there are a lot of variables, like proper cooking temps and using a paper towel to absorb oil after frying pastries and meats. So, bottom line is that it is a guesstimate. Like safarigalnyc, I would rather over estimate than under.

bvondran1

Might be an old question but a good one! I watched an Alton Brown cooking show some years back where he discussed this - and he measured the oil before pouring it into the fryer, and then, after frying whatever the food item was (we'll call it a chicken breast) he poured the oil back into the measuring cup and there were only 2 teaspoons of oil missing. His point being that if your oil is the correct temperature (hot enough), the food sears and seals and does not sit there absorbing excess oil, and his ultimate point was that deep frying food has a bad rap lol.

neanderthin

bvondran1 wrote: »

Might be an old question but a good one! I watched an Alton Brown cooking show some years back where he discussed this - and he measured the oil before pouring it into the fryer, and then, after frying whatever the food item was (we'll call it a chicken breast) he poured the oil back into the measuring cup and there were only 2 teaspoons of oil missing. His point being that if your oil is the correct temperature (hot enough), the food sears and seals and does not sit there absorbing excess oil, and his ultimate point was that deep frying food has a bad rap lol.

Yeah, there is some nuance in deep frying for sure. For example it's considered a dry cooking method even though your dropping food into hot oil. It's the moisture within the food that turns to steam almost immediately and the turbulence that it generates creates a void between the food and the hot oil. It's when the food has expelled too much steam, aka moisture, and that turbulence subsides and that is for the most part when the oil comes into contact with the food. But, generally cooking something will require some trial and error to find the sweet spot. Done incorrectly, it is a an oily mess.