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    best oil to use

    Posts: 348 Member
    edited January 27 in Food and Nutrition
    I rarely deep fry foods, but a few times a year I want real deep fried food. Today I make fried chicken thighs. I used vegetable oil. I used to think canola oil was the healthiest, but based on stuff I've read, I'm not so sure anymore. So, what do you think is the best oil to fry with? I am also on a tight budget, so it has to be inexpensive. I use olive oil for sauteeing. Thanks.

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    Replies

    • Posts: 2,153 Member
      If I am hell bent for frying, I tend to use saffron or canola oil. They tend to have the lowest saturated fat levels of the oils. If I am going to be pan-frying something, I usually use PAM.
    • Posts: 105 Member
      If you're frying at high temperatures, peanut oil can take the heat. Lots of other, healthy oils degrade at high temperatures (e.g., olive oil). If you're going to fry something twice a year, I recommend peanut oil. For the rest of the time, you can find recipes for "fried" foods that are actually baked in the oven (Weight Watcher cookbooks are known for things such as oven fried chicken--it's quite good).
    • Posts: 40
      Maybe try coconut oil?
    • Posts: 60 Member
      By far the best oil I have used is grape seed oil. It doesn't make your food taste funky and it has a high flash point so it can be used for deep frying. Plus it has so many health benefits.
    • Posts: 3,400 Member
      Maybe try coconut oil?
      He said tight budget. Coconut oil is like $15 for a medium sized jar.
    • Posts: 41,865 Member
      show previous quotes
      He said tight budget. Coconut oil is like $15 for a medium sized jar.

      Also, can't take the heat for deep fry....

      OP, 2nd Peanut Oil if you're only deep frying on occasion. Otherwise I would say vegetable oil or canola oil. I'm not a fan of either really, but if you're deep frying with frequency, either of those would be the way to go.
    • Posts: 47 Member
      Coconut oil is AMAZING to cook with (and use as a moisturizer lol) and is very healthy for you, but you have to be careful frying with it because it has a very low smoke point (350 degrees). For deep frying I would go with peanut oil. It's low in Saturated fat and the smoke point is 437 degrees. But now that I've googled grape seed oil, I may switch to that.
    • Posts: 3,509 Member
      extra virgin olive oil
      extra virgin cocnut oil


      water
    • Posts: 1,752 Member
      Lard

      palm oil
    • Posts: 12,142 Member
      I rarely deep fry foods, but a few times a year I want real deep fried food. Today I make fried chicken thighs. I used vegetable oil. I used to think canola oil was the healthiest, but based on stuff I've read, I'm not so sure anymore. So, what do you think is the best oil to fry with? I am also on a tight budget, so it has to be inexpensive. I use olive oil for sauteeing. Thanks.

      The answer is duck fat
    • Posts: 82 Member
      I'll second the palm oil, it won't lose it's nutrients at a high heat either.
    • Posts: 47 Member
      show previous quotes
      He said tight budget. Coconut oil is like $15 for a medium sized jar.

      It depends on where you buy it from and what brand you get.
    • Posts: 732 Member
      Lard

      palm oil
      Lard. It withstands very high heat and it's cheap.
    • Posts: 17,299 Member
      I don't deep fry much, but I like peanut oil when I do. For pretty much everything else I use extra vrigin olive oil.
    • Posts: 2,747 Member
      show previous quotes

      It depends on where you buy it from and what brand you get.

      I bought a gallon for $50 on amazon. That beats all those little money guzzling health stores.
    • Posts: 1,752 Member
      show previous quotes

      I bought a gallon for $50 on amazon. That beats all those little money guzzling health stores.

      I got 32 ounces for $6 at Walmart. Probably not the highest quality, but still good enough.
    • Posts: 16,356 Member
      I like peanut oil for deep frying but it's just a taste preference since I'm not big of the flavor on foods fried in vegetable oil. I use either coconut oil, olive oil or butter for sauteing and which one I use depends on the food being fried. I use vegetable oil for greasing pans and sometimes in baking.

      And it is possible to get coconut oil on the cheap, you just have to look for it. I got a gallon for $20 from a produce co-op I belong to.
    • Posts: 41,865 Member
      LOL at the people suggesting coconut oil and olive oil for DEEP FRYING.

      37171895.jpg
    • Posts: 258
      Which oil you use is going to depend on what you are using it FOR.

      For example, Olive oil is a good oil for many things. However, do not use it to deep fry.

      Oils have various smoke temperatures. (the smoke point is the temperature at which an oil gives off smoke. When an oil reaches its smoke temp it's basically converting into something as bad as a transfat no matter what sort of fat the oil began as. So don't use an oil in an appllication where you will exceed its smoke temp.

      Olive oil happens to have a relatively low smoke temp, so while olive oil is an excellent oil for many applications, it's definitely not one to use for deep frying.

      Relative "smoke temps" for a variety of oils:

      Olive Oil: 320F
      Butter: 350F
      Coconut oil: 350F
      Clarified Butter:375-425F (depending on the clarity)
      Lard:370F
      Canola:400F
      Cottonseed Oil: (primary ingredient in Crisco) 420F
      Palm Oil:446F
      Peanut Oil: 450F
      Safflower Oil: 450F
      Soybean Oil: 450F
      Avocado Oil: 520F
    • Posts: 3,930 Member
      For deep frying lard, vegetable shortening, or peanut oil is what I've always used. I tend to use vegetable shortening if I'm using a cast iron skillet to fry chicken or if it's going into the deep fryer and won't go over 350ish I'll use canola oil or peanut oil.
    • Posts: 348 Member
      Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like peanut oil is the winner.
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