Cooking in oil

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MrsHyland
MrsHyland Posts: 87 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Maybe someone can help me understand. Lets say I fry some chicken in 2 cups of oil. Once I'm done, there is still 1 cup of oil left in the pan. Does that mean I actually only used 1 cup of oil and should log it as such? The extra cup couldn't have absorbed into the chicken if it's still in the pan right?

Replies

  • rejectuf
    rejectuf Posts: 487 Member
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    There's no exact science to it, unfortunately. A piece of food deep fried will absorb between 10-25% of the items weight in oil.

    So for example, if you fried 100g of breaded chicken, it would absorb anywhere between 10-25g of oil from the frying.

    I guess you could weigh the chicken before/after frying but it seems like a hassle.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    That's a really large amount of oil to be using! :sick: Use a little Pam and call it good. But if you want to use all that oil - I would probably log it as you described - one cup of oil.
  • TheMrsSpringer
    TheMrsSpringer Posts: 15
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    Ready2Rock206 is right - that is a really large amount of oil to be using. Pam is the way to go. Regardless of the cup remaining, think about the fact that you are consuming a CUP of oil. Could you sit down at the table and drink a cup of oil - think in that fashion when cooking, it will help you make better and healthier decisions. :)
  • FlexinHenrique94
    FlexinHenrique94 Posts: 48
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    I don't know if it's only me, and sorry for escaping the topic a little bit, but after choosing healthy foods, chicken was one of those foods that I just can't seem to like anymore when its fried. I prefer grilled, with a pinch of salt, pepper, lemon and thyme. Try it. Cooking in oil involves too much saturated fats flowing in your veins.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    I love friend chicken and home fries. Yes, measure what is left and count the other as absorbed. It's not exact but it works.
  • dodochoga
    dodochoga Posts: 33
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    yes, if you use 2 cups and when you empty the pan, you end up with 1 cup, there is 1 cup of oil added to your food.
  • MrsHyland
    MrsHyland Posts: 87 Member
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    I appreciate all the responses, thank you guys. The 2 cups was an easy example, not something I'm actually doing. Eating fried food once in a while won't kill me even if I did decide to do it. I'm simply trying to figure out the science behind cooking so I can log things as accurately as possible.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    I had fried chicken and fries tonight. Was nommy. I just guessed 2 TB (28 grams) of oil and called it a day.

    I'm kinda low stress when it comes to logging though.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Can Pam really replace oil in deep (or shallow) fried chicken?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I love friend chicken and home fries. Yes, measure what is left and count the other as absorbed. It's not exact but it works.

    Yeah, this...

    And people...you don't do fried chicken with PAM...please....
  • lesteidel
    lesteidel Posts: 229 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 is right - that is a really large amount of oil to be using. Pam is the way to go. Regardless of the cup remaining, think about the fact that you are consuming a CUP of oil. Could you sit down at the table and drink a cup of oil - think in that fashion when cooking, it will help you make better and healthier decisions. :)

    I could eat a cup of oil if it was olive oil with spices and I had bread to dip it in....

    I don't do that, but I could, easily. I love olive oil with garlic, pepper and salt and bread to dip it in, it's one of my favorite foods.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
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    If you're worried about the calories of oil you could always overestimate a little bit. Also, you could bake them, they will be still delicious and waaay healthier.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    I don't know if it's only me, and sorry for escaping the topic a little bit, but after choosing healthy foods, chicken was one of those foods that I just can't seem to like anymore when its fried. I prefer grilled, with a pinch of salt, pepper, lemon and thyme. Try it. Cooking in oil involves too much saturated fats flowing in your veins.

    Sorry to break the bad news, but if you never consumed another gram of sat fat it would still be flowing around inside of you - you are sat fat dude. What do you think body fat is?

    It's not the eighties anymore - sat fats not the bad guy.

    In fact it's now the new sheriff in town - tracking down the lawless grain and sugar. :laugh:

    And yes count the oil as calories - just don't use vegetable oil, or sunflower oil - stick to olive oil or other sat fat rich oils.
  • mamahannick
    mamahannick Posts: 322 Member
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    Can Pam really replace oil in deep (or shallow) fried chicken?

    No. I've tried. If you want fried chicken, make room for it in your day and use the good stuff to fry it! I use canola oil or olive oil when I make fried anything, depending. A lot of people use coconut oil too.
  • MrsHyland
    MrsHyland Posts: 87 Member
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    I used olive oil which was super tasty and added some good fats to my meal. The calories weren't crazy and I had plenty left over for the rest of the day. Having the left overs tonight for dinner so I don't have to cook :) I can see where PAM would work to cook some things, but agree that it wouldn't work for "fried" chicken. As one of the other posts said, olive oil is great with a little balsamic vinegar or spices and bread. I'm trying to use it more than other oils because it's good for me and adds nice flavor. Thank you all again for your responses!

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