I don’t ever fry anything but I have two recipes I want to try. One recipe is for chicken and the other is fish. What oil should use? TIA
Fun fact: the name “Canola” is a name derived from the engineered properties of the product: CANadian Low Acid
I drove from Calgary to Banff with my buddy one summer and holy shit there is so much canola out there! Those big fields are pretty beautiful though
Where does the 'o' come from?
You leave off the last O for savings
That's what it's called in the UK
Rapeseed oil is perfect for everything you would fry in vegetable or sunflower oil, it's the same properties but healthier. It had a massive rebranding due to the name but it's still called rapeseed in the UK.
Olive oil for anything that you fry at a lower temperature like veggies because it's even healthier, but it burns the food if it gets too hot so not ideal for meat that is fried for a longer time.
For me it also a support local farmers thing since I could basically just go out for a walk in any direction and see a rapeflower field within half an hour.
Rape fields in full bloom are like nothing else, pure gold for miles. Unless you have hay fever of course
The rebranding was because it was associated with the poisoning of 20,000 people — and deaths of about 300 — in Spain by contaminated rapeseed oil.
I had no idea! I thought it was due to the name. Interesting, it's still rapeseed there but I would be terrified of it had I known that
I'm from Spain, here we use sunflower for friying, but sometimes also olive
We visited an oil producer in Spain last year. The tour leader swore you should use Spanish olive oil for every application.
Olive oil has a low smoke point and bitter flavour, it's better for salads and Mediterranean cooking. For frying, sunflower oil is the best. Also has no flavour.
Agree.
In the UK, I also use sunflower for most “standard” frying, especially anything with a high heat. I have olive oil on hand for dressing or certain cooking applications, same with butter
Peanut preferably. I don't care for canola, has an odd odor to me.
If not deep frying I use olive oil especially for sauteing chicken.
I love peanut oil but it has become prohibitively expensive in my area. Corn oil is giving me pretty good results when frying. I use evoo and butter for everything else. I got a lil ghee kicked back for specific dishes
Peanut oil is the superior oil. I’m poor though so in order to get it I just save the oil from my jars of peanut butter.
Just kidding… but I’ve considered it
Peanut oil got cheaper than everything other than canola after Ukraine! Used to be sunflower oil for me but now that’s super expensive.
Totally agree. I hardly fry food so it lasts quite a while for me.
I have never heard anyone else say that about the canola odor! It has this like thick smell to me. When it's rancid it's very obvious but I can smell that same smell on it in the bottle and when it's cooking, even when the oil is good and the food turns out fine and tasty. It just has a weird smell.
Yep! "Thick" is a great way to describe it.
I use Avocado oil for basically everything, but I only deep fry stuff like once a year for occasions like Thanksgiving.
This is the answer. Avocado oil for searing anything at high heat where I want to get a nice crust (steak, chicken, fish, pork chop). Olive Oil for stuff I want to saute at low heat, like garlic and chilies for a simple pasta sauce.
FYI make sure you choose a reputable brand.
Yeah I’ve seen some of these reports. Shady stuff going on.
I can’t buy avocado oil after understanding their research. Grapeseed is cheap, healthy, high smoke point and definitely not 80% likely that it’s rotten.
You gave different answer to the original comment tho lol.
Fried or sauteed isn't different the way you think it is. OP asked for fried, commenter elaborated a little but stuck to the theme ...
You just came here to mock people tho lol
The first poster said avocado oil for everything, second one said this is the answer but used different oils for different purposes. That's all I was pointing out.
And yes, people take cooking too seriously and we should all be mocked a little about it.
50% of the time they use it everytime
Avocado oil - mostly.
Lard.
Yeah man it's all about lard.
I need to cook more with lard. The uncooked tortillas I buy are made with it and they're amazing. I do use ghee when I run out of Avocado Oil and that's pretty yummy. Just expensive as hell for some reason. Can probably get it much cheaper if I go to the right supermarket.
Naaah... Lard is cheap... It here in the UK at least. It's also second to olive oil in monosaturated fatty acids, which is good...
And you're kinda tight about Tortillas, Lard is synonymous with Mexican cuisine.
In SoCal ghee is expensive. Can get lard pretty cheap at Mexican markets here.
I get savory lard from a local tienda. I often mix it with avocado oil. Makes a very yummy frying oil.
I use safflower oil because it has no flavor - or at least very neutral and a high smoke point.
Olive oil basically for everything : Salad, deep frying, cooking in a pan, wrestling...
For deep frying I use canola or peanut
Grapeseed for the wok and any deep frying, toasted sesame for most Asian foods, olive oil for most of the rest.
Thank you everyone!
Sunflower oil. Neutral taste and high smoke point
Cold pressed coconut oil is great for a lot of dishes, chicken and fish included. It doesn't beak down and become trans fat or whtvr the way a lot of oils do. The hint of coconut flavour added doesn't work with some dishes, like pan fried potatoes.
Mostly sunflower because it's neutral
But I do have peanut, sesame, coconut and olive oil as well. Depends on what I'm making.
Ghee. It’s so good for you and has a high smoke point not to mention it’s delicious!
Bacon Up, or leftover grease.
Completely depends on the dish
Peanut oil is my favorite for frying.
The odor gets to me as. Plus it's not very healthy. I've used the gamut through the years, and have hit the point that Avocado oil and grape seed are my go to. I use denatured and unrefined coconut oil on occasions.
Olive oil for sautes and dressings.
I have a subscription to Zero Acre oil started and my first delivery arrives tomorrow. Interesting product and sustainable/healthy. Fermented sugar cane.
Great Question!
Beef tallow for beef when I can, Avocado or grapeseed oil with some other stuff, then plain old vegetable when I need a lot of it (not often).
Air
Agree! I love my air fryer but the batter will be too wet for what we want to try.
For air fryers, try dry batter. No liquid at all, just some on the meat.
Have you tried? It might still work but come out more “air fried” than deep fried. I’ve been able to make Japanese karaage with the air fryer and the outcome was very acceptable!
My go to is half olive oil half butter
Gotta be the EVOO.
Sunflower seed oil
Lard or tallow for the chicken. Coconut oil for the fish
For deep frying, I always use peanut oil unless somebody with an allergy is going to be eating my food. And then that case I use vegetable oil. For more shallow frying or every day sautéing I use avocado oil and olive oil.
I only use grass fed beef tallow. I won’t touch any vegetable oils after I found out how it’s manufactured and the chemicals used to stabilise it.
and the fact the only reason people think that Lard and Tallow and Butter are bad, is that Proctor and Gamble paid the American Heart Association $20,000,000 to say they are bad. despite there being no studies showing them as bad. Just so P&G could sell vegetable oils.
Beef tallow
I use canola for baking and olive for cooking. High heat and frying go to avocado oil.
I'm sensitive to most soy things :(
Deep frying I use basic bitch Canola or Vegetable oils. If I’m stir frying it depends - either peanut if I want that extra zing or sunflower if I want neutral.
I use peanut oil for everything, and especially frying
My mother used peanut oil for frying and for salad dressing. Very tasty!
Hot oil works best. I prefer the lighter blends of 5-20.
Synthetic or conventional?
Normally rapeseed but recently started using groundnut as it’s cheaper here
Regular olive oil for pan frying. Peanut is the best for fryers IMHO
Coconut oil, or olive oil, even though I know better than to use it at high heat.
Peanut, olive, sunflower.
I love grape seed for fish. It leaves a beautiful color. I’ve been buying a high heat olive oil I really like for just about anything.
Peanut oil FTW!
Mosb rapeseed oil...or butter!
Avocado oil is what I use most of the time and occasionally use tallow when it would complement the dish.
Canola oil. Versatile, reasonably priced, and low flavour
It depends on what I'm frying.
For meat I usually either let it cook in its own oil or use peanut oil, lard, or bacon fat.
For vegetables or tubers I'll usually use liquid vegetable oil, that thick vegetable shortening, olive oil, or butter.
For things like eggs it's almost always butter.
If you're trying to make fried chicken with breading I'd recommend peanut oil, lard, or a combo of the two.
If you're trying to make fried fish with breading I'd recommend peanut oil or bacon fat.
If you're trying to make fried fish without breading I'd recommend olive oil or butter.
Avocado or peanut oil.
I’ve never fried anything at home so maybe a stupid question, can you fry in any oil?
depends, pan fry or deep fry? for pan fry I'll use vegetable or canola oil, for a deep fry I prefer peanut oil(just make sure no one you're cooking for has allergies)
Peanut oil usually
For deep frying, I use vegetable since it’s the cheapest option. For shallow frying where less oil is required, I use olive
Usually peanut oil, avocado oil if I have it
Peanut oil is fantastic, best I've ever used.
Before I found that I was using Sunflower oil
Costco for peanut oil by the gallon jug.
I've tried all the other oils and these two will be my choice forever.
I mix canola and peanut
It depends on what I am frying.
Avocado oil is king. Although if you have a lot of frying to do it can get pricey.
I would like to use peanut oil but too many in my family with allergies. I use regular corn oil.
Peanut oil for deep frying. Smoke point is pretty high and the flavor is just better.
Olive oil or grape seed for sauteing.
Peanut mixed with lard (or beef tallow if you don’t use lard)
Better if you can find peanut oil that looks darker and smells like actual peanut.
Usually a peanut blend
I don’t fry very often at all but I like peanut oil.
Cheap olive oil
Valvoline 5W-30
Mustard oil
Olive oil for low temperature. Avocado oil for high temperature. It's weird many people are answering about deep frying, which was not mentioned in the original question.
Spay Pam mostly for eggs or stir fry. For vegetables, just have to keep the bits moving.
The oil I use is based on the temperature I need to cook with.
For example, I made French fries yesterday. So the oil only needed to hit 350 or so (first fried at 275, then double fried at 350). For low-mid temp deep frying, canola/rapeseed/vegetable oil is fine.
If I need to fry something at a higher temp, then I’d use peanut or safflower oil.
In a perfect world I’d use peanut or safflower oil all the time, but they’re pretty pricey for applications that don’t need that high of a smoke point.
The goal for frying is stability and a high smoke point… and something that doesn’t impart unwanted flavor.
1) More money: peanut, avocado
2) Less money: sunflower, canola/rapeseed, safflower, corn, lard
Also, if you’re going to fry larger quantities, I tend to use a lot of oil, in a tall, high-walled pot. Big pasta pot or Dutch Oven is great. Why so big and so much oil? I’m glad you asked! So when I drop in big quantities of food, the oil temp doesn’t fall very much. Also, high-walled pots keep more oil splatter inside. Easier cleanup.
However, shallow frying works well too… and though less oil does cool faster, it also comes back up to temp faster because less to heat back up.
Maybe I just like huge pots of hot oil as I fry mountains of food as if my life depended on it. Maybe I have a me-problem hahaha.
**Final tip: if you can, use some kind of thermometer that can handle high heat, like a food thermometer with a metal probe or maybe a thermal laser gun that shoots a beam and reads the temp.
You’re almost for sure gonna be frying in the 325-375°f or 165-190°c range. For me, a thermometer is so much better than other home-chef methods. Too cool and your food will soak up oil (bad!) and too hot and your oil can “burn” or begin to chemically break-down, producing smoke, undesired compounds, taste & smell bad, and even catch FIRE!**
Anyway… happy frying! Hope you do great and everyone you feed is thrilled!
Avocado oil
Any clear oil for frying, to which I add half generic olive oil! So if I am using 1/2 cup of oil, I will use 1/4 cup clear, and one 1/4 cup olive oil.
rice bran oil. I would prefer to use olive oil but it wrecks your frying pans if used on high heat too many times.
Skin breaks out with peanut oil so I use a mix of peanut, vegetable and corn oil. Please don’t ask me the ratios.
You might want to get tested for a peanut allergy.
I don’t have a peanut allergy…. But I know that peanut oil causes skin to break out.
I love using corn oil. I used to be a vegetable/canola oil person, but ended up switching due to the flavor greatly improving with the corn oil. For some reason, canola just doesn’t seem like a very neutral oil to me, it has an overwhelmingly stale, heavy taste to it IMHO.
Try avocado oil. It's great for high heat and alternative to regular vegetable oil.
Olive oil if I only need a drizzle in the pan
If I need enough to cover the whole pan, then canola
Avocado for high heat searing
Avocado oil or home-rendered lard.
regular olive oil not ev
Pan frying-Vegetable or Olive. Deep frying-Lard.
Deep fried like chicken cutlets or churros: vegetable. been around the block several times and just said f it and went back to it. I don't do it often. Steak in a pan? butter and a little regular (not EV) OO. roasting veggies? Coated with OO also. I don't even have EVOO in the house lol.
Peanut
Peanut 🥜 because of the higher smoke point in temperature. Prefer air though or baking whenever possible.
I use avocado oil for searing scallops and chicken.
If you want something that resembles traditional fried chicken, sunflower or peanut oil will work (we prefer sunflower - but only the ones that don't taste like sunflower seeds).
Avocado for high olive for flavor
Giant ass jug of avocado oil from costco
🥜 PEANUT 🥜
Technically it’s peanut for deep frying but usually avocado for pan frying.
Avocado oil.
Vegetable, peanut oil.
I prefer sunflower oil or peanut oil for frying because I like the taste. For some reason a lot of people use canola oil but it has this strange musky taste which infects whatever you use it in.
Avocado in the US, sunflower in Europe
Peanut oil is great for high-heat frying like chicken and fish. Avocado oil is also a good option but can be pricier. Happy cooking!
I like olive oil and avocado I’d probably use avocado oil for the fish as it would stick less and imparts no flavor
Vegetable oil is a versatile and commonly used oil for frying, with a high smoke point. It's a good all-purpose choice.
Beef fat, coconut oil, avocado oil, butter.
Regular frying where I just need a drizzle: olive oil. Deep(ish) frying (chicken tenders, wings, etc.): grapeseed oil.
avocado but we rarely fry
sunflower for everything, chicken tho i might be more inclined to use margarine
Oh god, why? If for cost, I get it. But if not, these are two of the worst options.
sunflower has no taste and margarine is just more heat-resistant butter to me
Margarine got a ton of chemically modified trans fats, right?
no it has 0 trans fats
eta: its lower fat per serving than butter but does the same thing
Interesting. You’re right, in the US it can’t have trans fat. Didn’t know that.
im in canada but yeah trans fats are generally discouraged here
If you can afford it and there are no allergies, peanut oil. Sunflower seed oil is much more affordable.
I usually just buy vegetable oil. Canola is usually predominate in the blend.
I use soybean vegetable oil for frying generally, but I use shortening for fried chicken. If I wasn't so cheap, I'd use peanut. Of course this is all done in moderation. We don't do fried food often.
Oil of Olay
Any neutral oil is fine; I use soybean (i.e. "vegetable") oil. Make the chicken dish first, and once the oil has cooled, strain it into a container for re-use. Then make the fish dish with it later. Once you've deep fried fish, the fry oil is going to taste fishy and can't really be re-used for anything else.
Soybean oil is horrible for a human body though. Acts as an irritant and causes some other things as well.
Olive or canola
Canola
Peanut or Mustard oil. 99% of time it's peanut butter if we ran out then Mustard oil
Since so many mentioned canola oil I decided to finally look up what it is in Swedish and yeah that’s what I use. Now I just have to remember that canola oil is a less problematic name for rapeseed oil, yes that is a legit alternative English name as far as I know.