That saves money: if you do it right, you can reuse frying oil this many times
Because, with sustainability and our wallets in mind during these times of rising prices, we like to pay attention to reuse in the kitchen, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at how often you can reuse frying oil.
We don’t like throwing fat away at all. You can fry or roast the tastiest potatoes with leftover bacon fat, fry rice in chicken fat (left over after first frying chicken legs skin-side down), then add stock to cook wonderfully flavorful rice—and what do we do with frying oil?
Plant-based is preferable
You can definitely reuse it after, for example, frying cheese sticks or chicken, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you would rather use plant-based frying oil than solid animal fat for frying. The former generally contains plant-based fat, which is less harmful to your health than the saturated fats that solid frying fat usually contains.
Keep it clean
It is also important to make sure the oil does not start smoking or smelling very strongly, so it is useful to pay close attention to the oil’s smoke point. According to the Voedingscentrum, you should also not reuse the fat if it is dark or syrupy, or if it starts to foam.
Watch out for PAHs
It is a good idea to strain used frying oil before reusing it. This reduces the chance of carrying small burnt pieces into your next snack or meal, which may contain harmful, carcinogenic substances such as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).
Reasonably tireless
And how often can you reuse frying oil, provided you follow these guidelines and make sure the oil continues to look and smell as ‘clean’ as possible? About five times—and if you are an exceptionally neat Nico, up to seven times. After that, it is definitely advisable to replace the oil.
Your wallet will thank you
Good news, right? If you do your frying fairly carefully, you can use the same oil (which, price-wise, is slowly heading toward liquid gold) five to seven times. Less waste—always a good thing!
Also read:
- How to: fry without a deep fryer
- This is the best way to dispose of oil or fat after cooking
- Deep-frying is becoming extremely expensive, snack bars cry for help
