Tips & tricks

This is what you need to know about the smoke point of oil

bakken olie, rookpunt olie

You’ve probably experienced this before: you’re dutifully standing in the kitchen, oil in a pan on the stove, you look away for a moment and before you know it, it starts billowing smoke. That can make your eyes sting, make breathing a little more difficult, and leave an unpleasant smell in the kitchen. It all has to do with the smoke point of the oil you’re using, and this is useful to know:

 

Foto van culinair journalist Delilah Warcup - van Eyck

Different oils and fats have different smoke points. That makes them more or less suitable for heating to high temperatures. And what exactly is a smoke point?

Breakdown and rancidity

The point during heating—in other words, the temperature at which fats begin to break down. This produces smoke, and you’d rather not breathe that in. From that point on, the fat also starts giving off an unpleasant taste, which can range from bitter to rancid. Not exactly delicious for frying or deep-frying anymore.

So many choices

There are several oils you can heat to very high temperatures without any problems: avocado oil is a good example, as is peanut oil (also known as groundnut oil). Sunflower oil seems to be on its way out anyway, but fortunately there are plenty of alternatives.

You also sometimes hear that it would be bad to fry in extra-virgin olive oil, but as we mentioned here before: there is no evidence that it is bad for your health. At most, it’s a waste of money, so you’d be better off saving that expensive olive oil for dipping good bread into or drizzling over a great salad.

There are countless lists online showing the different smoke points in degrees Celsius for all kinds of oils and fats, so be sure to consult one if you’re unsure whether you have the right type at home to, for example, deep-fry cheese sticks. Or to fry a really delicious steak, or a beautiful piece of skin-on fish. The more you know, the better you eat!

Also read:

 

 

Geen foodnews Missen?
Ontvang een update in je inbox