The Best Oils for Deep Frying in a Commercial Kitchen

Smoke point is the temperature at which a particular oil starts to break down and burn.

This varies greatly among types of oil. The higher the smoke point, the more stable the oil is in terms of its composition and its resistance to breakdown when exposed to heat. Once an oil has reached its smoke point, it will begin to adversely affect the flavor of your food. The oil becomes spent quickly and its foul smell will seep into your food. Peanut, canola and vegetable oil all have smoke points north of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, making them optimal for deep frying. Most deep frying is done between 350-400 degrees.

If you’re deep frying, you should avoid oils with low smoke points, particularly if you tend to fry in large quantities. Coconut, olive oil and some corn oils have a lower smoke point and are not good for deep frying as they will not fare well as the temperature increases.

Fryer oil factors into the taste of your food.

Outside of smoke point affecting the quality of the food, taste plays a role in picking the right fryer oil in the sense that the oil itself has flavor. Depending on the type or blend, oils either have a stronger or more neutral flavor. For example, olive oil has a strong and distinct taste to it and is often used in dishes in which the goal is to have the oil heavily dictate the food’s taste. On the other hand, peanut, canola and corn oil have more of a neutral flavor, meaning they are hard to distinguish in the food’s taste if fried properly. This is ideal for food in which the intended purpose is for its flavor to stand out on its own. You know what you want your food to taste like, and you can use cooking oil a tool to help achieve that, whether it is adding flavor with oil or trying to preserve it within your food.

The last thing to consider is price.

Inventory is expensive, and as the push for petroleum fuel alternatives, like biofuel, intensifies, the price of cooking oil - along with a few other factors - has skyrocketed over the last 12 months. Finding a suitable oil type that fits your price range is important. A quick glance at market prices will show you that peanut oil tends to be a bit more expensive than canola oil. Vegetable oil tends to fall loser to canola oil in price. But all three are cheaper options than grapeseed or some types of olive oils, which could be adequately used based on their smoke point, but fall on the more expensive end of the scale. If you’re frying a lot of food in large quantities, a cheaper option might be optimal, whereas, if your fry a lot, you could benefit from being more selective as it pertains to type of oil and price.