Today, many are switching to a healthy diet, refusing fried and fatty dishes. This, of course, is correct, but sometimes you want to treat yourself to fried potatoes, a juicy cutlet, and when you remember about fragrant pasties, you really wake up to forget about healthy foods and healthy nutrition. In addition, if there is a festive feast, it is unlikely that your guests will be satisfied with steamed vegetables with lemon juice and boiled breast. Therefore, today we will talk about how to make fried foods the least harmful. This greatly depends on the quality of the product itself, the temperature to which the frying surface will be warmed up , and also on the selected oil. Let's do a little research and find out which oil is best to fry.
What do we usually use in everyday life
It will not be a secret that every mistress of the house has a bottle of sunflower oil. It is used primarily for frying, added to the dough, seasoned salads. However, the first criterion that formed the basis of this choice was the low cost and availability of this product. Speaking about which oil is best to fry, it should be remembered that it is best not to use sunflower oil at all in your kitchen. The only option is to take a small bottle of unrefined oil that smells like seeds, and season salads, that is, use it without heating.
Choose oil: what to focus on?
We will wait a little while with the answer to the main question about which oil is best to fry, because for this you need to deal with another topic. Many of us have been taught to focus on the smoke point. That is, the higher the oil can withstand, before the smoke appears over the pan, the less dangerous such frying is, which means that much less carcinogens will be formed. In fact, this is not so at all. We need to buy the oil that is the most stable, then there will be practically no danger from it. What does stable fat mean? That is, the probability of oxygen oxidation is minimal. When choosing which oil to fry better, be sure to pay attention to this point. Oxygen oxidation is a chemical reaction in which free radicals and other harmful compounds are formed.
Fat classification
It is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. There are only three types of fats, and therefore, when deciding which oil is best to fry, you need to keep this in mind. The most unstable oils are polyunsaturated. They can not be used for heating and cooking. This method will saturate your food with free radicals and increase the risk of developing various chronic diseases. This is primarily sunflower, rapeseed, corn, peanut, grape seed oil and some others.
The second type is monounsaturated fats. In principle, they are also unstable, and it is better not to heat them at all. The most famous representative of this species is olive oil. Very useful, but you need to use it only when cold. Finally, the last kind is saturated fats. They are ideal for baking and frying, easily tolerate heat. It is creamy and coconut, ghee and palm oil, animal fat. If you choose from them which oil is best to fry, then the opinions of experts have distributed them as follows. In the first place is coconut oil. A completely atypical product for our stores, but it contains 90% saturated fat, that is, it is the most resistant to heat. But that is not all. It can maintain its freshness for up to two years and, in addition, contains a huge amount of nutrients. This oil is very versatile, so if you think which vegetable oil is best to fry, then this is an ideal option that will help you more than once. Be sure to choose unrefined organic oil. The second option, suitable for heating, is palm. Unrefined organic red oil should be chosen.
Refined or Natural
Disputes on this topic can be found quite a lot. One and the other have their advantages. Refined has no taste and smell, however, there are no useful substances in it either. The only plus - unrefined requires a higher temperature, which means that the smoke point reaches a little longer. However, as already mentioned, this does not guarantee you no carcinogens in your food. Unrefined oil has a bright aroma and taste, which means that your dishes will be especially delicious. But it does not like heating even more than purified.
Healthy french fries
In fact, this is nonsense, if you want healthy potatoes - prepare mashed potatoes or bake in the sleeve. But you can slightly reduce the harm of this delicious dish, and then the question arises of which oil is better to fry potatoes. Choose coconut or palm, if this is not on sale, it is better to stop at cracklings or animal fat. You will not receive a lethal dose of cholesterol, and the body will perceive such a dish much better.
When frying in crude sunflower oil, acrylamide is formed - a dangerous substance. Therefore, if the choice of vegetable fats is very limited, then give preference to olive oil or, in the most extreme case, refined sunflower oil. But add it a little so that only the potatoes do not burn. Which olive oil is best to fry, we think, it is already clear without additional comments, it is necessary to use only refined oil.
Meat and fish
Roasted meat is very tasty, although it is not the healthiest food. On the other hand, this is precisely the product that requires a long heat treatment, which means that the question of which oil is better to fry meat does not have an answer at all. Any vegetable oil with prolonged heating and high temperatures will become a source of carcinogens. Therefore, do it the other way. Make a marinade with a small amount of oil, it does not really matter what it will be. The meat absorbs it - and you can fry it even on the grill, even in a dry frying pan.
Speaking about which oil is best to fry fish, I would like to give the advice of experienced chefs: it is best to sprinkle the fish with lemon and olive oil, and then bake in the sleeve.
Cutlets
Juicy and tender, these meat balls are the most familiar main course. But on which oil it is better to fry cutlets - the question is not the easiest. The fact is that the cooking technology requires heating the pan to the maximum. Due to this, the crust quickly seizes and all the juice remains inside. At the same time, in order not to harm your health, it is better to do without vegetable oil, replacing it with melted and well-warmed fat.
Dough products, pasties and pies
Choosing which oil is better to fry pasties, do not forget that you need to change it every time after preparing the next portion. Do not use deep fryers many times in a row. An ideal option would be a mixture of beef and pork fat with the addition of unrefined sunflower oil. Moreover, if it is possible to fully use cooking oil, it is better to use it.
Cooking Tips
So, the most popular today are olive, sunflower and linseed oils. Almost no one uses the latter for frying, which means that we still have two “candidates” for the title of the most harmful. Olive oil needs to be boiled for much longer so that harmful substances begin to form in it. And experienced chefs advise to pour a little water into the pan before frying, then lay all the products and finally add the oil. You can try another option: fry in a dry pan, only at the end of cooking adding oil. And do not forget to choose a good non-stick cookware, because we add oil precisely so that the products do not stick to the surface.