Oil loses a lot of its virtues if it is more than six months old. Most oils should be changed after eight to ten uses. You need to remove oil from the deep fryer after each use, strain it and store it correctly until the next time.
Can You Reuse Oil After Frying? Yes! Saving and reusing frying oil is a great way to minimize waste. After allowing the oil to cool, strain it through a fine mesh sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth (or a coffee filter) to rid it of any leftover food particles.
Frying oil can be reused anywhere from two times to up to eight times — it all depends on the type of oil, what you're frying in it, how well you've strained it, and more. There's no hard and fast rule for when oil is no longer suitable for frying; instead, pay attention to your oil and detect any changes.
Best high smoke point oils for deep frying include canola oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil and avocado oil. When cooking French fries or other non-breaded foods like vegetables, change or filter the oil after six to eight uses. If you're frying non-breaded meat or poultry, change or filter the oil after three to four ...
The oil may be stored in the refrigerator for several months or until signs of deterioration begin. Cover the oil and refrigerate it to prevent it from becoming rancid.
Oil that has turned, or nearing that point, has an acrid, bitter smell. Oil picks up the smells and flavors of the food cooking in it, just as the food can pick up the smell and flavor of the oil. If too much food has been run thru a batch of oil, it can affect the taste of the food coming out of the fryer.
Our recommendation: With breaded and battered foods, reuse oil three or four times. With cleaner-frying items such as potato chips, it's fine to reuse oil at least eight times—and likely far longer, especially if you're replenishing it with some fresh oil.
Transfer the strained oil into a clean container—we like a glass jar but you can use the bottle the oil came out of if you remembered to save it (you did, didn't you?). Use a funnel to help make the process neater. Store the oil in a cool dry place.
Look for a darkening color or a change in viscosity, smoking or frothing, and any sort of off-odor. At the first sign of any of these factors (hopefully not in the middle of a busy service), it is time to change the oil.
More and more research is showing how aldehydes - toxic elements - that are produced when you reheat oil. Cooking food by reusing cooking oil can also increase free radicals in the body, which can cause inflammation - the root cause of most diseases including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Save a cup or two of used oil to mix with fresh the next time you fry (we found that a ratio of 1 cup of used oil to 5 cups of fresh oil worked best). Just make sure that you don't save oil used to fry fish—the smell will permeate the new oil.
Deep frying
However, if you do need to deep fry your food, our long-standing advice is that oils like corn and sunflower oils are not recommended for high temperatures.
Once it's cool enough, make sure to store it in sealable, disposable containers like plastic bottles, take-out boxes or empty milk cartons. Seal the containers properly and tightly. Once tightly sealed, you can now include this in your food waste bin for disposal.
These chemical changes are one of the reasons you can only reuse fryer oil a few times before it starts smelling and tasting foul. To keep your oil edible for longer, keep it in its original container and store it in a cool, dark place. If opened, canola oil stored in a cold pantry will keep for about six months.
Reheating of oil is not a good option as it undergoes certain chemical changes and that produces certain harmful substances that can cause health complications for you later in life. Other than it can also cause you problems such as heartburn, acidity, irritable throat and other problems.
Delighted Cooking says oils that are best stored in the fridge have high polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat levels. Such oils include safflower, sunflower, canola, or olive oils. Other oils can be kept in cool, dark places.
“Re-heating and reuse of oil should be avoided as far as possible. Avoid using left over oil wherever possible. However, vegetable oil having developed Total Polar Compound more than 25% shall not be used,” adds the guidelines further.
In general, you want to store cooking oils with polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) in the fridge. According to certified nutrition specialist and doctor of natural medicine Josh Axe, oils containing PUFAs, like nut, seed and fish oils, are especially susceptible to oxidation.
One of the most obvious ones is that the color of your canola oil will change. As it ages, the yellow color turns brown and eventually black. Another sign of rancidity is that your canola oil will develop a pungent odor. If you smell it, then it's definitely time to throw it out.
Cooking oil goes rancid if stored for too long or in poor conditions. You can tell that yours is rancid if it tastes bitter or sharp, or smells like old paint or nail polish remover. Cooking oil lasts at least 2 years unopened and 6 months after opening.
Experts agree that eating rancid food or oils from time to time is probably not harmful, but they do suspect that regular consumption could contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular illness and even certain cancers.
Unopened canola lasts 12 to 24 months. Once opened, the oil retains best quality for 6 to 12 months, but it usually need an extra couple of months until it starts to give off a foul smell or taste harsh.
We stick to a gold standard that helps us ensure we deliver you a great tasting McDonald's fry. It starts with the right potatoes, which we cut exactly right, and then use a canola-blend oil with just the right amount of flavoring. Check out our World Famous Fries®.