The Best Way to Discard Frying Oil? Don’t

5 hours ago 4

There’s no denying the appeal of deep-fried foods, from donuts to drumsticks, plus numerous bite-sized appetizers and every kind of potato. But when it comes to whether to bother deep-frying at home, it isn’t necessarily a matter of difficulty. With the right vessel and thermometer, frying can be a quick, easy way to make memorable dishes — the real issue is: what to do with all that leftover oil?

Shallow frying can also get the job done in many cases, but it can also create a conundrum. Putting that oil down the sink? Potentially drain-clogging, environmentally dubious, and frankly, wasteful. I grew up in a household where leftover grease and oil went into a glass mayonnaise jar kept under the sink, to be discarded once it was full. Sure, this saves the sink, but it doesn’t address the other two issues. It’s a quick kitchen hack that makes it easier to put it out with food waste, but there’s also another solution.

Don’t get rid of it. “Oil used for frying is not one and done,” says Melanie Underwood, cookbook author, culinary instructor, and founder of Nourish and Gather, “unless the oil has been overheated, or if you’re frying things that are particularly strong in flavor. With something like seafood, you want to be careful, but it’s perfectly reusable as long as it wasn’t smoking.”

With that, Underwood shares her best practices and advice for reusing oil multiple times before it’s done.

Manage the oil before and during the frying process

To ensure oil is good for multiple uses, first make sure you’re using the right oil — something neutral in flavor with a high smoke point. “Any vegetable oil, such as canola oil, peanut oil or sunflower oil, is best for frying,” says Underwood. While olive oil can be tricky to fry with because it has a lower smoke point, “I definitely have used olive oil,” she says, “and I have never had any problem with it whatsoever.”

Resist the impulse to eyeball your oil for temperature clues, or test bits and pieces to make sure you’re in the right zone, unless you fry so regularly that it’s second nature. Otherwise, that’s a recipe for pieces with burnt exteriors and undercooked interiors, and/or smoking out your upstairs neighbors. (Speaking from experience, sadly.) Using a thermometer, “the correct range for frying is usually between 350 to 400,” says Underwood, which prevents smoking.

During the frying process, it’s a great idea if you can skim out any crumbs or whatever has come off in the oil,” she says, “because when you have little burned pieces, that will degrade the oil faster.”

After frying: cool, strain, and store

strainer har and measuring cup of oil on table

Once you’re done frying, managing the oil for future use is simple. “First, you let it cool,” says Underwood. Don’t try to speed up the process by refrigerating it; just let it sit until it cools to room temperature.

Straining it is also straightforward and can be done with whatever you already have on hand. “I use a fine mesh strainer,” Underwood says. “People also use cheesecloth or a coffee filter. You just want to strain it and get out all those teeny particles.” Some micro particles may still be visible in the oil after straining, but they will settle once the oil is stored, and it is easy to prevent them from transferring into a pot the next time you want to use it.

Finally, Underwood suggests transferring the oil to a clean and dry container. “It’s very important that it doesn’t have any residual water in it,” she says, “and then just put a lid on it, tightly sealed, and keep it away from heat and light.” If you don’t plan to use it immediately, you can store it in the refrigerator, but any place with a consistent temperature and away from light works.

Considerations for reusing oil

There’s nothing special that needs doing in order to use preused oil the next time, but bear one thing in mind: “Just be aware that it would now carry allergens from anything that you previously cooked in it,” says Underwood, which is essential to know if you’re cooking for other people.

Since that can be hard to track over multiple uses, “Always label and date it,” she suggests. “I just put a piece of tape on it with the date and the number of uses. And I also actually put what was fried in it,” she says, which can help keep track of potential allergens.

It also helps keep potentially odd flavors out of whatever you cook next, as certain items like seafood or onion rings can impart flavor into the oil. “I don’t typically like to fry a savory thing and then fry a sweet thing,” says Underwood. “Like I wouldn’t make schnitzel and then use that oil for a donut.”

If you’re unsure whether an oil is still good to use, let your nose guide you to suss out if something is funky. If you’re not confident in your sniffing ability, Underwood advises smelling unused oil of the same type first, then smelling the used oil for comparison. You can use frying oil at least two or three times, maybe more if it was only used for light-flavored things that didn’t impart many particles and was never overheated.

Benefits of reusing oil

The biggest benefit of reusing frying oil is the savings in every possible regard — you save money, and it’s a much more environmentally friendly practice across the board. “When you’re reusing any product, then you’re lowering the demand for things like production, packaging and transport,” Underwood says. “I don’t think that we think about that big picture very much, but if we were all reusing it, it would reduce those demands on the environment.”

Each time you reuse oil, it also diminishes in volume a bit. In my experience, at least with shallow frying, you can use the same batch of oil until, after a few uses, nothing remains to discard — the ultimate win.

Pamela Vachon

Contributor

Pamela is a freelance food and travel writer based in Astoria, Queens. While she writes about most things edible and potable (and accessories dedicated to those topics,) her real areas of expertise are cheese, chocolate, cooking and wine. She's a culinary school grad, certified sommelier, former bartender and fine dining captain with 10 years in the industry. When not sitting at the keys, she leads in-home cheese classes, wine tastings and cocktail demonstrations. See full bio

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