Good news! You can reuse your cooking oil. Do you fry a lot at home? You might sometimes wonder if you’re doing the right thing by frying your plantain with the same oil you used to fry potato a few days back.
If you intend to reuse the oil, it’s best to fry with oils that have a high smoke point. What does high smoke point mean? It’s simply the temperature at which oil breaks down and begins to smoke. Most vegetable oils have higher smoke points than animal fats, while refined oils have higher smoke points than unrefined.
Please take note, that every time you use oil, its smoke point drops. Once oil smokes, it is no longer safe nor desirable to reuse.
These are some tips for using oil below:
Keep reading, to find out tips that will help you safely store and re-use your cooking oil (no need to throw it away after the first use)
- Avoid adding salt to food before deep-frying: Salt lowers an oil’s smoke point. Once oil smokes, it is no longer safe for re-use.
- Store in an air-tight jar: This tip is cool because it gives you a creative way to use old glass jars at home. This is an excellent way to preserve it before subsequent use. Allow the oil to cool before storing.
- Use a strainer to filter food particles out of the oil: This will keep it particle-free and fresh.
- Watch out for expiry dates: Before you store used cooking oil, check the bottle for the product’s expiry date. If it’s expired, throw it immediately. You can safely discard oil by turning it into a sealed container and putting it in the bin. Do not pour oil into sinkholes as this can clog pipes and cause other problems.
Some more tips for reusing oil:
- Separate oils used to fry different foods: Do not mix oil used for fried fish or seafood with the one used to fry chicken. Label your storage jars so you know which one to use subsequently.
- Store in a cool dry and dark place: Oils can break down fast when stored in a well-lit area with high humidity.
- Discard oil if it foams, smells, or color changes to brown or black.
Here are some additional guidelines on how to store used cooking oil (Culled from actenviro.com)
- Oil from fried chicken can be stored and reused 3 to 4 times max. Tests show that after the 4th reuse the cooking oil turned a murky, green color.
- Oil from fries is generally “cleaner” which means this type of used cooking oil can be used a maximum of 8 times.
- Cooking oil from a dish that’s been breaded or battered (like puff puff and buns) is safe to reuse up to 3 to 4 times.
You can now reuse your cooking oil. Did you find this insightful? please share it on your social media platforms.
