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Can You Use Vegetable Oil in a Deep Fryer

Deep frying is one of the God sends of modern-day life. With all the health concerns we have though, can you use vegetable oil in a deep fat fryer? What are the pros and cons associated with doing or not doing it? In this article, we are going to look into all that.

The short answer is, yes, you can deep fry with vegetable oil and you can even use it multiple times, unlike many other alternatives. Having said that though, there has been research which links vegetable oil to cancer-causing agents.

What exactly is Vegetable Oil?

Vegetable oil is made from a blend of different oils mixed together. Unlike other oils, it does not have a flavor and because it will not impact the taste of your food.

This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. These flavors from different oils can have a positive or negative impact on the food depending on the dish you are preparing.

If you have experience with this and are looking for that a particular flavor that a specific oil gives you, then, by all means, go ahead.

If, on the other hand, you want consistent results each and every time and maintain the original flavor of the food, vegetable oil will give you predictable outcomes each and every time.

It is the go-to oil for deep frying. Let’s now look at the pros and cons of vegetable oil in comparison to other oils.

Vegetable Oil vs Other Oils

As already mentioned, vegetable oil is not flavored so your food comes out the way it should unless you are looking for that particular effect.

It is also much, much cheaper than the other oils. While most other oils like olive, sunflower, peanut butter etcetera, are pure, meaning that they are extracted from one source, vegetable oil is actually a blend of different oils and this makes it cost-effective.

Vegetable oil can be reused multiple times or until it goes bad and even then, it can be repurposed into other uses like soap making.

When you use it for deep frying, you can strain it and use it again as long as you keep it in a sealed container then refrigerate or freeze it.

Vegetable oil also has a higher smoking point than other oils making it great for deep frying. The smoke point is the temperature at which the oil starts smoking.

This is one of the biggest indicators governing whether or not the oil can be re-used. Due to vegetable oil having a higher smoking point, there is greater opportunity for it to be re-used multiple times and long as it is stored safely after each use.

Is Vegetable Oil Safe For Deep Frying?

Up until twenty years ago, vegetable oils were saturated and it was discovered that it was one of the causes of sickness.

It was then made a requirement that all vegetable oil is polyunsaturated which made it a lot safer to consume. I’ve always maintained that science is always developing as our knowledge increases.

Recent studies have linked vegetable oil to cancer-causing agents. The studies seem to point to vegetable oil being used multiple times as the main contributor.

They state that the main reason that this happens is that the fats become more and more saturated as you re-use them and this then makes them unfit for general human consumption.

Conclusion on vegetable oil in a deep fryer

So, can you use vegetable oil in a deep fryer? The answer to that is a careful yes. Vegetable oil is more affordable, does not flavor food, has a high smoking point and generally gives consistent results as far as flavor is concerned.

Though it is generally considered safe practice to re-use vegetable oil, you need to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Doing so may have possible adverse repercussions which include exposing yourself to the risk of sickness.

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