Deep fry oil

[IdentityCrisisMama]

For a toddler, what is the healthiest oil to fry in? My daughter absolutely loves spring rolls but I’m afraid of all the fat and the oil I use to fry them. I know I could cook them another way but we would all prefer them fried, naturally, naturally...he he he!

[MommyKim]

We use Palm oil (Spectrum sells it as Shortening) and coconut oil mixed together. They are both a little expensive, but we don't deep fry often. These oils have a very high heat threshold which means they won't go rancid when heated as opposed to most veggie oils and they have a high smoke threshold - they don't let off smoke. Niether oil contains hydrogenated oils in them!

Some coconut oils have a coconut taste and smell, which is fine for somethings, but if you would prefer it didn't, Omega sells one that is good, but has no taste or smell.

For info on these oils check out this website. They do sell them online, but are kind of expensive. You can get the Omega coconut oil and Spectrum palm oil (shortening) at health food stores.

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com[/URL]

[Jane]

"Properly" deep frying will help minimize the oil absorbtion.
You can make sure the oil is hot, not been used too many times, and use a heavy pan. The idea is to have it be hot, and stay hot all the way through cooking. Impurities in the oil interfere with the frying too, so if you reuse your oil, filter it, and don't use it too many times over.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Thanks you two. I knew this would be a good place to ask about this. I don’t live in the US but will look for palm oil in my health food store(I’ll skip the coconut oil because I don’t like the smell of coconuts). Great tip about oil absorption and keeping the heat high. Also, I’ve been storing the oil in the fridge and reusing many times. How many times would you use it before changing to fresh oil?

[myrrhmaid]

nak

maybe instead of deep fat frying them you could try basting them in oil & baking them? might be worth a try! wish i was feeling ambitious enough to make spring rolls! sounds yum! oh yeah, peanut oil is good for high temp. frying too. if you try baking them do it at a high temp like 400 to 450 F.

[myrrhmaid]

nak

maybe instead of deep fat frying them you could try basting them in oil & baking them? might be worth a try! wish i was feeling ambitious enough to make spring rolls! sounds yum!