This is just the best. The thread has just started so you are welcome to
come visit. Don.

Newsgroup: sci.bio.food-science
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 07:03:20 -0800
From: Guy Bradley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "Best" Oil for Deep Fat Frying

Don Wiss wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> First let me define "best." We are a bunch of people that believe in a
> Paleolithic way of eating. This means no foods that require technology to
> make it edible. I was thinking of buying a deep fat fryer for my home. So
> best would be something that not only would be good for frying, but able to
> last sitting on the counter.
>
> The only oils they seem like a possibility are lard, rendered beef fat,
> coconut oil, and olive oil. The only lard I've found has hydrogenated lard
> as the second ingredient and lots of chemicals. These are the very things
> we are trying to avoid. Rendered beef fat seems like a possibility, but as
> far as we know it would be something we make for ourselves. I'd rather not.
> Coconut oil supposedly lasts forever. It is expensive. Then how good is
> olive oil under the heat?
>
> What did people deep fry with in the past, before people became fanatical
> about saturated fats?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Don (at panix com).

The issue with frying fat lasting is lipid oxidation.  The more
saturated the oil, the longer it will last.  This is why coconut oil
last so long.  Olive oil is very high in monounsaturated fat, which is
fairly stable, but not on the scale of coconut oil.  Did you know that
the movie industry mostly uses coconut oil to make popcorn?  I have
heard that AMC, probably the biggest chain of theatres, has quietly
returned to using coconut oil again.

I suppose that considering the whole picture coconut oil isn't so
expensive.  Lard used to be used a lot, in fact that was responsible for
the superior taste of McDonald's Fries.  However, under pressure they
have switched, I'm not sure to what.

Another oil you may want to consider is palm oil - note that is not the
same as palm kernel oil, which is quite similar to coconut oil.  Palm
oil sells, at least in commodity markets, for about the same as soy and
canola.  It is not widely available in the U.S. (must admit, I didn't
notice where you live), except perhaps in California where Latin
Americans and orientals prefer it for their frying. You might look for
it in an international market.  One reason for the stability of palm oil
is the rather high content of natural antioxidants, like tocopherols and
tocotrienols.

I don't know how far you extend your no technology ban.  Another type of
oil which is extremely stable, virtually indefinitely, is MCT oil.  This
is a manufactured oil, with the components coming from coconut oil.
Coconut is largely lauric and lauric acid is valuable to the detergent
industry.  Hence, a large industry exists to saponify coconut oil and
separate out the lauric.  The small percentage of caproic and caprylic
acids is waste to the detergent people; they sell it to companies who
convert it into triglycerides. These are 100% saturated, but the short
chains are not hypercholesterolemic.  Before NLEA, they didn't even
count as saturated fat.  These are used in three areas: solvents for
flavors, infant formula and body builder food.  Body builder like MCT
oil because it is metabolized quickly like carbohydrates yet has an
energy density like fat.  You can buy some through this industry,
through companies that sell to body builders.  One caveat about this oil
for frying:  it smokes.  The molecular weight of the oil is lower than
typical vegetable oil, which causes the smoking.  However, if you can
tolerate this, you will never taste anything better than food fried in
this oil.  It is absolutely tasteless, so the full flavor of the food
comes through. Moreover, its viscosity is lower, so it drains off the
food better.

I hope this was helpful.

Guy Bradley