A Guide to Frying: The Right Oil, the Right Heat, a Safe Kitchen

Chips, aubergine, courgette, anchovies, sigara börek, lokma: frying is a much-loved part of Turkish cooking. Done right, food comes out crisp outside, tender inside and surprisingly not greasy. Done wrong, it soaks up oil and turns the kitchen into a hazard. In this lesson we learn the difference.

Which oil?

We look for two things in a frying oil: a high smoke point and a neutral taste. The smoke point is the temperature at which oil starts to smoke and break down; past it, oil forms bitter, unhealthy compounds.

Approximate smoke points (they vary with type and processing):

• Refined sunflower oil: about 225 °C. The most common frying oil in Turkey; neutral and economical.
• Corn oil: about 230 °C. Very well suited to frying.
• Refined hazelnut oil: about 220 °C. The oil of the Black Sea region; light and good for frying.
• Riviera / refined olive oil: about 210-240 °C. Fine for frying.
• Extra virgin olive oil: about 190-210 °C depending on quality. Good for shallow frying and sautéing, but for deep frying it is costly and its flavour is lost.
• Butter: about 150-175 °C. Its milk solids burn quickly, so it is not for deep frying. Clarified butter (sade yağ), with the milk solids removed, handles much higher heat.

The right temperature

Most frying happens between 170 and 180 °C.

• Oil that is too cool soaks into the food, leaving it soft and greasy.
• Oil that is too hot burns the outside and leaves the inside raw.

No thermometer? Drop in a cube of bread. If it turns golden in 30-40 seconds, the oil is around 180 °C. Or dip the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil: steady small bubbles around it mean the oil is ready.

Double-fry for chips: Fry the potatoes first at 150-160 °C for 5-6 minutes without colouring, lift them out and rest them for a few minutes. Then fry at 180 °C for 2-3 minutes until golden and crisp.

Better frying

• Dry everything: Wet food spits and cools the oil. Dry washed potatoes thoroughly.
• Do not crowd the pot: Fry in small batches. Each batch drops the temperature; let the oil recover before the next.
• Use a heavy, deep pot: Oil should come no more than halfway up, ideally a third, so it cannot bubble over.
• Drain properly: Lift fried food onto a wire rack rather than paper towels if you can, so the underside does not steam and soften.
• Salt straight away: Salt sprinkled while hot clings to the surface.

Safety: oil fires

Hot oil is one of the most serious hazards in a kitchen. The rules are simple but vital:

• Never leave the hob while frying.
• If the oil starts smoking, turn off the heat immediately.
• Keep pan handles turned inwards and children away.
• Lower food into the oil gently, away from you.

If the oil catches fire:

1. Never pour water on it. Water sinks under the hot oil, flashes into steam and throws burning oil everywhere.
2. Turn off the heat if you can reach it safely.
3. Cover the pot with a lid, a large baking tray or a damp (well wrung-out, not dripping) cloth to cut off the oxygen.
4. Do not try to carry the pot.
5. Leave the cover on for at least 30 minutes; if you lift it before the oil cools, it can reignite.
6. If the fire is getting out of control, leave the kitchen and call 112. Keeping a small fire blanket in the kitchen is a good idea.

Reusing oil

Oil that stays clean can be used a few times.

• Once cool, strain it through a fine sieve or muslin.
• Store it in a lidded jar somewhere cool and dark.
• Keep oil used for fish or heavily floured, spiced foods separate; the smell transfers.
• When the oil has thickened, darkened, foams, smells sharp or smokes at a lower temperature than usual, it is time to throw it out.

Disposing of oil

• Never pour used oil down the sink, the toilet or onto soil. It clogs pipes and seriously harms the wastewater system and the environment.
• Pour the cooled oil into a plastic bottle and close it tightly.
• Take it to a waste oil collection point run by your municipality, supermarkets or schools. Collected vegetable oil can be recycled.

In short

The right oil, 170-180 °C, small batches and never walking away. Follow these four rules and frying is both delicious and safe.