Deep frying is a popular cooking technique which involves the immersion of the food to be fried like chicken into hot oil at a well-controlled temperature to achieve a crispy delicious food with the required texture and taste.
It is important for one to know how long to heat the oil for deep frying as it affects the cooking process and the outcome of the food. I am about caring out an experiment to determine the optimal heating time for deep frying oils.
This I will do by measuring the time for the oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil I commonly used for deep frying to reach the recommended temperature range of 350°F (175°C, the oil frying temperature in Celsius) to 375°F (190°C).
The oils mentioned earlier are the recommended because of their high smoke points and natural flavors.
Enough vegetable oil is poured into the deep fryer putting the size and quantity of the food item to be deep fried into consideration. Always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions or recipe guidelines for the recommended amount of oil.
A cooking thermometer is now placed into the vegetable oil if you decide to use a pot and a stove ensuring it does not touch the bottom of the pot, In order to measure the temperature of the oil accurately.
I have also written an article on other methods of determining the temperature range of 350°F (175°C) to 375°F (190°C) or knowing when the oil is hot enough to fry your desired meal when thermometer is not available in the kitchen.
The deep fryer or stove is then turned on and set them to medium-high heat as they gradually heat up. The timer is also started the moment the deep fryer and stove is turned on and the temperature in the pot monitored using a cooking thermometer.
The oil is stirred occasionally to distribute the heat evenly throughout the pot and record the time taken for the oil to reach 350°F (175°C) to 375°F (190°C). This recorded time is the time required for deep frying.
The experiment above was repeated using canula and peanut oil respectively noting the time for the temperature of each oil to reach 350°F (175°C) to 375°F (190°C).
Results
The table below shows the results obtained during the experiment using a deep fryer.
|
Oil Type |
Heating Time |
| Vegetable Oil |
11 mins 45 sec |
| Canola Oil | 12 mins 20 sec |
| Peanut Oil |
10 mins 55 sec |
The results below were obtained using a pot with an oil height of 2 inches on a gas stove.
| Oil Type | Heating Time |
| Vegetable Oil | 14 mins 30 sec |
| Canola Oil | 15 mins 10 sec |
| Peanut Oil | 13 mins 45 sec |
The results below were obtained using a pot with an oil height of 2 inches on an electric stove.
| Oil Type | Heating Time |
| Vegetable Oil | 16 mins 20 sec |
| Canola Oil | 17 mins 5 sec |
| Peanut Oil | 15 mins 40 sec |
Peanut oil has the shortest heating time to reach the temperature for deep frying and this is because it can be heated at higher temperatures due to its high smoke point. This compared to canola oil and vegetable oil that have a longer heating time because of their lower smoke points.
The time taken for the temperature of each oil to reach 350°F (175°C) to 375°F (190°C) is longest when you heat the oils with an electric stove compared to using a deep fryer at medium high heat.
I would state that I found the values above surprisingly different from the values quoted on numerous online web pages.
FAQs
Question: How Long Does It Take to Heat Oil to 180 Degrees?
Answer: Using a deep fryer, it an average of 10 to 12 minutes for vegetable oil, canola oil and peanut oil to reach 180 degrees centigrade, 12 to 15 minutes on a gas stove and then 14 to 18 minutes on an electric stove.
Question: Does Oil Boil?
Water boils at a temperature of 100oC(212oF) while oil does not boil. Instead, it rises in temperature till it reaches its smoke point.
