FOOD NEWS
The Best Ways To Use Leftover Frying Oil
By Katy Canada
Deep frying can seem like a wasteful cooking process because of all the oil left at the end. Luckily, you don't have to toss it out immediately as you can reuse frying oil several times before it needs to be discarded, as long as it wasn't used to cook fish.
While you can reuse oil from breaded or battered fried foods at least two or three more times, the oil used for frying foods with a non-flaky coating — french fries, for example — can be reused closer to six times. However, before you use that oil, you’ll need to follow a couple of additional steps.
Before recycling, it is best to run your cooled frying oil through a strainer with an additional barrier, like a coffee filter or cheesecloth, to remove any small particles. Store the leftover oil somewhere cool and dark or even in the freezer to keep it fresh for longer.
While there's no exact science as to how many times you can use the leftover oil, you’ll need to discard it if your oil appears murky or has a darker color. An unpleasant odor or the inability to reach frying-level temperatures before it starts to smoke are other telltale signs of expired oil.