Deep frying in olive oil

[Snoop Puss]

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a restaurant here in Spain where they served the very best chips/French fries I've ever had. I asked what the secret was and the man told me they were home-cooked from fresh potatoes (not frozen fries) in olive oil.

This surprised me because I was under the impression that deep frying in olive oil was not recommended.

Does anyone here deep fry chips/fries in olive oil and if so what would you recommend as regards time and temperature? I'd love to try and repeat the results. They're not the kind of thing one should eat too often, I imagine, but if you're going to have fries, they might as well be good ones!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Andy M.]

Comparing fresh fries made with fresh potatoes in ANY kind of oil to frozen just isn't fair. The fresh version will taste better regardless of what kind of oil is used.

Lower grades of olive oil have higher smoke points and can be used for deep frying. However, if you use the oil more than once, the smoke point is lower each time and then you have the possibility of bad tasting fried food and fire.

Cut peeled russet potatoes into 3/8 inch strips. Soak them in cold water for 20-30 minutes to remove some of the surface starch, then pat dry thoroughly. Wet potatoes going into oil will cause foaming and spattering - very dangerous.

Put the oil into a pot large enough so it is no more than half full. Heat oil to 325F and cook the potatoes in small batches until they are limp and starting to brown slightly around the edges. Remove them to a paper towel until they cool to room temperature.

Increase the oil temp. to 375-400F and cook the potatoes a second time to brown and crisp them.

Salt immediately upon removal from the oil.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I have not deep-fried chips (as in french fries) in olive oil, but did shallow-fry thin-sliced potato chips in olive oil a few times, & both husband & I LOVED them. I could hardly make enough; the flavor was so wonderful. I imagine fries wouldn't be much different except for the quantity of oil.

 

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks Andy M and BreezyCooking. In fact I do fries from fresh potatoes in sunflower oil (can't get peanut or corn oil at an economically viable price to deep fry in here in Spain and I've never even seen canola oil), but I've never got them as good as these olive oil chips. Maybe I was lucky and it was the first use of the olive oil. Refined olive oil is reasonably cheap here so I could try that. Have you any idea how often the oil can be used using your method, Andy M? I'm keen to avoid a deep fat fryer fire!

 

[mudbug]

I'd rather use peanut oil for frying homemade fries. Love the taste. However, I usually roast them in the oven with olive oil.

But, Snoop, if you are trying to recreate what you had at the restaurant I would go with Andy's advice.

 

[FryBoy]

Price has to be a consideration -- olive oil ain't cheap in the U.S. I recently found some decent extra virgin olive oil from Italy at Von's, which is owned by Safeway, under Safeway's house brand Verdi, for $14 for 2 liters. I usually pay about $30 for a 3-liter can of Colavita. Seems a little expensive for making French fries, but maybe mixing it with a less expensive oil would give good results.

 

[jennyema]

Cheaper regular olive oil has a higher smoke point than evoo. Evoo has the lowest smoke point of any olive oil.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Chips in olive oil = heaven!!
You might try looking for something called " Sansa de Oliva" - basically it's the oil extracted from the final pressing process. Just when you thought nothing was left, SPLAT! out comes the sansa. Good for deep-frying.

I think I can safely say I NEVER use frozen potatoes to make chips. Fresh or die.
Plus I think the UK members amongst us ( and the Spanish, too) tend to like our "fried potatoes" a whole lot thicker than those shoelace-y things you guys all make!!!

Perhaps we're just not refined!

"Chips",for me, must be at the very least 1/2 inch thick. Otherwise, they're French! Who's ever heard of French-Fried Fish 'n' Chips!!??

 

[Robo410]

Andy, can you get even pure olive oil (3rd grade down) up to 400 without smoking? extra virgin is 360 or so...I've never tried. Haven't had good enough ventilation.

 

[Andy M.]

I believe OO and pure OO is good for 410 F.

 

[urmaniac13]

Yeah, you can use Olive Oil for frying perfectly, no need to go for the Extra Virgine, but it will give you an exquisite flavour just as well. The only reason it is so rarely used is, of course, the cost.
I must check out this sansa that clive mentioned... I am sure it can be found here and cost much less!!

 

[Snoop Puss]

If I understand rightly, sansa oil is the same as aceite de orujo here in Spain. This is oil produced from the olive leftovers and involves the use of solvents as well as mechanical processing methods. There was quite a bit of hoo-ha a few years ago here in Spain over the safety of the solvents, a surprise since Spain is usually quite relaxed about such things. I would prefer to use refined oil rather than orujo oil, I think.

 

[XeniA]

Back when my mother-in-law was a bit more spry, we used to get liters and liters of it every autumn from her, free, from "the family trees." It was a major fall tradition for my in-laws to hop over to the island for a couple of weeks to "do the olives."

Thus, we fried our potatoes in it all those years and they were delish, without a doubt. However, those years are now well in the past and we have to buy it like mere mortals. And it's expensive over here too, I assure you.

Consequently, we now fry potatoes in corn oil and while it may be that I've forgotten how good they were in olive oil, we're more than satisfied. I think most important is the double-frying technique Andy spelled out so well. That and the right type of potatoes (we don't really have much choice at any given time, but certainly some varieties fry better than others).

Frying oil keeps for a fair number of frying sessions and then it starts to smell like the back of a cheap restaurant. Then it's time to go!

 

[auntdot]

Have never tried deep frying in olive oil - have to give it a try.

Snoop, canola oil is a product that originated in Canada and is a cultivar of rapeseed oil which you might be able to find in Spain.

Not recommending it cause have never tried it.

 

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks Ayrton and auntdot. I've never seen rapeseed oil here in Spain, either. Fields of it in France, mind. I guess that because olive trees are ubiquitous here, that's what they use. The only other oils you can buy here in the supermarkets are sunflower oil and corn oil. Peanut oil is sold here pretty much like sesame seed oil - in very small bottles at surprisingly high prices.

Glad to hear all these opinions. I'll definitely give it a try.

 

[prada]

expensive!! i never deep fry (as in pour an entire bottle) with olive oil, just canola or light extra virgin, pure olive oil seems to thick for me. However if I were to fry on a shallow pan I would use olive oil for my fries but they dont tend to work well since the potatoes absorbs the oil, so i have to keep adding after every batch.

 

[Seven S]

If I understand rightly, sansa oil is the same as aceite de orujo here in Spain. This is oil produced from the olive leftovers and involves the use of solvents as well as mechanical processing methods. There was quite a bit of hoo-ha a few years ago here in Spain over the safety of the solvents, a surprise since Spain is usually quite relaxed about such things. I would prefer to use refined oil rather than orujo oil, I think.

thats exactly what "olio di sansa di oliva" is... when the olive has no more oil to give, then there are chemicals added to the olive mash that encourage it to release more oil - go figure... i have used it for frying and it works well as a frying oil but in no way will you get the taste we are all after, this oil is practically depleted of the taste we know of as "olive oil" - yes, it is more cost effective, but if we are looking for taste, go with a pure olive oil and try not to raise it past 375 so it will last longer... mario batali practically swears by evoo in all of his frying - expensive, but he says it is well worth it

 

[Seven S]

i have found that blanching the fries in boiling water instead of blaching in oil on the first go around works well... that is, after cutting the fries and rinsing in cold water to remove the surface starch, i drop them in boiling water until tender, then i proceed to finish crisping them up in 375 F oil til golden

 

[Snoop Puss]

Interesting, Seven S. I might give that a go. I've tried chips in olive oil a couple of times since posting and they are extremely good. Not as good as the ones I had in the restaurant though. Blanching might be a good way to go.

 

[Robt]

I'll state that I can not remember the source but; I think one should be a bit concerned about the change in OO from monounsaturated fats to transfatty acids that occur at temperatures above 360 degrees F.

I'll try to find that source today and modify this post. Of course, the cost may alone stop that problem.

edit: according to the olive source the above is Bunk. The myth is based on an interpretation of how oleo is made industrially and has no meaning in a home kitchen.