One of the most common mistakes people make in their homes is cooking with oil without keeping a close eye on it. It’s especially dangerous when you’re cooking bacon or steak, which require high-temperature frying.
In this blog post, you’ll learn the hazards of heating oil too much and how to regulate the heat.
In short, here’s what you can do to keep oil from getting too hot.
- Monitor the temperature of your oil while cooking.
- If the oil starts to smoke, turn off the heat.
- Use a thermometer to measure the temperature
- Keep a close eye on the oil, and remove it from heat as soon as it reaches the desired temperature.
- Never leave hot oil unattended
- Be careful not to add too much food to the pan all at once.
If the food is too crowded, it will lower the oil temperature and increase the chances of burning. Also, use a splatter guard to prevent oil from splattering all over your stovetop.
Always insist on using the right kind of oil for the job, and it helps to discard any food that starts to smoke or smell bad.
What Happens if You Heat Oil Too High?
If you heat the oil too high, it starts to smoke. The oil reaches its smoking point when the temperature gets so hot that the molecules break down and release harmful toxins. When inhaled, these toxins often lead to lung cancer.
Moreover, if the oil catches on fire, it creates a dangerous situation. The fire could easily spread to the rest of your kitchen, and if you’re not careful, even cause a house fire.
So, ensure you monitor the temperature of your oil while cooking. Also, turn off the heat as soon as it starts smoking.
Use a thermometer to measure the temperature, and keep a close eye on the oil as you deep fry your delicious meals. Take all precautions that help you avoid the damage of heating oil too much.
Some of the risks involved with heating oil to much include:
- An oil fire could light the stove and burn you, your family, and your pets.
- Long-term pulmonary damage from breathing in smoke (most common at frying temperatures.)
- Carcinogenic compounds are produced when oils containing fats or proteins are heated for longer at high temperatures.
- If you choose the right oil for your job, you should avoid these risks altogether.
According to the National Fire Protection Association,
“In the United States alone, each year more than 300 home fires are caused by cooking oil.”
Hopefully the tips we listed earlier will help you avoid this problem. If your house ever catches on fire from heating oil too much, remember that is not a good time to try and be a hero.
You should always have an escape plan and practice it before your kitchen ever catches on fire.
How Do You Know When Oil Is Hot Enough for Frying?
There is no definitive answer to this question. However, there are a few things to look for to help you make the determination.
One thing to consider is the type of oil you are using. Heavier oils like vegetable or canola oil will take longer to heat up than lighter oils, like olive oil.
You should also consider the pan’s size, shape, and quality. If you have a large pot with straight sides made from thin metal, it will heat up faster than a smaller pot with rounded corners. An old cast iron skillet will also take longer to heat.
Frying at high temperatures is dangerous if you do not allow enough time for the oil to reach the desired temperature. If you have an instant-read thermometer, that’s a great tool to help you gauge if your oil is hot enough for frying.
When it comes time to fry something like zucchini or eggplant slices, I usually test out my pan right before adding anything into it by dropping in one of those thin slices of potato you get with a fast-food burger.
If the oil bubbles up and immediately sizzles, it is probably hot enough for frying.
If your oil does not begin bubbling right away like this, add a small amount of sliced eggplant into the pan.
Stir them around until they are slightly browned on one side, and remove them from the pan. It helps to use this to gauge how long it will take for your entire batch of eggplant or zucchini to be ready to fry.
Remember, if you add something into the oil before it is hot enough, you run a risk of burning off some of the flavors and ruining the taste of your food. According to the USDA, this is especially true of deep-frying.
Why Does Oil Start Smoking?
The most widely accepted explanation among global scientists is that as the temperature of oil increases, it starts to break down into smaller and smaller particles.
At some point, they reach a size where those individual molecules start bumping together more often than they would at lower temperatures.
When this happens, the energy from their collisions is transferred to neighboring molecules in an attempt to even out these interactions by pushing them apart.
The energy quickly dissipates into the air as a visible puff of smoke and other gaseous by-products, leading to what we know is called “oil smoking.”
As you can imagine, when this occurs in your deep fryer or skillet with hot oil and food inside it, there are plenty of risk factors involved that could lead to a kitchen disaster.
Carcinogenic Compounds and Deep Frying
Carcinogenic compounds are produced when oils containing fats or proteins are heated for longer periods at high temperatures.
These harmful chemicals have been linked to cancer in humans, so it helps to take precautions when frying foods.
According to the National Cancer Institute, heat and high temperatures significantly increase levels of cancer-causing compounds in fried foods.
The good news is that most food will not reach these higher temperatures unless you are cooking something like popcorn or french fries for an extended time at extremely hot temperatures.
However, it only takes a small number of carcinogens to cause harm, so it is still best to try and avoid them whenever possible.
As a rule of thumb, the NCBI recommends not keeping cooked foods hot on the stove for more than two hours, and no longer than four hours in a slow cooker.
The evidence points to cancer being a multistep process that begins with damage at the cellular level. There are many different types of carcinogens involved in this process, including some created during frying like acrylamide.
So, What’s the Verdict? Is Oil Hot Enough for Frying When It Begins Bubbling?
Most times, bubbling indicates the need for you to regulate the heat. It’s often hot enough to deep fry most of your favorite meals.
As long as it sizzles immediately upon contact with the hot oil, it will be ready for frying. If the oil does not sizzle up after adding a single slice of potato or eggplant, wait until it has heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit before making any more additions.
If you have a thermometer and it registers around 375 degrees Fahrenheit, your oil should be hot enough for frying. At this temperature, vegetable oil starts changing from clear yellow to brown.
If the food is properly cooked at those temperatures with adequate time allowed between additions of new ingredients, then they should be safe to eat.
If you do not have a thermometer handy, then testing the oil by dropping in one of those thin slices of potato is another good way to gauge if your food cooks without burning off some of the flavors and creating carcinogens.