Purifying used oil free essay sample

Just a little kitchen experiment I tried. I deep fried some calamari and fish yesterday, along with some french fries. Which is something I do VERY rarely, maybe a couple of times a year. The calamari were done in seasoned flour, the fish were done in batter, while the fries, I must admit, were commercially made frozen shoestrings (only because I had an Ore-Ida coupon and it was double coupon days at a local store, so they were almost free). I got to thinking about all of the used cooking oil. Seemed like a shame to completely waste it. So, doing a little online search, I came upon a method to purify it for reuse. I had about 2 1/2 cups of used canola oil, which had gotten fairly brown by the time I was done doing several batches of deep fried foods, and especially dark after doing the calamari, as the flour comes off when it cooks and burns a bit. We will write a custom essay sample on Purifying used oil or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1) Strain the solid residue out of the oil. IF youve cooked something with a lot of fine particles or starch, like flour-coated foods or raw, starchy potatoes, you should actually let the oil sit for a while to allow the fine particles to settle out, and then pour off the oil. 2) When youve removed the solids and particulates, pour an amount of water equal to the volume of oil into a large pot or kettle with deep sides. Pour in your oil. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt per quart of total liquid to to the pot. 3) Bring the oil and water mixture to the boil, and then boil it hard for about 5 to 10 minutes. The darker, more scorched, and/or more strongly flavored the oil, the longer you should boil the mixture. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BOIL IT OVER OR TO ALLOW ALL OF THE WATER TO BOIL AWAY (it shouldnt boil away in just a few minutes, unless youre doing a small volume). 4) Remove from the heat, and set aside to settle out. It takes about 10 to 30 minutes for the oil to completely separate and come to the top. 5) Carefully pour the oil/water mixture into a fat separator cup. Pour off the water portion as completely as possible and discard. 6) Put the oil portion back into the deep pot or kettle. Over medium heat, bring to the boil (which for oil is hotter, obviously, than for water. Reduce heat until it is boiling and popping a bit, but slowly. The goal here is to evaporate all of the retained water. When the oil becomes very clear looking and no longer makes ANY sound (no popping or sizzling sounds), has no more bubbles rising, and no more steam comes to the top, its done. 7) Allow to cool, then bottle in an airtight container for reuse. OK the results. It was interesting. The resulting volume of oil I got was very close to the original amount of used frying oil I started with, so I didnt lose much in the process. The color lightened visibly, and quite a bit, but its still darker than what I started with (canola oil, very light in color). The flavor is tolerable, but it still retains just a bit of fishiness. It isnt too burnt tasting. I think it would be fine to use for cooking another batch of seafood and maybe the fries or hushpuppies to go with it, but I wouldnt want to use it for something like fried doughnuts. Now, as to the safety of this method. Well, some carcinogens form, apparently, whenever foods are fried or browned. Not being either a health professional or a food professional, I wouldnt want to make judgments either way like anything, done in limited amounts, would probably be OK. As far as the kitchen safety of this goes, well, anytime you use hot oil, you do need to be careful of the dangers of splatters, burns, spills, and kitchen fires. So, if anyone tries this, be careful. As far as the economics of this, it takes a bit of electricity (or gas, if thats what you use), but I cant imagine it would cost as much as the price of the oil involved, since oil and other staples are going up, up, up.