Best Oil for Frying Latkes page

[Sam Cree]

We're having a Chanukah party and my wife doesn't like the taste of coconuts, so it looks like coconut oil is out for frying the latkes. I can imagine that they'd taste good fried in clarified butter, but you can only do so many before the butter is burned. Do we have any other oils that are "primal" that can tolerate the high temperatures required for frying?

[strom]

Olive oil works great. EVOO, didn't add any additional flavor. Use a whole onion, though.

[lolov]

Actually, extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than "light" (meaning it's the second pressing, not the virginal first LOL) olive oil. So, I'd use light olive oil and butter together. The OO keeps the butter from burning, but you still get the rich taste of butter... or just plain light olive oil works, too.

Here's a chart of smoke points for you... lots of oils listed! http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Colle...mokePoints.htm

Happy Chanukkah!!

[Sam Cree]

Thanks!

I suppose we're not supposed to use peanut oil. How about avocado oil? The extra light olive oil looks to be a fair choice, though.

[strom]

I used about mid high heat with the EVOO to avoid oil spatter. It says its 406 F which is fine.

[Sam Cree]

I think EVOO will work, but doesn't it impart a distinct flavor to the food cooked in it?

[lcme]

I'm assuming that a lot of the butter gets absorbed by the latkes as you are frying them, and that only remnants get burned in the pan. Just use clarified butter and wipe the pan with a tissue and reapply if it starts to burn. I have found no burning with clarified butter, but I never cook higher than med-high for a few mins.

Here's a chart of smoke points for you... lots of oils listed! http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Colle...mokePoints.htm

That doesn't have the value for ghee (clarified butter), which has a much higher smoke point than butter, because the proteins and other milk solids have been removed.

The wikipedia page for smoke points puts ghee at a pretty high temperature, but I can't find where they determined that from the references, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Funkadelic Flash]

I'd put my money on Ghee or some sort of lard/tallow.

[theholla]

Last night, I fried them in 50/50 refined coconut oil/ghee.

They came out delicious and crispy, didn't taste like coconut at all, and the oil/ghee mixture didn't burn. Success!

Chag sameach, and happy frying!

[Nevermike]

I was wondering the same thing... then I found schmaltz.
I'm going to check with a butcher to see if they sell it, because I don't have time to make it from scratch. But for the more industrious among us, check out: http://www.sadiesalome.com/recipes/schmaltz.html