Why should I check my frying oil?

Since it is one of the costlier kitchen commodities, frying oil is typically reused several times before being discarded. Multiple frying cycles are detrimental to the oil, causing it to degrade, depending on the type of food being fried, temperature, and oil being used. The fats in frying oils can degrade with use to form many different products including epoxides, carboxylic acids, hydroperoxides, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones. These degradation products are collectively referred to as Total Polar Compounds (TPC), and measuring their concentration in frying oil is considered the best way to determine when an oil is “spent” and should be discarded. Many polar compounds impart unwanted flavors to food. More importantly, some of these byproducts of frying are known to be deleterious to health. Many countries recognize the health hazards of degraded oils and have instituted regulations mandating that oil be discarded when the TPC content reaches a certain concentration, around 25%.

What is FryCheck™?

FryCheck is a simple and economical way to test the quality of frying oil.

Why is FryCheck™ Important?

Byproducts of prolonged deep frying are unhealthy. FryCheck™ directly measures the TPC value of an oil so you know when to replace unhealthy oil. FryCheck™ can reduce your oil costs while ensuring food quality. Why Use FryCheck™? Byproducts generated by the degradation of frying oil are unhealthy. Eventually they also make fried foods taste bad. The color, taste, smell, and clarity of frying oil are not reliable indicators of the buildup of TPC byproducts. And discarding frying oil too soon can add significantly to the cost of a restaurant’s deep-frying operations. Regular use of FryCheck™ can prevent cooking oil from being replaced too early or too late. FryCheck™ directly measures the undesirable byproducts generated in frying oil, so you know when to replace unhealthy oil. FryCheck™ can reduce your oil costs while ensuring the highest food quality. Health hazards of overused frying oil. How do you use FryCheck™? The test is simple and quick. Just place a few drops of fry oil on a clean surface, insert a fresh FryCheck™ test pad into the oil sample and set it on a clean surface. Wait 3 - 5 minutes, then compare the color of the test pad to the scale on the bottle. FryCheck™ is designed for restaurants to quickly and easily test the quality of frying oil and help standardize when the oil should be replaced. What are the advantages of FryCheck™? FryCheck™ is a fast, accurate, and inexpensive way to test your oil quality and allows you to quickly decide when to change your oil. It helps you to maximize the useful life of your oil without compromising food quality and flavor. What are the disadvantages of other quick tests? Historically, frying oil was replaced when it smoked or foamed, how dark it appears, or when the fried food started tasting very bad. But there are now additives in some oils to reduce smoking and foaming, and better restaurants don’t want to serve food that does not meet their taste standards. Several “quick test” methods have been introduced over the years in efforts to provide a more objective measure of when frying oil should be replaced. Gardner color: These include simple tubes that can be used to compare the color of an oil to a dark “calibrator.” This method is very crude, differs for various types of frying oil and does not accurately measure the buildup of unhealthy byproducts. Testo: There are some instruments that measure the ability of an oil to conduct electricity which generally correlates well with oil degradation. But these devices are expensive and need to be periodically cleaned and calibrated. Further, water and any fried products mat interfere with the measurement. The immersion depth, oil temperature and other factors can alter the measurements obtained. Free Fatty Acid Test Strips: These tests strips are intended to provide a quick way to measure free fatty acids liberated as fry oils degrade. However, in addition to requiring refrigeration and the need to allow the color to develop overnight, multiple studies have indicated that they are very unreliable (ref – Greece.). OleoTest®: Total polar compounds (TPC), which are recognized scientifically as the collection of unhealthy substances generated by the degradation of frying oil. Oleotest, one such quick test, directly measures the TPC of an oil. However, in addition to costing more per test than FryCheck™, Oleotest requires the oil to be measured and transferred to a test vile, mixed with the Oleotest reagent, and then be microwaved to develop the color. This is a complicated procedure and if the oil is not measured correctly, the results will not be accurate. Scientific Evaluations of Frying Oil Tests Do any governments regulate frying oil? Many countries recognize the health hazards of degraded oils and have instituted regulations mandating that oil be discarded when the TPC content reaches a certain concentration; usually around 25%. Key publications on regulation of frying oils.