Found out peanut oil smoke point is way lower than I thought

I was reading the back of a jug of peanut oil at Walmart and saw the smoke point is only 450F. I always thought it was like 500F or something crazy. Turns out avocado oil is actually higher at 520F. Now I feel kinda dumb for using peanut oil for my last few batches of onion rings because they came out greasy. Has anyone else been frying with the wrong oil this whole time?

2 comments

2 Comments

simons2813d ago

Peanut oil's smoke point is 450F which is PLENTY for deep frying most things. Your onion rings got greasy from too low temp or overcrowding, not the oil type.

paul25113d ago

Yeah but I gotta push back on that a little. Peanut oil IS good for high heat, sure, but 450F is the smoke point, not the ideal frying temp. Most people crank it up to 375 or 400 and the oil breaks down faster if you're cooking a big batch. I've had onion rings turn out greasy even with perfect temp control when I used peanut oil because it just doesn't hold up as well as something like beef tallow or lard for that long fry time. Crowding is definitely a problem too, but I think the oil type still matters more than people give it credit for.