Potato chip frying fats

Over the years I've found that the type of fat used to fry potato chips has a profound effect on the flavor.

I find both the smell and taste of canola oil to be revolting. Unfortunately it seems to be very popular for frying potato chips. Potato chips fried in corn oil have a sort of meh taste in my opinion. I'm fond of both cottonseed oil and sunflower oil as potato chip frying media. My favorite potato chip brand, Utz, used these exclusively until Covid, when they added corn oil to their ingredients list--probably because there was a shortage of the other oils. Fortunately it hasn't affected the taste.

Utz does make one unusual brand of potato chip: Grandma Utz's Kettle-Style. These are a re-creation of the original Utz potato chip from 1921. They are cut thicker than usual and fried in lard. Very tasty indeed.

Yesterday I bought a bag of Beefy's Own potato chips. These are a local product (Derry NH IIRC). They are small-batch kettle cooked chips fried in--get this--beef tallow. Incredibly yummy. Even better than Grandma Utz's IMO.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, no opinions on oils. I tend to like certain chips or not, and don't really pay attention to the oil. These days I pay more attention to salt. That said, I found Utz potato chips recently at a local Walgreens Drug Store of all places. Wasn't shopping for snacks but I passed them on my way to the Rx counter and recalled the name from discussions here. Very good! A bit greasier and saltier than the Ruffles that are my favorite, but quite good.

I hear you about the salt. I stopped buying Lay's when they increased the salt level.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, I took a bag of the Utz to Bill Spohn's house. Regular, no ridges. They were okay, but for me not special in any way. And there was a disproportionately high rate of broken chips--almost no whole chips and mostly broken 1" pieces. Ditto for a 2nd bag of sour cream and onion ones I bought for Bob.

I took a tour of Utz's factory some years ago when I was in Pa. FWIW, Pennsylvania is the snack capital of the U.S.

My absolute favorite chip is Middleswarth BBQ Chips (regular thin ones, not the kettle variety), also from Pa. Once I start eating them, I can't stop. Nearest thing to heroin for me. One year I ordered a big container from them. The shipping was the same if I ordered one or two, so I convinced our receptionist to also buy one.

I find both the smell and taste of canola oil to be revolting. Unfortunately it seems to be very popular for frying potato chips. Potato chips fried in corn oil have a sort of meh taste in my opinion. I'm fond of both cottonseed oil and sunflower oil as potato chip frying media. My favorite potato chip brand, Utz, used these exclusively until Covid, when they added corn oil to their ingredients list--probably because there was a shortage of the other oils. Fortunately it hasn't affected the taste. -Paul W.

I'm with you on canola oil. I've had too many fishy tastes and smells from things fried in it.

Jenise, I haven't experienced the broken chip problem you encountered. I suspect there is some sort of problem in the shipment chain for your particular area.

-Paul W.

I find both the smell and taste of canola oil to be revolting. Unfortunately it seems to be very popular for frying potato chips. Potato chips fried in corn oil have a sort of meh taste in my opinion. I'm fond of both cottonseed oil and sunflower oil as potato chip frying media. My favorite potato chip brand, Utz, used these exclusively until Covid, when they added corn oil to their ingredients list--probably because there was a shortage of the other oils. Fortunately it hasn't affected the taste. -Paul W.

I'm with you on canola oil. I've had too many fishy tastes and smells from things fried in it.

This is due to the presence of linolenic acid, which can be easily oxidized. Fishy odors are the signs of oxidized fatty acids, a sign that the oil has gone rancid. If it smells that way when you buy it, I'd try a different brand.

I find both the smell and taste of canola oil to be revolting. Unfortunately it seems to be very popular for frying potato chips. Potato chips fried in corn oil have a sort of meh taste in my opinion. I'm fond of both cottonseed oil and sunflower oil as potato chip frying media. My favorite potato chip brand, Utz, used these exclusively until Covid, when they added corn oil to their ingredients list--probably because there was a shortage of the other oils. Fortunately it hasn't affected the taste. -Paul W.

I'm with you on canola oil. I've had too many fishy tastes and smells from things fried in it.

This is due to the presence of linolenic acid, which can be easily oxidized. Fishy odors are the signs of oxidized fatty acids, a sign that the oil has gone rancid. If it smells that way when you buy it, I'd try a different brand.

In general, but if I recall correctly, the fishy odor depends on the level of euricic acid in rapeseed oil. Some brands have higher levels than others. You haven't lived until you've cooked fishy popcorn. >gag<

Never smelled anything remotely fishy in canola oil. Wonder what brand you folks have been using? We often buy Spectrum. But of course canola is not that delicious either and not my preferred oil. Recently started with avocado for a 'neutral' oil.

[Jenise]

Rahsaan, I remember fishy-canola from long long ago but it's been forever since I noticed it. I use Spectrum Canola spray in fact because it is devoid of both flavor and aroma and have also gravitated to avocado oil when I need something neutral in liquid form. Otherwise I'm olive oil all the way.

I use several oils: peanut, EVOO, macadamia, coconut, and avocado. I avoid canola like the plague.

My main oil for Chinese cooking is peanut oil. For European dishes I use olive oil a lot. I occasionally use coconut oil for some Thai and Indian dishes. Some Indian dishes are traditionally made with gingelly (un-toasted sesame seed oil) or mustard oil, so I use those a bit. I avoid canola.

I do a lot of Sichuan cooking and ironically rapeseed oil is the most popular cooking oil there. It has (to my taste) an even stronger and more obnoxious smell and taste than canola. Canola is made from a variety of rapeseed bred to have a very much lower level of erucic acid, which has been linked to heart disease.

Mustard oil has a very high level of erucic acid and is in fact cannot be sold as a cooking oil in the USA. This is why all of the mustard oil sold in Indian markets is labelled "for external use only". It's customary in India to heat mustard oil to the smoking point before cooking with it. This tames its sinus-clearing pungency and also greatly reduces the amount of erucic acid.

-Paul W.

I do a lot of Sichuan cooking and ironically rapeseed oil is the most popular cooking oil there. It has (to my taste) an even stronger and more obnoxious smell and taste than canola...

So I guess you don't like this one: https://themalamarket.com/collections/a ... peseed-oil

It had more flavor than the neutral Spectrum canola, but didn't make all that much difference in the final dish to my tastes, so I stopped ordering it.