Avoid Greasy Fried Food By Adding This Simple Step To Your Routine

One way you can save money when deep-frying food is by reusing your frying oil. Using previously heated oil may yield better results than unused oil poured out of the container, and some restaurants even make a practice of supplementing new oil with the gently-used kind. There is, however, one caveat. According to Harris Mayer, a chef who works at two New York eateries (NYC's Creamline and the upstate Cornerstone), used frying oil needs to be filtered to yield the best results.

"Old and dirty oil will not hold temperature well, and what makes fried foods greasy is the temperature being too low," Mayer explained to The Takeout. He also pointed out that unfiltered oil can affect more than the food's texture. As he told us, "Foods absorb the flavor in which they are cooked, and the cleaner and tastier the oil is, the better the food will taste." If you filter any impurities out of the oil before using it, this cleaned-up oil can be reused any number of times.

Harris Mayer advocates filtering your oil after every time you use it. You can simply pour the oil through a fine-mesh strainer, but lining the strainer with cheesecloth or even a paper towel can filter out even more impurities. As to when you should begin filtering, Mayer advises, "Do it after you fry, but give the oil some time to cool off a bit. It has to be hot enough that it is liquid but not so hot that it is dangerous if it touches you." Needless to say, you also don't want it so hot that it melts the storage container.

So, how many times can you filter and reuse frying oil? There's no one-size-fits-all rule, since it may depend on the type of oil, what you've been frying, or the temperature used during frying. Instead of counting, there are other ways to tell when it's time to discard the oil. Mayer suggests going by appearance, saying, "Fryer oil should be translucent. If it starts to get cloudy, it's time to clean or change your oil." Other tell-tale signs that your frying oil needs replacing include foam, a funky smell, or starting to smoke before it reaches frying temperature.

Once you need to toss your cooking oil, you can do it the mess-free way by using an oil solidifier to turn it into gel. (Baking soda can work, too, if you only need to dispose of a small amount.) Of course, you can also simply pour it into a disposable plastic bottle and throw the whole thing into the trash.