Chemistry of frying and optimization of deep‐fat fried food flavour — An introductory review

Fried foods have been enjoyed by man for thousands of years. The main reason is that these foods have unique and delicious sensory characteristics. This is one of the reasons that fried foods and frying is so popular, the other being that hot oil is an excellent heat transfer medium, so food cooks quickly. Fried food quality and, hence, its sensory properties, are affected by a number of parameters including the type of oil and its chemistry or quality. Once operators begin frying, the quality of that oil begins to change, but the bottom line is that the sensory properties of the food are directly affected by the changes in oil quality. These changes and part of the focus of this presentation will be the Surfactant Theory of Frying, which helps to explain why food fries.