The Best Frying Oil For Homemade French Fries Gives Them Ultimate Flavor (& Crunch)

Part of making perfect french fries is frying them fast and hot. It helps perfectly encase a fluffy interior in the golden-brown shell that restaurants are so adept at achieving. But not every oil can get you this result. To find out the best oil for making homemade french fries, Food Repubic spoke with Erin Clarke, creator of WellPlated.com and best-selling author of Well Plated Every Day.

"Fast food chains often use blended oils with high smoke points (like a mix of canola and soybean oil) because they hold up well to repeated frying," Clarke exclusively tells us. Blended oils typically have a high smoke point and are quite versatile. Since they can be used for everything from deep-frying to sautéing to drizzling over salads, it's a preferred choice for fast food chains that need to keep their costs low and their pantries well-stocked. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they're the best choice for home cooks.

"For home frying, peanut oil is a top choice because of its neutral flavor and high smoke point (450 degrees Fahrenheit), which lets you fry at high heat without burning," says Clarke. "If peanut allergies are a concern, canola or vegetable oil are solid backups." Peanut oil is one of the best oils not only because it checks all the boxes, but because of its longevity. When properly maintained, you wouldn't believe how many uses you can get out of one jug.

Cooking oil is often the most expensive part of making fries (unless you're cooking up dozens of pounds of potatoes), so knowing how to maintain your frying oil is a great way to keep this side dish as cheap as it is delicious. No matter what type of french fry you're making, one of the best ways to improve the longevity of your fry oil is to clean it properly, and you can clean it with one convenient pantry staple: cornstarch. Simply mix up a slurry, pour it in, and warm your oil while scraping the bottom of the pot with a heat-safe rubber spatula. The leftover fried bits stick to the cornstarch slurry like a magnet so you can strain it or scoop the mass out with a slotted spoon.

To really maximize its mileage, you want to grab some cheesecloth. Let your oil cool completely, place the cheesecloth over your storage vessel, and strain the oil through it. This step is especially important as even the finest particles not caught by the cornstarch trick can quickly rot and spoil your oil. Once you're done, seal the vessel, label it with the date it was last used, and store it in a cool, dark place. So long as you don't burn your oil and store it properly, you can safely reuse it up to eight times for french fries.