# Safe to use old cooking oil?



## mariospeedwagen (Oct 28, 2007)

I cooked some fries in a saucepan with vegetable oil and a couple days later used the same oil to cook some frozen burritos. It's been sitting there for over a week now and I'm wondering if I can use it again. How long is it safe for me to keep using the oil?


----------



## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I would toss it (in the garbage, please, not down the drain). Even assuming that you had it covered, it has picked up bits of stuff that you might not be able to filter out, stuff that can burn and give an off-taste to what you next fry. Also, and more important: every time you use frying oil, it breaks down a little more, meaning that you can't heat it as hot without danger of it burning (yup, bursting into flame!).


----------



## mariospeedwagen (Oct 28, 2007)

Ok, thanks. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breeding some kind of spoilage in there =)


----------



## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

there are also serious health risks, besides taste risks. I don;t know the chemistry or the medicine, but i did read that rancid oil is the most dangerous thing for the arteries because it makes small lesions where cholesterol sticks and clogs. Also the oil changes chemically when heated and once is enough. Fry less often but use new oil


----------



## arkboynko (Aug 31, 2007)

You really should toss it out... but restaurants typically hold oil for much longer than that.


----------



## mariospeedwagen (Oct 28, 2007)

Yeah I think I'll toss it instead of using it again. It's just such a pain in the butt to pour it into a plastic bottle. I keep forgetting to buy a funnel.


----------



## cacook (Jan 18, 2006)

Restaurants don't keep old oil unless it's in the back to be disposed of, or a few days at most in the fryer. New oil is rotated daily and should be replenished at most every third day. If by restaurants, you mean lesser grade/dirtier restaurants, then I agree with you.


----------



## gaffman (Oct 31, 2007)

I wouldn't use it. Old oil generally tastes pretty bad after its been sitting for a while :chef:


----------



## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

The restaurants I worked at that had fryers replaced the oil every day. But I know that that is not always the case. The advertisements you see in the industry magazines talk about how many more days of use you can get from their oil.  I try not to eat fried stuff in places like that. 

To be honest, at home I will sometimes use frying oil twice -- but never more than that.


----------

