Smoke point of fat
Also searched as: oil smoking, butter burns, frying temperature, smoke point
In short: Above a certain temperature, fat starts to smoke and break down. It then tastes bitter and irritates the eyes and throat.
Like an engine revving into the red: it still runs, but it is taking damage.
- 150 °Cbutter
- 175 °Cextra virgin olive oil
- 200 °Cclarified butter
- 220 °Crefined rapeseed oil
Below 150 °C none of this happens yet. From 150 °C: butter.
What happens
Every fat can only take a certain heat. Above it, its components break down, visible smoke appears and it tastes bitter. Refined oils can take more than cold-pressed ones because suspended particles have been removed. Butter burns early because its milk proteins turn black even at medium heat.
Why it matters
For hard searing and deep-frying you need a fat that can take the heat. For flavour, butter goes in at the end.
Rules of thumb
- For deep-frying, use refined oil, such as frying oil or high-oleic rapeseed oil.
- Add butter only at the end for , or use clarified butter.
- If it smokes, it is too hot: turn the heat down, and replace the oil if it has smoked a lot.
Levers
In practice
Deep-fried food
Deep-frying at 160–190 °C calls for an oil that can take a lot more.
Meat
Sear hard in oil, then add butter and herbs at the end.
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004), Kapitel Kartoffeln, Stärke, Frittieren
- Verbraucherzentrale Südtirol: Welches Öl zum Braten?