Flour can absorb a lot of things due to its porous nature (including smells!), which means that it can draw fats, oils, and any other liquid into its tiny crevices. If you are working with flour that contains gluten, then the gluten will even help bind the oil into your dough, which I think is kind of cool, like all these little components just helping each other out to make you a nice loaf of bread. Teamwork!
Which Flour Absorbs The Most Oil?
With frying things, I’ve noticed that some flours absorb more oil than others. I looked into the science behind it (we will talk a little bit more about that later), and some studies have suggested that the presence of starch and gluten in flour promotes oil absorption. So, as a general rule, flours high in protein and damaged starch will absorb more oil.
However, the general rule is not the absolute rule, and figuring out which flours absorb more oil is often down to trial and error in your own kitchen. There are reasons why professional recipe developers have whole giant culinary labs to cook in, and this is one of them!
What Flour Doesn’t Absorb Oil?
All flours will absorb oil to some degree, but I have found with personal use, brown rice flour doesn’t absorb too much (probably because it doesn’t have gluten or a lot of damaged starch). Hence, I love using this along with cornstarch for light breading and frying because it gets all nice and crispy and doesn’t soak up the oil as much as a traditional wheat flour-based batter can. You can read more about different flours’ ability to absorb things in our comprehensive flour guide!
The other flour that probably wouldn’t be great at absorbing oil would be sprouted flour, as it often already holds some moisture in its molecules and doesn’t have room for much more (it’s a full house, sorry, oil!)
Oil Absorption Capacity Of Flour – The Science
In food science terms, the ability of flour to absorb oil is called its oil absorption capacity (OAC), and it’s defined as the difference in the weight of the flour sample before and after oil absorption.
It can be hard to determine which flours will absorb how much oil, water, or liquid in general because it depends on too many factors. According to science-y people, oil absorption can be affected by amino acid composition, the way the protein is structured in the flour molecule, and whether or not the surface of the flour molecule is hydrophobic or hydrophilic (i.e., likes liquid or is scared of liquid). Long story short, the composition of all fours is different, and even the slightest difference can affect its ability to absorb liquid.
So, If Flour Is So Good At Absorbing Oil, Why Do We Deep Fry With It?
This is an excellent question! It doesn’t make sense, really, to take a highly oil-absorbent ingredient, drop it into a vat of oil, and then it comes out not completely soaked through with grease. HOW?
Temperature. Oil that is really really hot will cook faster than the oil has a chance to absorb. So, if you have ever eaten something deep fried that did taste way too greasy, they probably dropped it in their fryer before the oil was hot enough, and it spent a little bit of time soaking up that grease before it started to actually cook. BLEGH.
Using Flour To Clean Grease And Oil
Fun fact! Flour can be so great at soaking up oil that you can use it to clean up grease and oil spills in kitchens! This technique is often used in professional kitchens to remove excess oil from deep fryers or countertops. It can also be used around the home for cleaning greasy ovens, stoves, grills, pots, and pans. Just sprinkle a little flour over the oil and mix the two together. The flour absorbs the oil, making a paste that can be easily scraped up with a bench knife or other flat tool.
Some skincare products also may call for some kind of flour to absorb oil on the skin, such as oat flour!
Run out of dry shampoo and have greasy hair? Massage some potato flour in to help soak up the excess oil and freshen your locks.
FAQs
Fats and oils can help flour particles not to clump together as they absorb liquid. For example, making a roux, you mix butter and flour together, and then you add stock or milk, and you end up with a silky smooth sauce with no clumps. If you just mix flour with the stock right away without the butter, the flour immediately clumps together, and the thing doesn’t thicken. Basically, flour plus fat improves the texture of whatever you are cooking.
While all-purpose flour is most commonly used, I don’t think it is the best because it does have a tendency to soak up oil. I use rice flour, cornstarch, or an egg wash with panko breadcrumbs. These keep things light and crispy. If you are looking for that really heavily breaded and fried food, then all-purpose or lower-gluten white flour would work; just make sure your oil is hot enough before you drop it in so that it fries without absorbing too much of the oil.
Any refined oil that has a high smoke point is suitable for deep frying, and the most commonly used are soybean oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil. If you want a healthier deep-frying alternative, avocado oil can also be used at high temperatures.
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