Can Canola Oil Make Food Brown?
You’ve probably heard a lot about canola oil in recent times, both good and bad. Most of the bad news doesn’t have much solid scientific footing. On the other hand, the many health benefits of this oil are well-studied. As for whether the oil will turn your food brown, yes, it will, if you use it to fry the food, or in a barbecue or roast.
Health benefits of canola oil
Canola oil is extracted from canola seeds. Canola plants are recognized as safe for human use by the FDA. Much of the bad rep that canola has probably comes from the fact that it is a hybrid of the rapeseed plant, which had health hazards for animals as well as people. Rapeseed oil has high levels of a chemical – erucic acid, which is toxic in large amounts. Canola is not original rapeseed, though, and scientists created it by an old fashioned process of selective cross breeding to eliminate erucic acid. Among advantages, it is low in saturated fats gives one of the highest proportions of monounsaturated fat
Browning effect
Whether it will turn your food brown, and how brown your food will actually get, will depend on what cooking method you are using. This oil will not have any excessive or unusual browning effect in things like stir fries, sautés, and bakes. But, if you choose to baste a roast with canola oil, deep fry something in it, or use it for your barbecue steaks, yes it will make them nice and brown. It is a light oil, and has no significant browning or coloring effect on baked goods, or in salad dressings or cold dishes. However, if you fry your food, maybe french fries, or fried chicken, in it, it will definitely turn brown.
Depth of browning
You can control the level of brown-ness, or the depth of the color, by controlling how long, and at what heat you fry something. Like in most oils, frying something in canola oil causes the fried food to slowly develop an outer crust which is crispy, golden, or brown. This effect is universal, and caused by any oil that you may use for frying food. Similarly, the roasting or barbecuing process itself will brown your food, no matter what oil you use.
Effect on stale food
Another concern you may have is whether This oil will affect stale food, or cause it to go rancid and brown sooner. Usually, canola oil does not cause your food to turn brown, or stale faster. But stale food originally cooked in canola oil can give the food an unusually strong spoilt odor. The oil also tends to go rancid and turn brown if stored for too long, so buy fresh when you wish to use it, or store it for a maximum of two months in a cool, dry place.
