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What is the Cloud Point of Cooking Oil?

Cooking fats vary if they are solid or liquid at room temperature. When making mayonnaise or salad dressing, oil must be completely liquid at refrigerator temperature.

Salad dressing manufacturers test the cloud point. This is the time it takes for cloudiness to appear when immersed in an ice bath. A time of 5.5 hours is considered minimum. A time of 20 hours is very good. In manufacturing, a rapid test is done by chilling the oil sample to –76°F for 15 minutes, then at 50°F. If no solid matter remains after 30 minutes, the oil passes the test.

The smoke point is the temperature at which heating oil starts to give off smoke.

 

Source: Fats & Oils: Practical Guides for the Food Industry, Eagan Press Handbook Series

 

About Karen Blakeslee

The Rapid Response Center was formed in 1995 as a resource for Kansas State University Research & Extension Agents. Resource topics included Food Science, Human Nutrition, Food Service, Textiles, Home Care and other consumer topics. Since that time, the Center has grown to be of valuable assistance to Kansas State University Extension Specialists in those areas.

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