The big burger chains all use different vegetable oils to deep fry their fries.
Different hamburger chains prefer different oils for frying fries. Adobe Stock/AOP
French fries are famously deep-fried in restaurants, which makes them crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. But what kind of oil do fast food restaurants fry their french fries in? We found out the frying methods of the biggest hamburger restaurants in Finland.
Finland’s McDonald’s uses German sunflower and rapeseed oil produced by Walter Rau to fry its French fries. In the past, oil has also been purchased from a different supplier.
Why have you settled on this particular oil?
– The oil is approved by McDonald’s. Oil has a big impact on the quality of the product being served. The defined standards concern, among other things, the taste, smell, color, texture and appearance of the product. The oil must also withstand large amounts of frying and high temperatures, says the communications director of McDonald’s in Finland Heli Ryänen.
According to Ryhänen, there is quite a bit of feedback and questions about oil from customers.
Today, Hesburger fries French fries in rapeseed oil, which is produced by the Finnish company Avena Nordic Grain Oy. French fries are fried in rapeseed oil by thousands of kilos per day in the chain’s restaurants.
– Rapeseed oil is the most suitable for Hesburger. The oil also gives our products a good taste, comments Hesburger’s product development and quality coordinator Fairy tale Heather.
Rolls french fries are also fried in rapeseed oil.
Burger King Suomi does not specify on its website which frying oil is used in its restaurants, but in 2016 the chain used a mixture of palm oil and sunflower oil. Pippuri.fi could not reach a Burger King representative to comment on the current situation.
French fries from all chains have approximately the same amount of energy. The ingredient lists of French fries differ somewhat, as the chains Hesburger, Burger King and Rolls use French fries topped with a coating made of rice flour. The french fries used by McDonald’s have no toppings, so their ingredient list is shorter.